I survived! It's now a week after the Great South Run and I'm absolutely thrilled at the generosity of my friends and acquaintances.

The ten-mile run actually turned out to be almost enjoyable. I wore a lemur on my head (which, as you can see, was trying to escape during the last tortuous miles; perhaps it wanted to join the man in a tutu) and I actually finished third in my gender/age group. Mind you, there were only eight of us female oldies. The fastest in this elite group came in nearly half an hour ahead of me!

The really awful thing is that I've signed up for next year. Must be mad!

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