And the winner is?... CHARITY

In case you were worried, I survived the 10th Annual Asics British 10k last Sunday. Not only did I survive the 6.6 mile course but I completed it in a respectable 1 hour 17 minutes and 58 seconds, knocking over six minuted off my previous time at the Lincoln 10k.

I'm not going to lie there were many times throughout the 77 minutes that I wanted to give up but something kept me going and that was the promise I had made at the beginning of my year of running. It's not just completing the races for the purpose of sponsorship that is important but the knowledge that I'm standing up to help fight for something that affects us all - death.

Morbid as it may sound it is truly the one thing that we cannot escape and Bassetlaw Hospice like so many other hospices strive to provide peace and dignity at the end of our lives and help to form a support network for the family and friends left behind.

So as I crossed the finish line, hot sweaty and seriously dehydrated I jumped for joy as I thought of the motivation that spurred me on... This is for you Grand-ma xx

The new Sahara is Lambeth Hill...

I've just sneaked a peek at the weather forcast for Sunday and for the first time ever I'm distruaght at the thought that it could exceed 31 celcius on Sunday! Now normally I would be over the moon, however this Sunday is no ordinary Sunday.



In two days time I will be running the 10th Annual Asics British 10k in London http://www.thebritish10klondon.co.uk/ and with the MET office predicting record temperatures, so not only will I be battling with the prospect of waging war on just over six and a half miles, but also surviving the scorching sun!



But hey when I stop to think of the reason behind me not only running the 10k on Sunday but my year of running, the sweltering heat seems like the least I can endure if it helps Bassetlaw Hospice.



So whilst you're sunning yourself this weekend sipping on something suitably delicious, please take five minutes to visit www.justgiving.com/rosiecorriette and help me to reach my target of £1000.



Have a great weekend and I promise to try and upload a hilarious photo of me cooking on the streets of London!!



R xx

The Wonderer Returns

After almost two months of silence I'm back, and this time I promise never to leave you in the dark about my oh so amazing life (you can't blame me for selling myself in!!)



So where have I been, I hear you all asking? The answer is nothing glamorous yet certainly exciting! I've been really busy what with my course, my fundraising and the associated training, plus I've been settling in at my placement at the amazing Lava PR - think I'll have to devote a whole blog post to do it justice!



My previous blog posts have tended to be structured pieces of writing that had a central theme that could be linked to throughout. This however often means that when I'm strapped for time I neglect my blog due to being reluctant to post a short and sweet update.



So from now on I'm blogging with a simple aim, to let my avid followers what the Rosie Affair really is so I apologise in advance for slightly of track posts but hey!



In the meantime for those of you that like me are part of the PR clan, I need your help: With one race done and another six to do, the campaign could really benefit if we could increase the level of exposure and perhaps introduce the idea of corporate sponsors who would pay to feature on race shirt. Seeing as you all have brilliant contacts, I think this would be a fantastic opportunity to show your support by donating your skills and ideas!!



Looking forward to hearing all of your amazing ideas and remember to re tweet the link to this post, so we can increase peoples awareness for my Year of Running for Bassetlaw Hospice.



Thanks x

Aint No Mountain High Enough - apart perhaps the Lincoln One!

In seven days time it'll hopefully be all over - assuming that I don't incur a massive injury such as a broken bone I will have completed the Annual Lincoln 10K Road Race. In aid of BassetlawHospice which you all should know by now is the charity I am choosing to fund raise for by embarking on a year of runs!

Over the last few days something very disturbing has started to happen. People have been asking me what time I'm aiming to complete the race and also what my race pace is. I think it is important at this stage to get a few things straight...
As long as I finish the course I will be ecstatic, I have never proclaimed to be the next Paula Radcliffe and quite frankly can you really see me weeing myself just to maintain my personal best!

I will admit that with less than a week to go I am beginning to feel that this is going to be way harder than I ever imagined - and this is where you come in. Rosie i.e. me has the habit of talking myself into a panic when all that matters is that I'm doing this to raise some money for charity.

So over the next six days I need all of you that read this to visit my just giving page and pledge money for my year of running!

Wish me luck for my last week of training... any hints or tips on how to prepare for race day will be greatly received!!

Shrove Tuesday... The Start of Something Big?

It took me an evening of pancakes - trust me much better in theory than in practice, to finally decide what I would give up for Lent. Ash Wednesday is not just a lingering day of obligation in the Catholic calender - it conjures for those die hard Catholic girls and boys memories of abstaining from chocolate and in more recent years alcohol!

