LANCASHIRE Evening Telegraph reporter Helen Priest joined the Race For Life - and found it a struggle.

But she did have the extra burden of having to carry a notebook and pen (that's her excuse anyway)...

THE sun was shining with a light breeze in the air - a super night to compete in a half-marathon.

I say half-marathon because there's no way on earth that race was 5km. My legs and my lungs were telling me to stop after what they believed must have been the required distance.

But alas, it turns out that they were deceiving me.

My preparation had lacked a certain amount of gusto throughout. I knew I should have done more when I couldn't make it half way around Entwistle Reservoir near Darwen last week.

My mother kindly pointed out on the phone that my 53-year-old (sorry Ness) colleague shouldn't be running faster than me. That pep talk is an example of why my mum will never became a fitness coach.

Just to highlight how stupid I actually am, I undertook a two-and-a-half day partying spree at the weekend to celebrate a friend's birthday. Stupid, stupid girl.

And can you imagine the trauma of realising I'd left my shorts at mum's in Oldham. My legs would be hot, but at least I wouldn't be showing them to the world. All that talk about new trainers, new shorts etc. Time flies when you try to avoid what's coming and then it finally creeps up on you like a Darwen Dasher in the dark.

So I think it was the afternoon pasta that spurred me on to running a time of around 35 minutes. I couldn't believe I did a semi-sprint finish -- must have been the prospect of a cheese pasty (my favourite, as readers of my column will know).

Vanessa, my running mate, crossed the line five minutes earlier. Worringly, so too did a number of kids who were whipping past me like darts. I tried so hard to catch them but my notepad and pen must've taken at least five minutes off my time!

But I've never felt such motivation to run and everywhere you looked you saw smiling faces.

I'm lucky enough not to have a close family member or friend who has died of cancer but for those out there who were running for mums, aunties, friends and sisters - you've done a wonderful thing and it was an absolute pleasure to be running (very slowly) alongside you.