RED, sweaty and with legs minutes away from giving way was how I crossed the finish line to my first ever 10k race.
Worcester City Runs 2024 marked its 10th anniversary yesterday (Sunday) - but alongside this milestone were thousands of other more personal achievements being accomplished.
And it's safe to say the city did not hold back from ensuring each one was celebrated.
READ MORE: Pictures as thousands take part in the Worcester City Runs
I was one of 5,000 people who crossed the starting line yesterday to take part in either a junior run, 10k, or half-marathon.
Each countdown was initiated by the legendary three-time London Marathon winner Paula Radcliffe MBE, and each race started with the anticipation you would find before any long haul of a run.
The actual run was scary, tiring and rewarding but it also made me incredibly proud to be able to call Worcester my home.
I have never been to a city event that united everyone quite like this one.
Crowds cheered for their loved ones but also took the time to call the names of runners they had never met before to spur them on over the finish line.
Other residents not only decorated signs but curated entire scenes outside their houses and banners for those of us running by.
One that particularly caught my eye—to the point where I tried to take a mid-run picture—was a home on Tybridge Street with cut-out cardboard runners and a great bedsheet banner hanging on its lawn.
Residents sat on deck chairs, and a boy in a construction outfit cheered us on as we went by.
Then, there were the people dressed in dinosaur costumes high-fiving runners and children from various sports clubs with their hands out.
When I reached halfway through my run, I was surprised to be serenaded by a brass band that decided to set up and play music on the run.
At 7k, I decided to get really sluggish but was then greeted by residents outside their homes with bags of sweets to offer a well-needed energy boost and others holding cups of water to take.
I had finished my first race in 1hour and 14minutes, but I felt like it would have been far longer if the city had not helped spur me on through the hardships.
Worcester, you definitely made my first 10K a memorable one.
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