<p>&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong>**Marathon Update**</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Despite all the advice about pacing yourself first thing I felt like I had a full tank of petrol and so still started off rather quickly. I did slow down however after reaching the station and parking my car where I was delighted to be given free public transport to the start at Greenwich Park. This was not to be the only time in the day I was to feel like a pensioner.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In a savage twist, the queue for the male toilets was longer than the female queue which meant a first comfort break after 800 yards of running. This bad omen was compounded by my realisation that I then needed to run a sub 6minute mile 2 in order to keep up with my meticulously prepared race plan. Impressively I managed to do this and, back on plan, I hopped off the back of the wheelchair and immersed myself in the titanic wave of fun runners that had set sail for destination Cutty Sark.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I soon discovered the rather worrying sight of thousands of people lining the streets drinking and jeering in the early hours of Sunday morning, evidence indeed of the huge binge drinking problem in this country. Many of these people knew my name and it was rather lovely to hear them shouting &lsquo;Go Jonny Go, Go, Go&rsquo; , so much so that I have vowed to ride on the revival rock bandwagon and reform my 80&rsquo;s school band <em>Sagesse</em> (French for &lsquo;Wisdom&rsquo;).</p> <p class="MsoNormal">It felt all a bit Crocodile Dundee as I zig-zagged from one side of the street to another to high-five and say hello personally to all my new friends although I did reject numerous offers of jelly babies, bananas and other fruity sweets as not one of them had a valid food safety certificate.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">After hearing a small boy in the crowd mention to his mum that &lsquo;they all seemed rather old to run&rsquo; I decided to conserve energy and to locate and fix on a runner going at a similar speed just in front to help me through the mid stages of the run. Unfortunately the pretty girl running for Meningitus UK was just out of my running league and so I had to settle for a mature man wearing just a tiny leopard skin thong. The next few miles were truly a psychological struggle.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">In desperation, I consumed all my power gels in one gulp and, like Super Mario, powered ahead for a few sublime minutes. Unfortunately I still had 2 hours running to go and so I put my faith in the story of the hare and the tortoise, tilted my head forwards at an extreme angle and hoped that this would be sufficient to keep my momentum going without tumbling over.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Travelling through Canary Wharf I took out my pop-out donations bucket although, clearly concerned that any extra weight could be catastrophic, the bankers generously decided against adding any cash. Despite this economic setback I was revived by the sign that I had reached the runners shower. Ready to refresh &amp; rejuvenate I was horrified to find this was simply a hose with a spray to run through which, hosepipe ban talk aside, was not the absolute physical saviour that I and my fellow runners had clearly decided it was going to be.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But then, as if by divine magic, the sun was in front, yes, the day was setting and we were heading Westwards towards Tower Bridge, Blackfriars, Embankment, Big Ben and the finish at Her Majesty&rsquo;s Palace itself, well, just round the corner in a side road.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The medal was reassuringly heavy, I was asked if I needed assistance and quipped with a contorted smile, 'As If&rsquo;, before crumbling to the floor for a few moments. It really was a heavy medal, thank goodness for the bankers&rsquo; foresight.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">24 hours on I remember that &lsquo;Pain is temporary, Stiffness is permanent&rsquo;. I may need someone to give me a lift to post my application for 2013, the ballot closes on the 30th.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Thank you all so much for all your lovely donations to Cruse, until next year...</p> <p>Jon</p> <p>p.s. for the record I feel compelled to mention that Sagesse never had a hit record, nor in fact any record. Sadly my singing is worse than my running.</p> <p>************************************************************************</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><em>As my last sprint run before making the inevitable step up to ultra distance I'm rather hoping that you might spare a thought and some change for me on Sunday when I am co-starring in a BBC documentary called 'The London Marathon'.</em></p> <p><em>When I say 'for me' I do of course mean that all donations (less my expenses) will be properly forwarded to Cruse Bereavement Care to help support their fantastic network of 6,000 bereavement volunteers.&nbsp; And as an added bonus, if you donate more than &pound;20 I'll promise not to badger you again for donations for at least a year, probably....plus it's a good idea to donate right now before the government stops the lovely tax relief you get as well!</em></p> <p><em>Too good to be true? Just promise you'll turn the telly off before teatime in case you spot me crawling up the mall. I'll be standing out from the crowd as the middle aged man wearing lycra.</em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>