Sweat, Cobblestones and a Job well done.

All of the Gorgeous 5 made it round a gruelling course on Sunday with varying degrees of success. The heat was intense and reduced many runners to quitters. Chartwell Staff are made of sterner stuff though and as the heat rose so did their resolve. Pain and unsound footing on the cobblestones went unnoticed as our outrageously handsome team dug deep (and walked when they had to).

Austin ' Pedigree' Degge made light work of it with a time of 1hr 47 minutes and was so calm and collected he was able to strike a pose for the trackside cameras.
His 'Blue Steel' pout is on t'interweb for all to see at the Bristol Half web-site. Austin never doubted himself and continued to annoy the rest of us who find it hard to run 13 miles.  Usually prone to lengthy speeches he kept it short when commenting on his first place finish, stating simply that "you just can't stop the cream rising to the top". Begrudgingly the rest of the team had to agree that Austin really is rather good at running.

The rest of the pack were tightly bunched. Pete 'Wannabe' Atkinson hobbled over next with his dream time of 1 hour 30 minutes remaining just that. 28 minutes after his adoring fan had lined up at the finish to congratulate him, Big Pete was barely able to keep standing on legs that wouldn't look out of place on a medium size chicken.  It was only the smell of his 5 year old trainers that kept him conscious as he fumbled round the course, but at least he looked ravishing in his sweaty orange race vest. Depsite his clear lack of ability Pete is once again targetting 1 hour 30 minutes for the Bath Half Marathon. No chance.

Rob 'I told you I used to be a semi pro-footballer' Winfield bounded round in 2 hours and 4 minutes, even finding time for a loo stop and a few casual up-hill strolls to admire the scenery. He must have found it a little tough though as in the last few days his energy and excitement levels have been below 150% for the first time in about 20 years. This was awesome stuff for a first timer though and expect great things from him for the upcoming Bath Half Marathon.

Not to be outdone, Peter 'Terminator' Hill showed that he is more machine than man by matching Rob's time of 2 hours and 4 minutes despite his training consisting of a few trips to KFC. His shades clearly gave him an edge and my god did he look cool. All he needs is a leather jacket with matching trousers, an Uzi 9mm, a faux-Austrian accent and he could pass for Arnie. Taking a 13 mile run in your stride is the sign of true class and Peter deserves further praise for rocking up with £240 in sponsorship just in time for the final count.

Last and definitely least was Keith Patrick. Perhaps a little harsh given that Keith has been encouraging the rest of us with worldly advice and a smattering of ridiculousness that makes him so endearing. Nevertheless, being rude to Pork is immensely satisfying and my advice is don't knock it until you've tried it. Unfortunately his time of 2 hours and 13 minutes is actually rather impressive, so I will have to give you the facts rather than just mock him.  Bear in mind that he couldn't train for the last 3 weeks and had to drive up the motorway for 2 hours during his holiday to make the race. Not ideal preparation but rather than cry off Keith did us all proud and will no doubt be smashing the 2 hour mark in Bath.
He probably had to work harder than any of us to get round a hellish course and deserves a huge amount of credit for his efforts.

Whilst we must all be applauded for being so awesome, none of us would have pushed ourselves as hard as we did without your sponsorship. We raised a fantastic £2,350 once all offline contributions and Gift Aid were factored in and the figure is still rising. Fairbridge were there on the day to cheer us on and were thrilled at how it went. The money we raised translates to real opportunites for struggling youngsters in Bristol and we should all feel very proud of ourselves for contributing whether by hard miles or hard cash.

Well done everybody!

With many thanks

Rob, Pete, Keith, Peter & Austin