A Lust for Life Cork airport 5k

The first day of the month saw John and I heading to Cork to take part in the airport runway 5K for a Lust for Life. To find out about this great movement check out alustforlife.com. The run was to begin at 2am after the last flights had arrived, I have never run this early so didn't know what to expect.  It had been showery all day and in the early part of the evening but as we headed to Cork the rain was holding off . As with all runs what you wear plays a big part in how you feel during the run, as it was on in the early hours of the morning and it can be windy there, the advice was to wrap up. Now anyone who has read this blog or knows me knows that I am a #sweatybetty, so wrapping up wasn't an option for me, I did layer up a light tank top with longish sleeve top over it.

Selfie fun.

The Airport provided free car parking to all those taking part we had to be at the airport before half twelve to get our race packs. As we entered the terminal there was a great sense of excitement in the air. We had found a phone in the carpark and handed into customer service someone had already come in search of it hopefully they have been reunited.. There was music playing, people were in the cafes getting a blast of caffeine and there were some girls at one of the doors dancing literally non stop, I saw them later during the run they hadn't worn themselves out. We headed to a designated check in to collect our numbers and we also recived a lovely t shirt which John added to his many layers...

Layers...

As we were running on the runway we couldn't bring anything onto it with us, no water bottles which was a  bit disconcertaining to me as I carry water on most runs also any extra bags/jackets etc.. I had a small bag in which I put the t shirt I had received,  John had zipped pockets in his shorts in which he kept the car keys so while we were in the terminal I sipped on water and after a while John took the bag out to the car. 
Then all we could do was wait and as the time went on even though I was excited  I found myself yawning a bit too often. Its long day waiting to run at two in the morning. We sat, we moved around and stretched. There was a lovely gentleman playing the piano which kept us entertained.  I also tried to hold off going to the bathroom for as long as I could because like any run the queues were big needless to say here was no queue for the mens.. As the time neared 2 am  you could feel the restlessness in the air and then suddenly we were being directed outside towards the start area.

Runway bound but not for a flight..

At the start area it was separated into different sections under 25min, 25min plus, Joggers/walkers  we headed into the 25min plus area, there was music blasting on a truck ahead of us and we were all  put  through a mass warm up.. Bressie (@nbrez) said a few words he is one of  the founders of Lust for Life. And then after some Happy Birthday wishes to Lust for a life which was celebrating its 1st birthday, we were led out on to the runway. You could feel the temperature drop and the fog was down, we walked on and after a quick rule check no dispensing of clothers or anything else on the runway, soon enough we heard the run start,  as we were in the middle we could see the lead runners sprinting off into the fog. We crossed the start it took a while to adjust to running into the fog in the dark.
We started off well a good even pace I was running well enough. John was feeling the heat not long into it, even though it was foggy and cool it didn't warrant the layers John had on... After the first mile we decided to run to each of the large lights that were set up every so often and we stretched it out to every second light.  Also along the route were stewards who offered words of encouragement, they were great fun.  The route was an in and out route. So as we were heading out the lead runners were coming back, everyone cheered them on. Spirits were high by everyone and I was feeling great when I turned the corner to head back. There is something so eerie about running in the fog at night with intermittant light but it was so Cool!!!  The last mile was by far our slowest the heat lack of training and shin splints hadn't help our pace as the run went on. From a kilometre out we could here the announcer at the finish line wanting to finish strong we powered on.
We crossed the line I have to say I felt great my partner in crime didn't feel the same...

Done..

After we finished we headed back into the airport terminal where we were given a goody bag much needed water, banana and yoghurt. It was early morning before we reached home tired but still high from our runners buzz. It will be my last run for a few weeks, I finally have to give in and not run through my shin splint pain as I have been doing because I want to clear  them up and be able to run pain free.

The VHI Lust for life Cork Airport 5K isn't the biggest run I have ever done but the time of day, the fog, the people, John, everyone there to support a great movement, it gave me the greatest sense of satisfaction crossing the finish line