It's all over !!     Sunday was beautiful and sunny in Portsmouth and I finished the 10 miles of the Great South Run in just over 90 minutes.    Then to top off a great day, Liverpool beat Man U when I pretty much expected them to lose !

Our race got off to a frustrating start, as we were behind many slower runners and had to weave in and out of them to get into a decent spot.  Looking at my split times, it looks like that might have cost me a couple of minutes overall.

But the middle part felt really good.  We ran fairly close together - and tried to keep up with Mike Keogh's son Matthew (who at 16 years and a few days, would have been one of the youngest of the 21,000 competitors).  

There were lots of people around to cheer us on, including my ace daughters Cath, Bexx and Biddy and Mike Wood's family.   As we ran out of Portsmouth centre, it started to get very warm, and the water stations and the spray tunnel were a lovely balm.

The final 2 miles into a headwind, along the Southsea promenade with the sea on our left, was hard work.  Fortunately Mike Keogh was running strongly and I was able to use him as a windbreak for much of that stretch ;-).  The girls popped up again near the finish to encourage me through the last half mile, as my legs started to go to jelly.   Ironic therefore that the race organiser were handing out jelly babies as we crossed the finish line.....

There is a graphic that profiles my run here.  Also for Mike Wood, Mike Keogh and Matthew (who saved something for a fast finish).   Next year I want to break 85 minutes...

Afterwards, the CAFOD support team ministered to us with tea and sandwiches and fairtrade chocolate - thankyou Brian, Laura, Lynda, Helen and all the others.    And fair play to Martin Brown who ran the whole race with a giant pair of cardboard hands strapped to his back - to get across the message that our climate is in our hands.

Take a look at the photos, most of them taken by Cath, except for the one with Peter and Jaime taken by Helen.  Apart from the first, they're in chronological order. 

For a report on the other major sporting event of the day, see here.

Thankyou to everybody who has supported me in the race, especially those who have been able to sponsor me to raise funds for CAFOD.  Because of your generosity, we met an initial target to raise £500 several days before the race started.  I've now increased the target to an ambitious £1,000 - hoping that others will be equally generous now that the race is done.

CAFOD (part of the international Caritas network) helps people regardless of race or religion.  Money raised can provide:

For £3 - childhood immunization for one child

For £17 - school fees, uniform and books for one child for one year

For £50 - a bicycle for a village health worker, or a coolbox for vaccines

For £100 - a teacher's salary for one month. 

Thankyou !

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