This is my account of how I, and my fellow Sixth Formers at Abbey Gate College, ran in a charity fun run to raise money for Cardiac Risk in the Young. CRY was my school’s adopted charity, and as a Sixth Former I felt I should join the teachers who had decided to run in a 5km race at Croxteth Park, Liverpool.
A representative of CRY had sent the school information regarding the aims of the charity. Everyone in the school felt that this was a particularly worthy charity to raise money for.
One very rainy Sunday morning, I found myself in a packed car with several fellow Sixth Formers, heading towards Liverpool. Stopping frequently to ask directions to Croxteth Park – and being given conflicting directions by every Scouser we encountered! – we did actually manage to locate Croxteth Park.
Initially the weather conditions were atrocious, but as soon as we lined up for the start, the sun burst forth.
The grass was gleaming with the morning dew, and I felt like a man possessed – ready to run my lungs ragged. Andreas, Scott, James and myself assembled with the other Abbey Gate students, parents and teachers – all sporting our red CRY t-shirts with pride.
It was nearly half ten, and the tension was mounting. We were each given a white card with our running number, and we attached these to our t-shirts.
It wasn’t long before we were ushered towards the starting place. Good-natured jostling ensued as we all nudged into advantageous positions. Waiting anxiously for the starting gun…………..BANG!……….we were off!!
At first we couldn’t move because of the sheer mass of sweaty athletes, but after a while I managed to find space and I was soon moving at a respectable pace. I started the race running with my good friend James, and also Mr. Kift, our school Head Gardener. At the 2km mark, we were feeling the heat and Kifty fell behind – but James and I valiantly battled on.
It wasn’t too long before we caught up with Mr. Gallagher, our Biology teacher and organiser of the fun run. Mr Gallagher had started the race like a cheetah, but was now slowing his pace. Before we pushed on, Mr Gallagher gave us a few words of encouragement and wisdom before literally giving us a shove in the right direction!
I personally found the 3-4km stage of the race to be the hardest, as this was when I felt most likely to stop. However, James and I encouraged each other to keep the pace up. Coming into the final kilometre, we saw Mr Gray, our inspirational IT teacher. After a boost of energy, we caught up with Mr Gray, and if anything began to accelerate. My heart was pumping, my lungs were wheezing and I had lost count of the number of stitches of pain I had endured, but the surge of adrenalin was more than enough to compensate for these discomforts.
A turn in the path led us across a field, and the finishing line became visible. It must have been no more than 400 metres away. Mr Gray, James and myself kept running, but constantly looking at each other, waiting to see who would make the first move for sprint to the finish – it was like a tense game of poker. Then, for some reason, my legs started to rotate faster, my arms were beginning to swing more viciously, and I found it was I who had initiated the final sprint!
Mr Gray was quick to see this and took up my challenge. He gamely joined me in my effort to cross the line, as did James. All three of us were neck-and-neck for those last 400 metres. First position between us seemed to change continually, with one of us always edging a metre in front and then falling back – I’d never pushed myself this hard before.
I crossed the finishing line, and immediately sat down to relieve the pain in my side. Mr Gray had just beaten me, and I had just beaten James – but there wasn’t a metre between the three of us. It was a cracking good race, one which I’ll never forget!
The Sixth Formers who ran the race all felt it was a worthy venture. The runners managed to raise over £2000 in sponsorship, which together with the proceeds from other events organised by the school, meant a total sum of £3500 was raised for CRY.
A fun day was had by all. Many thanks to Mr Gallagher for organising this event, and our best wishes go to all the people at CRY who help to promote the need for cardiac monitoring of young people.
Richard Curtis – Deputy Head Boy, Abbey Gate College
