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Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.   Why am I running a marathon ???   In 2009 I ran the St Luke's Hospice 5k in Basildon and 9 months later having teamed up with Carl Watson to do some jogging around Hockley and Rayleigh, we trained to run the Southend Half Marathon in June 2010.   Having completed that, we decided to go for the big one and now find ourselves training for the London Marathon on April 17th 2011 !   Daunting but exciting, we are raising money for <a title="St Lukes Hospice, Basildon" href="http://www.stlukeshospice.com" target="_blank">St Luke's Hospice</a> in Basildon - I have been running their website for over 5 years and I would love to help and support them by raising as much money as possible on their behalf - any donation you can make would be fantastic and gratefully accepted.   And then there's more punishment, stupidity, call it what you like ......   A glutton for punishment maybe, but I will be keeping up the exercise after the marathon to do an event with friends Alex, Dan and Nick, all Dad's from Sam's football team, Hawkwell Athletic.   On July 9th 2011 we begin cycling Coast to Coast (St David's Bay in Wales to Lowestoft, that's the widest route across Britain), that will be around 425 miles (not allowing for wrong turns) in the saddle taking just  5 days!   So we need your support!   Donating through JustGiving 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 St. Luke's Hospice 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.   So please dig deep and donate now. Every donation is greatfully accepted and I will let you know how the marathon goes.   February update We get strange looks from drivers when they see middle-aged men in lycra running pants bounding through puddles in the pitch black on a cold, wet February evening. Hello to the a***hole who almost knocked me down near Budgens in Hullbridge! A short run is now 6 miles, a long run is up to 15!   March update Training is at it's peak, have completed a half marathon and beyond every weekend and reached 20 miles too .... so, only 6.2 more to find on the day   April 5th Update It is now less than 2 weeks to go and training is winding down now, preserving energy for the day ... still daunting but still exciting .... knees are very sore :-( April 14th Update Been to Excel, registered and now have number 48556 and timing chip. Only 2 more proper sleeps to go (any sleep on Saturday night will be a bonus!) and a 4am alarm call Sunday morning.       April 18th Update - The day itself! <div dir="ltr">I was extremely nervous all week but once there, it was just an amazing day.</div> <div dir="ltr"> </div> <div dir="ltr">It's a very surreal experience, such a long way to run and its all a bit of a blur. Watching it on TV last night just sunk in what a massive day and achievement it was.</div> <div dir="ltr"> </div> <div dir="ltr">Was disappointed nr Tower Bridge as had hoped to see Mandy and Sam for support, but because I got there a bit earlier than expected they hadnt got there by then, but they did see me at mile 22 ... amazingly I was still running but they said I was looking rather tired! That is an understatement!</div> <div dir="ltr"> </div> <div dir="ltr">I'm aching a bit today, but not as bad as I thought, I suspect tomorrow will be worse. The knee straps seemed to help - they did hurt in mile 2 (!) but I popped an ibuprufen and it relieved the pain, didn't feel the heat that everyone was saying was affecting them, was a wise move to wear a cap I think. </div> <div dir="ltr"> </div> <div dir="ltr">I did the first 13 miles in 2:20 and the 2nd half in 2:22 so kept a very consistent and manageable pace, miles 18-26 were very tough but I didn't hit the wall thankfully. The crowd are amazing at that stage and I was able to run down the Mall at the finish overtaking quite a few walkers. </div> <div dir="ltr"></div> <div dir="ltr">Glad it is over now, that was a long 6 months of training in a pretty grim winter, but it was all worth it in the end.</div> <div dir="ltr"></div> <div dir="ltr">And most importantly, thanks to all of your generous donations, St Luke's Hospice will receive a minimum of the funds they asked me to raise on their behalf, and hopefully we'll exceed it.</div> <div dir="ltr"></div> <div dir="ltr">So a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me !!</div> <div dir="ltr"></div>

Keith's London Marathon 2011

Keith's London Marathon 2011

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