My Running Award

I’ve never been good at taking compliments, I blame my British sense of decorum. Winning Best Personal Blog at The Running Awards on Thursday was the ultimate compliment and it rendered me completely speechless.

If you listen carefully to the video below by Baze187 you will hear a weird gulping noise I make after my name is announced, thats me speechless. It has also meant that is has taken me a week to actually put this post together, sorry about that.

It was the highest compliment I could receive because I treasure these collection of words and pictures so much. To say this little blog means the world to me would be a massive understatement. It has been my therapy through the darker times, my trumpet in gleeful moments and ultimately an opportunity to create and interact with a community of wonderful and likeminded people. It’s so incredibly touching to know that my writing isn’t just a shout into the vast void of the internet and that people read it and actually thought it was worthy of winning such an accolade.

I never started this blog to win awards, if I’m honest back then I didn’t even know there were awards for blogging. I didn’t start this to get paid or become an influencer (that word still makes me shudder). I started the blog to document my journey and to show anyone that it doesn’t matter where you are in your life or what weighs you down, whats important is that you just start.

The Running Awards Night

The evening began with the Bloggers Forum, a collection of talks by big names in the running and fitness world, put on by the Running Awards before the ceremony. It was honestly amazing experience and I highly recommend any bloggers or people looking to get started in the blogging world to come along next year if only for the bag chocked full of goodies. It was inspirational, motivational and a lot of fun. It gave you a chance to hear from some amazing speakers, chat to other bloggers and rummage through the awesome freebies we got given!

After the Bloggers Forum had finished we were whisked down to the bar where you could spot the future London Marathon runners a mile off sipping water while the rest enjoyed the free beers. It was there I got a chance to finally meet some bloggers that I hold in such high esteem including spending some quality time with Thoughts and Pavement (aka Miranda) and Baze187 (aka Richard), who I met at the Running Show back in January, just after we found out we were shortlisted. I have to say it is such a great comfort to speak to other bloggers as you suddenly don’t feel so alone. I live in the middle of nowhere far removed from all the insta-meet ups and new running events that keep popping up in London. Because of that it is rare for me to have a chance to chat face to face with people as passionate/crazy about running and the world around it as me.

After a few lemonades and a desperate battle for canapés the shortlisters were taken downstairs for the award ceremony. Miranda, Richard and I sat together on our own table and after many awards and a few correct guesses at the winners, it was our turn. The three of us and our partners predicted the winners for our category, all of which didn’t include any of us and we smiled with glee just seeing her names on the big screen. Then third was named; Baze187 and you can tell from his video just how happy we all are for him. I thought that was to be the highlight of the night; hearing someone who richly deserves praise earning it. We were in such jubilation that we almost missed the winner being announced, then my name was read out.

I don’t remember much about walking up and collecting my award but what stands out is the swell of emotions I felt looking up and seeing my blog on the big screen and the fact that the song playing when I went up was by Kylie -bloody- Minogue.

What made collecting the award even more special was the fact the Ben Smith was the one giving it to me. Ben ran 401 marathons in 401 days last year and he was actually the first person I interviewed on my blog when I decided to step up my blogging and make it less about me and more about the incredible community I’m lucky to be a part of. To me it felt somewhat poetic.

After a few photos I was escorted (I was a bit delirious at this point) to the green room backstage to do a short interview, which I will post on here when it is published as it has some pretty exciting news on it. Throughout the interview and the photos I had to concentrate on keeping my whole body still. Excitement induced shaking erupting every few seconds as the realisation that I’d won sunk in. I was really pleased they let my partner come backstage so I could share all the excitement with her, having her by my side made that night even more special. After we got back to our table we shared lots of hugs and high fives and then rather unceremoniously raced off to catch the bus home, my heavy award grasped tightly in my hand.

This heavy chunk of metal, now sat proudly on my desk, is a shinning example that if you do something you truly love for the right reasons, rewards will be reaped. I honestly cannot thank you all enough for voting it has truly meant the world to me. It has motivated me to make this blog the best it can be with more reviews, interviews, training advice and better race reports. If there is anything you want me to talk about, please don’t hesitate to ask.

NEXT RACE: Silverstone 10K