Rather than the usual promises of no sweets or crisps I have decided this year to rather than give something up I will be embracing a sense of thinking: positive thinking and courage are the order of the next 40 days and 40 nights!

Why such a touchy feely proclamation I hear you mumble whilst scoffing your third pancake - If you've dabbled in reading my previous ramblings aka blog posts you will know that I am due to run the Lincoln 10k Road Race on Sunday 21st March with the aim of raising money for Bassetlaw Hospice http://www.bassetlawhospice.org/ However just over a week ago I fell ill with what I thought was a troublesome yet simple infection, the clever doctors seem to think otherwise - apparently my long standing yet mild bowel disease has most probably progressed to Crohn's.

This new disease will take some dealing with and all the other things that come with being ill - I am determined to keep my promise of dragging my reluctant bones around the city of Lincoln in the name of charity. Yes the remaining period of training will be increasingly tough but the sense of achievement when I cross the finish line (albeit with the added incentive of a Brunch time glass of champagne!) is something that I hope will keep my spirits high when my shin splints are playing up.

A final thank you to the sacrificial pancakes this evening for providing me with the eureka moment as to my direction through the Lent of 2010, Lets hope it doesn't take me to Emerald City in search of my much needed courage.

Well you can't run a race in Spanx pants... or can you?

Spanx pants sum up my approach to any type of physical activity... no work and all the perceived gain! However when it comes to a 10km road race apparently they have these clever little digital chips which record just how long it took you to complete the run - and what's more they publish this information on the Internet for all to see and in my case laugh their socks off!!

Why is this of any concern I hear you say? Well Rosie has entered the 14th Annual 10km Lincoln Road Race which takes place on Sunday 21st March... so in 56 days I will have to endure the torture of running 10km aka 6.2 miles around the town of Lincoln finishing in the shadow of Lincoln Castle. Apart from the obvious downside of having to rise before lunchtime on the day (race starts at 11.ooam) I have failed to mention so far that I have yet to start any form of training; and as Jane and my fellow students in Managing Public Relations will know my arse is one that leaves a trail of destruction behind it!

So what's the plan Stan? This is where you guys come in, as of tomorrow I will be rising at the ungodly hour of 6am to drag myself to the gym and pound the treadmill for 45 minutes! I plan to do this on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. However I have a terrible track record for not keeping to any sort of physical activity programme, therefore I am relying on all of you to motivate me in the hope that I will stick to the regime and eventually run the race and finish in a respectable time of under 90 minutes!

So why am I going to all this effort to run round Lincoln on a Sunday morning?!?! Well it's all in the name of Public Relations. My group and I have been set a task for our group assignment to create a PR campaign for a charity. We chose Bassetlaw Hospice in Retford http://www.bassetlawhospice.org/- it is where both my Aunt and Grandmother lost their battle with cancer and I feel that hospices in general whilst not a trendy topic for people to discuss (no one likes to broach death at the dinner table) is a sad necessity in the fight to ensure dignity and calm in the often dark and painfully final stage of many lives. To kick start the campaign I jokingly offered myself up like a sacrificial lamb to do the race in order to raise some media attention and of course well needed funds!!

So here I am on the eve of my training and to be honest while sat curled up on my sofa sipping coffee nothing fills me with more dread than rising three hours earlier than needed to physically exert myself but I promise that I will give it 100% but I do need your help, if you see me challenge me to make sure I've been to the gym and for god's sake if you see a chocolate bar on route to my mouth: backhand me, the harder the better!! I am going to blog over the coming weeks updating you all on my highs and the definite lows!

I can't do this on my own, so I look forward to all of you helping me, together we can do this! Are you with me? Right better dig my running trainers out... do platform heels count?!?!?!

References...

And now for the boring part - Still not 100% confident that I would have been abe to successfully refernence in the style on blog so to cover my back here are the lists of references in the harvard system!

Beard, M, (2002) Running a public relations department 2nd edition. London: Kogan Page

Crofts, J. (2009) Where does PR fit in Managing PR lecture slides: University of Lincoln

Tench, R, Yeomans, L (2009) Exploring public relations 2nd edition. London: Prentice Hall

Gregory, A (ed) (2006) Public relations in practice 2nd edition. London: Kogan Page

Gannon, D. (2009) Internal communications in practice PR organisational communication lecture slides: University of Lincoln