Just a quick note on my marathon exploits at the weekend…
What a day!… It started off with me sharing a seat on the DLR with an absolute star… a guy I met told me about his life changing experience, meeting a little girl diagnosed with Leukaemia, whose bravery inspired him to take up running and to train for the marathon - and to raise as much money as he could to help fight her illness… he told me that he was the highest charity earner on the 'just giving' website with over £32K raised so far…
Anyhow, got to the start and immediately lost my mobile phone… my wife couldn't reach me… so I had to run on my own… took over 12 minutes to get over the start and then took all my guile and running skills to get past the odd donkey, Orville the duck and some mad blokes carrying a big model of a Ghostbusters… . I got to 8 miles - running fine, on target to beat 3:45 when calamity struck… my legs decided they didn't want to play anymore. I then had to cajole them for the next 18 miles combining a mixture of walking, running and dancing (when the music took me) to get me to the end.
The whole experience despite being very painful (the weather was excruciatingly hot - the tarmac burned my feet on every step) - I enjoyed every minute - I was a bit disappointed at the end - a slow time but the banter with the crowd was over… the spectators were fantastic. The great weather had produced enormous crowds to cheer us on… and the generosity with sweets, fruit and the odd pint of beer helped me along (yes… I did have a pint on route!)
I would recommend the whole experience to anyone who is into running… but remember… 26 miles is a very long way… and its best to do some training beforehand if you want to be able to walk afterwards…
Anyhow… thank you to everybody who has contributed to my charity… and keep on smiling… just remember… there is always someone worse off than you are!
Cheers
Mark
Hi there,
To anyone who has not seen me running the streets of Edinburgh recently (yeah right!) - I am participating in the London Marathon on Sunday.
I have decided to try and raise a few pounds for a local hospice whilst struggling along the streets of London - so if anybody would like to celebrate this epic event with me - donations would be greatly received - and obviously appreciated by the hospice!
Many thanks
Mark
