Thames Towpath Ten; it DID snow! (See Andy A, 31st March).

I was woken up on Sunday morning to my dad's dulcet tones "it's 'orrible out". It didn't matter that it was actually snowing, and snow was settling on the car as fast as we could clear it off, we all headed off to Chiswick for the Fuller's Thames Towpath Ten, so named because it's sponsored by Fullers Brewery, and is a ten mile jaunt along the Thames Towpath. Bear in mind that at the race last year temperatures of 23C were recorded and dehydration got the better of a few runners, so there were a few nervous looking runners huddled over coffees in the pavilion before the race. I think we were all wondering whether the race would actually go ahead. Mum and Dad were marshalling the gate 'start line is to the left, by the white line on the field'. This is the field that had 2 inches of lying snow on it, and more was still coming down!!!!!!! Still, we started - 2 laps of the field (through the snow) then up over Chiswick Bridge. At the first mile marker I realised I couldn't feel my toes but I soon warmed up. Dropping down onto the towpath was when I got my rhythm and did my usual trick of looking ahead to spot who I'd overtake next. Had a chat to a lovely girl from Thames Turbos about triathlons. The river does a big loop around to Richmond, so the route follows the towpath all the way past Kew Gardens. This is a particularly nasty bit of the course as the path is really rough, rocky and puddly, so I kept my head down and ticked off the miles. A particular nuance of this course means running up the stairs onto Twickenham Bridge which is never great, but then I had the strange sensation of snow blowing into my left ear horizontally. It was perversely refreshing to start with! At Old Deer Park in Richmond the route cuts across to head back to Kew Bridge - past an army of snowmen being built - then back to the river for the last 3 miles. The marshalls all looked frozen, at least running kept me warm. The entrance back onto the field to finish had turned into a quagmire and the icy grass made a sprint finish virtually impossible, but I still managed to finish in 1:28:13, which is only 30secs slower than my PB. Not bad considering I cycled 9 miles to work & back on Saturday. So why did I bother to turn up when the weather was this bad? The best memento ever - An engraved Fullers Beer glass. Which I christened with London Pride. The immortal words - 'Whatever you do, take Pride' were not lost on me today.

Emma Saville