Coventry Fun Run                     29th June 2008
Unfortunately this event was cancelled last year due to the awful summer floods across the Country, which saw the Memorial Park in which the start/finish, and charity stalls are set-up become heavily water-logged and the organisers deemed it unsafe. It was a shame as this is one of the best events the City of Coventry hosts each year, a day to be really proud of as it raises thousands of pounds for charities.
12 months later, and no bad weather to put a damper on things, we were good to go for the ’25th Anniversary’ running of this lovely event. After some confusion with meet-up points and car sharing amongst my gym running group (whom most we’re doing it) we made the short journey, a little later than expected, to the other side of the city for the start.
I think last years cancellation had taken the momentum out of the event as the field of runners assembled at the start seemed much less than previous years (still 3000 though) as the mayor set us merrily on our way… and what a mixed bunch we were! Young and old, fun and serious and colourful fancy dress of every imagination… even a keen bunch pushing a bath!!
The 4.5 mile course consists of a small burst across one of the fields of the park, through the gates, along a few roads around the city centre, through the precinct within the city centre (featuring bemused looks from hundreds of unaware shoppers!!), back out again through another network of roads, back towards the park, and then 2 long paths inside the park as you cross the finish line near the pavilion amongst hundreds of cheering friends and family all out to support their loved ones. It’s a great atmosphere all round.
What makes this event even more interesting for many of the local club runners is that the organisers award a medal to the Top 100 finishers. This is something that I achieved 2 years ago for the first time and I was very keen to do it again… so were many others!
As it was a short(ish) course I decided to run the whole route as quickly as I could and achieved a time of 27:14, a PB for this race, and was even more delighted when I was handed one of these limited medals. This was the icing on the cake for me, as it rounded off a great morning. This was a welcomed return to the Cov Fun Run and once again, very well done to the organisers for another excellent event… lets hope it continues for many years to come… weather depending!!