Thank you for taking the time to visit this JustGiving fundraising page.

Thank you also to New York Road Runners, all the volunteers and the people of New York City for another fantastic occasion.  The weather was kind, clear blue skies but cool temperatures.  Maybe a little too cool for the almost 2 hour wait between arriving at the starting village and the cannon at just after 9.40am - a couple of black bin liners sort of did the trick but I could have done with a few more disposable layers.

At the marathon expo two days before the race, I saw a sign about a famous runner making a personal appearance on the Saturday afternoon so I made a point of turning up to get advice for the second year running from none other than marathon legend Joan Samuelson (nee Benoit).

Joan advised me to run the first 16 miles steady then race the last 10, so as to achieve negative splits (that's running the second half faster than the first).  I ran a few calculations and hit the halfway point in just over 1 hour 35 minutes, so kind of on target.  There were more hills in the second half than I remember from last year and I missed the negative splits but finished stronger than I thought I was doing at the time for 03:13:05.  That's good enough to get a place in London 2012 (the marathon rather than the Olympics) and Boston 2012.

Carted a couple of carb gels round the course with me but chose to stick to Gatorade endurance formula every mile plus took a banana offered by a supporter at about 12 miles and an "official" half banana shortly after entering Central Park.

The New York City Marathon is an incredible, incredible event and the support of the crowds, the bands, fellow runners and race marshals is phenomenal all the way round.

I was fortunate to have received a guaranteed race entry, so I seized this opportunity to raise funds for the DKH Legacy Trust.  They even ran an article in the news on their website:

http://www.dkhlegacytrust.org/dkh-p-newsArchive-ni-369.htm

The DKH Legacy Trust inspires young people to find and fulfil their potential in sport or in life, through their workforce of elite sports performers.  In these challenging times and uncertain futures, there is an even greater need to give young people belief and a vision to succeed.  Through innovative projects and programmes delivered by the team of inspirational sports performers the Trust helps young people to participate, stay in and excel in sport, and helps disadvantaged young people to find and believe in their own talents.

To find out more about the work of the DKH Legacy Trust, check out the website:

http://www.dkhlegacytrust.org/

If you wish to donate towards helping disadvantaged young people to find and believe in their own talents and young people to participate, stay in and excel in sport, then it’s dead easy here at JustGiving.  It's also fast, totally secure and the most efficient way to sponsor me.  The DKH Legacy Trust will receive your money more quickly and, if you are a taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.  Higher rate taxpayers can also reclaim the difference between basic and higher rate tax via their tax return.  Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails.

Many thanks for your support.  Have a great day.

David