I got up this morning and got ready for the Mother's Day fun run - put on my running clothes and chucked a cardigan over the top then caught the train into Richmond.

Things didn't start off so well - I couldn't find the toilets for ages and then got caught in the bag check queues with all the runners collecting their stuff after the race.

The walk had started by the time I dumped my bag so I followed everyone else to the start line - we all had to walk over to the Tan. I dunno how I did this but I missed the start line. I was going to check the time on my ipod when I crossed it but either it wasn't clearly marked or I was being vague.

There were so many people walking and I wanted to get around them so I had to duck and weave a lot. You know, with an event like this, I can understand families walking together but you'd think parents would try to keep their kids out other people's way. At one point, a couple of kids were playing chasies around the crowd - damn annoying.

So I tried to keep to the outside so I could run but still had a lot of walkers in my way. I kept thinking the second lap would be better once all the 4k walks had finished.

Around the 3 km mark, I started feeling sick. My stomach hurt and my chest felt tight. I got to the 4 km mark and tossed up finishing then rather than doing the second lap but told myself to keep going - after all, what was the point of even turning up for a slow 4 km run. By 5 km I felt like crawling into bed and dying but figured I'd just finish the race. There was no way I could run but was still keeping up a fast walk.

A bit later, I tried to get past one of the slow walkers and tripped over. A few people came over to see if I was okay and I nearly burst into tears. I realised I definitely wasn't okay.

By the time I got to 7 km, I thought I was going to throw up and/or collapse. I found one of the race volunteers and told him I didn't feel good. I couldn't even manage to say much more than that. He was lovely - he took me to a seat and put his coat down for me to sit on since it was wet, gave me some water and called the first aid people. He told me it would be about a 10 minute wait.

We waited and we waited and we waited. Finally he called them again. While we were waiting, it had turned so cold and the drizzle rain had gotten worse. He made me put on his coat. I kept looking at him and thinking he must have been so cold himself and thinking I should give his coat back, but I just couldn't.

The first aid people finally arrived in their car and took me back to their tent. They put me on an oxygen mask and covered me with blankets and foil to get me warm. They were so nice and kept fussing around me but I was worried about getting back to the bag check to get my bag plus I wasn't sure how I'd manage getting home - walking back to the station plus waiting around for the train - with only my thin cardigan for warmth.

Eventually they said they'd give me a lift back to the start after they'd packed up and I could KEEP the blanket. I nearly kissed them.

When we got back, I went to the bag check and it was empty. Everyone had gone. I asked one of the volunteers wandering around and she said to go to the site office. So I went to the site office and one of the girls went searching for my bag. She came back with another woman who said they weren't sure where my bag had got to and that she'd take my details and contact me about it later. I burst into tears - my house keys were in my bag and I wasn't sure if my sister was going to be home or at the football. She went off looking again and the girl got me a sausage and a really disgusting iced tea.

Finally someone came over with my bag. I could see her walking towards me and kept thinking, that's my bag but didn't want to believe it.

I wandered off back to the train station wrapped in my blanket with all the footy crowds staring at me. Then I realised I could have up to a half hour wait for the train so flagged down a cab and came home.

So, not one of my better fun runs and I missed out on my goodie bag... but I got a free blanket and everyone was so lovely to me. I think I'll be spending the afternoon in bed and rethinking this week's exercise schedule.