Well, that's all over for this year's London Marathon and what a great year - a huge thank you to everyone who has sponsored me. Thanks too for the immense support from family (especially my incredibly patient Rachel), friends, fellow parishioners and colleagues. By the time I have collected outstanding pledges the total tally will be well above £5,000 which is absolutely fantastic! It is wonderful to know that all the training has been turned into someting that can be put to such very good use, funding projects run by Jesuit Missions around the world. As a reminder this year's projects are in  South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Guyana, Zimbabwe, and, closer to home, Albania as well as the UK (you can read more about each of the projects and the team of runners here: http://www.jesuitmissions.org.uk/londonmarathon2010/index.htm). A huge thank you too to JM for letting me run for them again.

 

Match report: Having been drenched by a downpour in Greenwich Park even before we lined up, we wondered what had happened to the forecasted sunshine and 22C temperature. Fortunately the rain passed and the sun struggled through. The crowds were again out in force, and I think that the standard of bands south of the river had improved compared to last year! Stats-wise I managed to take a chunk off last year's time, coming in just under 3 hours 36 minutes. What's more I found myself able to negotiate walking down stairs which is probably the major improvement over last year.

 

If, however, you happen to be visiting this page and feel inclined to make a donation post the event, well please do so.Most of you know the form with JustGiving - donating is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity and hopefully making life easier for you too.

Best wishes & many thanks

John