WE HAVE DONE IT!!!

On Sunday 4^th November we both ran and survived (just!) 26.22miles.

To date we have raised £9,312 thanks to your kind and generous sponsorship. The founder of Charlie’s Challenge called to ask us to pass on a huge thank you to everyone who has donated and I am sure the RNLI will be able to put the money to good use. We can all be proud, and I know Atty would be, for supporting such fantastic causes. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

We both have stories to tell, so we are going to write our own account of the big day...

TOM’S STORY

I was told by my college that they did not want me to run the New York marathon due to the pressures of my work. WHAT! You cannot be serious! They were.

This was a huge blow for me, but as soon as I could see that there was no way for me to make it out to New York I started to plan running a marathon in Cambridge. I never thought of not running.

The first thing I did was to organise a marathon route in Cambridge. I wanted to do a few laps of a circuit rather than one big circuit so that it was easier for people to support me. I found out, with the help of Google Earth, that my usual run from college along the river Cam to the railway bridge was 2.185miles. So if I went there and back 12 times I would have my 26.22miles, I would have my Cambridge Marathon.

I had a t-shirt made with “Cambridge Marathon 2007” on the front and the name of the charities on the back to make it official. I then spread the word around college to get as much support out on the day as possible.

On the big day I woke up at 6.00 in the morning so that I could eat a huge bowl of pasta with baked beans and a bit of Dolmio- serious Carbo loading! I then woke up (again), showered and then Sophie,  Oscar and Felix arrived. I was setting off at 10:00, so with about ten minutes to go me and the team set off to my starting point, the fountain outside Thomson’s lane. I had a quick chat with Harry, who was just waking up for his pasta and beans, wishing him the best of luck. With Felix leading the countdown to ten o’clock my little crowd of supporters cheered me off.

I do not think I could have made myself keep turning around to do another lap if it had not been for the fantastic support I had throughout the race. I had someone running or cycling with me at every stage of the race. Karty and Rossie brought up some more supplies, so that I had water, bananas, powerade, everything I needed to hand. The first three laps went well and I set a good pace, but as the race went on and the blister on the sole of my foot grew in size all my focus went on putting one foot in front of the other. When it started to get hard I thought about what my run was all about. It was all about remembering a very special person, Atty. He definitely helped keep me going.

On the last lap the college boat gave me three cheers which really helped to lift me. This combined with switching from my girlfriend’s ipod (Sugar babes can only get you so far!) to my friend’s one, with tunes from Top Gun and Rocky blasting away helped me to find that little bit more to give when I did not have anything.

I had only eyes for the line. I crossed it at 2:04. I ran for 4 hours and 4 minutes. There was a brilliant crowed to see me in. It was very special to share the moment with so many people. I was so finished, but it was done. It felt amazing to complete what was definitely one of the most physically and mentally challenging tasks of my life.

Throughout the race I had been thinking of Harry and as I was finishing, about 3460 miles away (thanks again Google Earth) Harry was just setting off.... I knew he would do it.

here are some pictures from the day:

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee52/tombiggunstothert/marathon2.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee52/tombiggunstothert/marathon7.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee52/tombiggunstothert/marathon8.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee52/tombiggunstothert/marathon11.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee52/tombiggunstothert/marathon9.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee52/tombiggunstothert/marathon5.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee52/tombiggunstothert/marathon4.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee52/tombiggunstothert/marathon3.jpg

Harry’s New York Marathon ‘07:

Beep! Beep! Beep! The alarm went off but I was already awake, trying to set out the task in front of me… 26 miles, that’s from Granny Ba’s house to Manchester, the M25 to Georgie’s house, from home toGuildford. That I thought was a pretty long way. But something I just had to do!

Dad and I were up and about at 4am for me to eat the tomato pasta we’d bought the day before, so it would all be nicely digested before the race. Met with the other runners in the hotel at 5 and Daddy and I proceeded to New York City Library arm in arm. Dad’s parting words, “Have fun!” couldn’t have been better advice.

The bus toStattonIsland was a laugh, sitting next to some rowdy Frenchies who were singing at the back of the bus. I gave them Frere Jacques’ (in French!) which they loved! Once there, I found out where I was starting from then wondered round for an hour soaking up all the excitement. There were live bands, and loads of stalls, I stashed about 20 energy bars to send back to Tom as a prezzie.

I was surprised by the age of the runners, mostly in their thirties plus, when I thought there were going to be a lot more my age and in their 20’s. Had a few good chats to settle the nerves. With half an hour to go I made my way to the start line… they were starting us off in groups of 1000, and before I knew it I was off!!! In the first 10 mins I learnt that not all bridges are as flat as they appear as I marched overStattonIslandBridge. Got my first cheer from a group of supporters just after the end of the bridge which put a smile on my face, “GO HARRY” (I had my name in big letters across my t-shirt).

As we progressed throughBrooklyn the support got better and better and I realised that running a marathon was not an individual sport as I had thought but really a massive team effort and we were all going to do this together. I was running along giggling with a huge grin on my face. IntoQueens we went and I realised that I was half way and feeling great!

OverBrooklynBridge and turned onto First Avenue and my heat sank, I seriously couldn’t see the end of it! But the supporters were 8 deep and cheering me on .“Looking good Harry,” “Keep it up.” Then suddenly, I hit ‘The Wall’. Bosh! Was at 19m and suddenly my legs didn’t move as quickly as I wanted them to, breathing got harder and I really had to struggle on. If I had carried on at that pace I would have never finished. That was the hardest half hour of my life. But someone was looking out for me and as quickly as it came it went, just as I was running down the bridge from Bronx to Manhattan.

Then disaster struck… I miscounted one of the mile markers and thought I only had a mile left when I reached the 24 mile mark, deceived by the size ofCentral Park. That was really hard to deal with mentally as I had turned on the afterburners a bit too early and just as I was getting in to the last water station inCentral Park and deciding weather or not to have a rest I saw Millie and Mummy. Obviously couldn’t stop when my main supportive body was watching so I gritted my teeth and charged on.

I have never been so focused on a count down in my life, 1.6 miles left. 1 mile to go. At 800 meters it really hit home that I was about to complete a marathon and nothing was going to stop me crossing that line! With 200 yards to go I started sprinting for the line, I drove over it and it was done. The self pride I felt was the main emotion after finishing and receiving my medal. I HAD DONE IT! I had made myself proud, my family and friends proud, and most importantly I felt I had made Atty proud.

I was exhausted and decided on a visit to the med-centre for a few sachets of salt and a quick massage to stop my legs cramping up. I managed to meet up with a very relived and proud father outside theNationalHistoryMuseum, salt deposits under my eyes and ready to go home. Daddy carried me to the bus, with the sight of my medal paying for my passage. Felt exhausted but after a shower I felt in serious need of a steak so we all set off for the best place in town to celebrate.  On the walk back to the hotel, half the people out were hobbling marathon runners all nodding to each other knowing the massive achievement we had all gone through, we had run a marathon. Thank you to everyone for all your support in making this happen.

Here are some pictures from the day:

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee52/tombiggunstothert/harrymarathonpic1.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee52/tombiggunstothert/harrymarathonpic2.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee52/tombiggunstothert/harrymarathonpic3.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee52/tombiggunstothert/harrymarathonpic4.jpg

Thank you for visiting our fundraising page. Please dig deep and sponsor us online.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor us: Charlie's Challenge will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.