#YearOfFit – Fun Runs That Really Are Fun!

There are two types of people in this world: those who enjoy running and those who don’t.

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For the latter, the term ‘fun run’ generally seems like the furthest thing from it, but whether its a charity fundraiser, New Years resolution or mid/early-life crisis, most people will probably take part in at least one during their life, and today I’m going to tell you something that might surprise these people: some races really are fun!

Race For Life/Pretty Muddy

These ladies only races for Cancer Research UK are the ideal first race for any new runner. They’re laidback, there are normally a lot of tutus and people dancing, and you don’t even have to run it, so there’s that too!

Colour Runs

There’s a few different runs that do this now – The Color Run, Run or Dye etc – but the aim is pretty simple: show up in white, run around and have paint and coloured powder thrown at you, finish with an awesome party! I was gutted to miss our local Run or Dye last year, but I’m hoping to do the Brighton Color Run in September, and I’m so excited!

RunDisney

Do I really have to explain why these races are so much fun? Firstly, you’re running around the Disney parks. Secondly, there are character meets along the course, as well as a tonne of great entertainment and supporters cheering you on, and lastly, YOU’RE IN DISNEY. As you well know if you’re a regular reader, I have four RunDisney races under my belt already this year, with two more in September, and I’m already buzzing to do more in future years!

Virtual Runs

This is a fairly new and upcoming concept, and some people really don’t understand the point behind them, but I’m obsessed with virtual runs! Virtual races came about to combat the geographical and logistical restrictions of official races; the organisation of large events, participants having to sort travel etc. So how do they work? Just like any other race, you sign up online and pay your entry fee. This may be a charitable donation, it may also cover goodies like medals and t-shirts, all depends on the race. Your race may have a particular day, or a time period for you to complete it over, and all you have to do is complete the distance on that day or during that week or whatever, then submit a proof of run, like MapMyRun stats, photos etc to the organiser, and then you’ll receive your medal/shirt/certificate/whatever through the post. Its the satisfaction of a race without the hassle!

I’ve already completed one this year, and have 6 more coming up this year so far. I’m also thinking about organising one – if anyone would be interested please let me know!

ParkRun

ParkRun is an international organisation that holds weekly races all over the world, but there’s probably one pretty near where you are too! Its totally free to take part, with events run by local volunteers, and its a great way to get into running and join a community. Once registered, you’ll be issued with a personal barcode, which serves as your identification when you complete each race, linking your time to your account. I have two ParkRuns near me; I’m a regular at one and have visited the other once, but they’re both really great and its a real community, plus when you hit milestones (25/50/100 runs complete etc) you get a free t-shirt!

Are there any races you’d love to take part in?

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February 24, 2016Lottie 2 Comments

RunDisney 2016: 9 Weeks to go!

Today I’m coming to you all from a much better place than I have in the last few weeks, yay! My back is feeling a lot better – still not 100% but it’ll take time – and I’ve been able to start training at the gym again, which for me has such a positive impact on my mood, and I needed to feel better this week.

I went to the chiropractor on Monday about my back, and even after a treatment session still wasn’t seeing much improvement, so making the assumption that the problem was more muscular, I spent Tuesday religiously applying Deep Heat and Deep Freeze every few hours, which seemed to work wonders, and after surviving a gym session on Wednesday without too much bother, we were back running Thursday.

We did one of our usual routes, down through the town centre to the beach, along the seafront, up the zig-zag to the clifftop and home, which is about 7km, and while we took it at a fairly easy pace, it felt good and it was great to be back at it after all the worry last week.

Saturday was a ParkRun, and what a soggy one it was! Light showers turned to heavy downpours, and crisp autumn breeze became super blustery, and in my oversized waterproof coat I basically turned into a kite; resistance training to the max! It was a quiet race – not even 200 people turned up – and the course was turning to sludge, which slowed the pace a fair amount for everyone, not to mention dodging the people who had fallen in the mud (and stopping to help the up of course!), but I felt back on form, running ahead of my dad for the first time since returning to training after Europe. Timewise, it wasn’t a PB, but it also wasn’t my slowest: 31:37, which about 3 minutes off my PB, but I was never gonna do that in those conditions, and in fact only 5 of the 190 runners set new PBs!

AND MORE GOOD NEWS:

Today we signed up for the inaugural Disneyland Paris half marathon weekend in September 2016, to do both the 5k and half. I wish they were doing a 10k as well, but hey ho!

So yep, I’m back on the brightside, and races are looming on the horizon!

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Working on another Run Disney costume 🏃✂️ #rundisney #costume #wdw #wdwmarathonweekend #disneyworld #florida #rundisney2016 #toystory #littlegreenman #disneystyle #running #disneygirl #lottiedoesdisney

A post shared by Lottie (@lottiedoesdisney) on Oct 31, 2015 at 3:30am PDT

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November 8, 2015Lottie Leave a comment

RunDisney 2016: 12 Weeks to go!

Twelve weeks?! Its amazing how time flies when you’re not counting every week!

So its been 3 weeks now since I last did a RunDisney update, which was the week Dad and I completed our first Tough Mudder, and despite planning on running in the week following, that just didn’t work out; we were bruised and sore, and it just made sense to let ourselves recover properly.

And that week, obviously, was the week I left on my road trip, so there’s another two weeks without running for me! Dad’s been running a few times without me while I’ve been away, working primarily on his speed over shorter distances, mainly his <30 minute 5K.

We kicked back into proper training mode yesterday with our usual ParkRun. I took things a little slower, for a few reasons: firstly, I was coming out of three weeks off, secondly because I didn’t want to push myself too hard too soon, and finally, because we had a new member of the family ParkRun squad: my 8 year old cousin, Sophia. She’s a natural athlete, and having run a Race for Life earlier in the year, I thought it would be a really great for her to get into running more regularly. At first, she ran with my sister, who has a much slower pace than Dad and I, but it wasn’t too long before she was running at my heels, so I kept with her for the race, and we crossed the line together at 33:36; a slow time for me, but an amazing time for her, and given that I was feeling rusty, I don’t think I could have gone much faster without doing myself some damage!