After months of anticipation and zero hours of training, the big day of the Horsham Sport Relief Mile finally arrived. As Howie awoke from his slumber, a quick glimpse out of his nest confirmed his worst fears that the event was going to take place in the rain. Unfortunately this meant that he would be unable to fly the mile and would have to run it instead. A hearty breakfast of nectar got his spirits up and soon it was time for Howie to make his way to the park where the mile run was being held. The wet weather didn’t seem to have deterred people and 600 runners made their way to the registration tent ahead of the start. At this point Howie met up with his running partner, Al Morris and having successfully registered there was time for a bit of mingling and high fives with some of the many children taking part.
Before the race itself, a warm-up was organized around the bandstand and although Howie had his fur to keep him warm, he joined in with the stretches and assorted exercises to the point of collapse! Well and truly warmed up and following a quick hello to Frank King Howie, Al and the other milers made there way to the start and after a count down from 10 to 1, the race was underway.
It was decided that the best plan was to take the first 20 yards easy so after an initial gentle stroll to recover from the warm-up, the pace was picked up to a gentle jog. Upon spotting some familiar faces from the football club at around the third of a mile mark, Howie and Al picked the pace up further so as to at least make it look like we were going for a new HFC mascot mile record. This was perhaps not the best idea and so once out of sight again, a brief walk to recover from the sprint was needed. At this point it seemed like the finish line must just be around the next corner so it was somewhat a surprise to hear that we were only half way round. It had seemed like such a good idea a few months ago! Anyway, by the time the pair were into the last half of the race, they had found their right pace and despite almost being knocked into muddy puddle by some of the ‘serious’ athletes, Howie and Al started to move their way up the field. The downhill final straight saw the pair put in a charge and cheered on by some familiar faces, the finish line was crossed in record time. Seeing as it was the first time Howie had run a mile, that wasn’t too hard.
The time was irrelevant though, it was all about raising money and having fun and we did both and met lots of friendly people along the way. Thanks to all the kind people who sponsored Howie and Al, we managed to raise £300 for Sport Relief so a big thank you to everyone who sponsored us. A special thank you must go to Andy Meadus as well who very generously donated his raffle winnings of £103 from Saturdays match, a fantastic gesture indeed.