Great Manchester Run: Dawn Nisbet on finishing the 10k in 2017 & 2018 race

Since finishing the 2017 Great Manchester Run, Dawn Nisbet has set up the Bee-Awesome group to support others towards their running goals

In the second part of her two-part blog, Dawn Nisbet - the runner whose picture went viral on social media after finishing a Parkrun - recalls her experience of the 2017 Great Manchester Run and looks forward to her new challenge this year...

I remember being totally petrified before I undertook my first ever 10k at the Great Manchester Run in 2017, yet massively excited at the same time in the run up to the big day.

The fact I might actually be able to do something like that from being totally inactive, overweight and pretty low in self-confidence seemed a giant leap.

I was so excited on the day.

I knew it was going to be an incredibly emotional day, not just because I tend to cry on a fairly frequent basis but because it was the weekend after the tragedy of the Manchester bombing.

Manchester was reeling and still is a year on from the events of 22 May 2017 happening at the very heart of the city.

I had also agreed to wear an action camera on my head during the run to live stream the whole event for BBC Sport.

I thought if I was already doing the run I might as well share my experience and anyone across the world could tune in to see the people of our great city united to support each and every runner out that day.

• Dawn's blog part one: 'Running has ignited that fire in me'

Manchester did not disappoint - the people, the cheers, the music were phenomenal.

There were tears at the start line as there was a minute's silence and then each and every runner and spectator sang together to Don't Look Back In Anger' - everyone united to show in the shadow of terrible tragedy great resilience and determination survives.

The 2017 Great Manchester Run was just six days after the Manchester Arena bomb

Across the 10km we saw friends, made new friends, got hi-fives from kids around the course, saw elite runners streak past, runners dressed in fancy dress, one guy pushing a wheelbarrow, and got overtaken by a man dressed as a pizza.

Every bit was amazing. The sun was beating down and we were having an amazing time.

Then I came round a corner to see a bridge and a sign saying 500 metres to go, my running buddy pointed into the distance and said: "There it is, the finish - we did it."

Cue me starting to cry, which isn't easy or particularly attractive when you are already out of breath.

I couldn't believe we were nearly there.

I took the camera off my head at that point to show me crossing the finish and those people that had followed me round the course got to see my sweaty, crying face for the first time.

I have watched that clip back a few times and every time I do I make myself cry. To have captured that sense of achievement and sheer emotion at the point of crossing the finish line is a moment I will treasure forever.

So on Sunday I will be doing my first half marathon at the Great Manchester Run - it was such a great event for my first 10km, why not make it my first half marathon too!

It will be me and my running buddy Mel, who stayed with me during the 10k last year and keeps me going up the hills, setting off to do 13.1 miles, along with a few other friends we have met only through running and a joint sense of 'finish lines not finish times'.

To say I am petrified again is an understatement - but I am trying to think not about the time it takes me to finish but the fun we will have along the way.

I am sure Manchester will be epic all over again.

Read how running has helped Dawn's mental wellbeing in the first part of her Great Manchester Run blog.