Well - despite the training injuries and niggles, in the end I made it in a reasonably satisfying time of 4 hrs 32 mins - beating Richard Branson by about half an hour! In addition my main rival Sammy Wanjiru dropped out at 17 miles - so that's one up in our long term battle... ;-)  

In reality, the first half went OK (under 4hrs 10min pace at Tower Bridge) and despite getting calf pain from 16-17 miles (something which strangely seemed to occur regularly at this distance in training), I did manage to run all the way. The last 6 miles were really very hard, but the atmosphere was fantastic and having the family there for support at various stages and at the end really helped too. 

Good to have a 30th Anniversary London Marathon medal - my first and last! 10Ks if anything from now on, I reckon...

Thank you all so much for your generous donations to date - I have raised much more than I thought I would. It's all going to a great cause  - the Alzheimer's Society - who support research into the disease, as well as offering practical help for carers and patients, like my mother and grandmother. It is still not too late to donate - so please feel free to add to the total if you can.

Thanks again to everyone for your support - very much appreciated.

Jim