I did it!! I have now conquered the Huntly half marathon… what a feeling. I had a more than ideal run and managed to finish in a time of 1:37:36. There's nothing better than achieving your goals. It felt amazing to cross that finish line. The day started off a bit chilly with some fog around but before you knew it the sun came out and we were ready to race. I had my splits written all up my arm to make sure I was sticking to my pace; these really helped keep me on track. When they say there's a hilly part at around 10km they weren't exaggerating at all and that hill just kept getting bigger, so once that was over (thank god) I got my mind back on track..

After running around the lake I was greeted by my mum and dad – that really kept me going. Having my cheer crew kept the spirits up motivated me to give it my all. My feet started to give me a bit of grief at around 13km. I got pins and needles in both of them that wouldn't seem to go away so I had a quick stop to loosen up the laces and I was off again. Things got tough around 18km. I started getting tired but I wasn't about to give up so after a few words to myself and telling the girls at the water station to never do this to themselves (didn't manage to tell them what a great feeling it was at the end – pitty they had to see me at my worse) I was off to get it over with.

A big thanks to the few hawks members who got me through those last kilometers. I do apologize for my full volume music which probably got annoying but you guys were awesome and really made a difference when I was dying. There's nothing better than seeing that 20km sign. I got a bit excited then knowing there was less than 5 minutes to go. Just before the finish line I had mum (with her pom poms) yelling her heart out at me to hurry along so I sprinted to the finish line. I was over the moon to see that 1:37minutes up on the clock. That sense of achievement at the end was amazing – something you have to do to understand I suppose, but all the pain and mind games throughout the race paid off at the end.

A huge thank you goes out to the Hamilton City Hawks. Without you guys I know I would not have even gotten close to achieving the time I did. All the speed sessions and pack runs really made a difference and a big thank you to those who kept pushing me further each training session (Ben and Megan and all the others that I attempted to keep up with). The event was organized really well so a big thumbs up to all those who put all the hard work into making it happen. And a big thank you to those who cheered me on and came to watch, and to my mum who was my #1 supporter and didn't run because she wanted to be at the finish line for me – you're the best! There's nothing like a runners high and I am definitely experiencing it now – all the hours of hard work have paid off and I did it!!