Hi Everyone,

UPDATE 15/4/08 I'm in the marathon runners' club. The experience was awesome. Despite the rain the crowds were amazing urging me by shouting my name and handing out sweets.

The weather was nice and sunny for the first ten miles, then started chucking it down just before Tower Bridge. I was pleased to get to the halfway point in time to see the leaders coming back on the other side of the road, so at least I felt I was in the same race! I started to fade around the 20 mile mark and by the Tower of London, wasn't sure I'd make it to the end.  The final Lucozade point at 23 miles seemed to perk me up a bit, and coming out of the tunnel onto the embankment, I felt I had a bit more energy. The final bit still seems a bit of a blur.

In the end I was delighted to get round in 3:35 - and I've already applied to do it all again next year!

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYBODY WHO SPONSORED ME, YOUR SUPPORT REALLY HELPED DURING THE TRAINING AND ON RACEDAY.

Cheers

Mike

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. I have signed up to run the London Marathon for the first time in April on behalf of the Family Holiday Association. This is a worthwhile cause giving families in desperate circumstances the chance to experience what most of us take for granted: a break away from the stresses of day to day living.  Every £500 raised helps the FHA send a family away for a week's holiday. Many of the children will have never been on holiday before, and many have never even seen the sea. You can find out more about the charity and the important work they do by visiting their website www.fhaonline.org.uk

I decided to have a crack at the Marathon before I got too decrepit, and started training seriously at the beginning of November. I am following a 23 week training plan which steadily builds up both the length of individual runs and my weekly mileage.

I have now completed 20 weeks of the plan including a run on Christmas Day, and also through the snow on Easter Sunday. The great thing about running is that you can eat & drink as much as you like during training because of the huge numbers of calories burnt, which obviously came in handy over the holiday period.

I'm really enjoying the training with new achievements in the form of personal distance records and times over particular distances coming most weeks. Luckily I have remained reasonably injury free apart from periodic chaffing problems or blisters, usually caused by poor outfit choices.

I have now competed in my first half-marathon, and a 21 mile race last weekend both of which have given me the confidence to think I can make it all the way in three weeks time. I'm still hopeful about my target time as long as I can get the pacing right - not too fast at the start!

Progress so far;

Fastest Run - 3 miles  20:09

Furthest Run - 21 miles  2:50:17

Weekly Training Distance - 28 miles

Total Training Distance - 440 miles

Marathon Target - 3:30:00

On a freezing Tuesday night in February it's sometimes not particularly inviting putting on your running kit and stepping outside to do a few more miles. However, the motivation comes from the thought that my efforts will help to give less fortunate kids and their parents a bit of a break. Please help me on the road and dig deep by sponsoring me online.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Family Holiday Association 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.

So please sponsor me now!

Many thanks for your support.

Mike