I successfully completed the London Marathon 2006.  At the bottom of this page is my personal blog from the day itself

What?
Spag Bol Dave is a home cooking Spaghetti Bolognese service. I will come to YOUR kitchen (campus only), with guaranteed FRESH ingredients and cook you a delicious meal that can feed up to 5 people. I only require 1 large pot and 1 large pan, no washing up service is offered!

Why?
I'm a final year student at Aston University and have been accepted by CANCER RESEARCH UK to run the London Marathon 2006 as a Golden Bond member, meaning I have to raise £2000. Please help me raise this amount by (a.) very kindly sponsering me online, or (b.) ordering a Spag Bol Dave today!

Cancer is something that probably has or will affect each and every one of us, and although we cannot all discover the magical cures, we can all help in our own little way.  This is my way of helping, and you can join in and do your bit, and you get a nice meal to eat aswell!!

THE MENU:

¨ VALUE: £4.50 ~ Feeds upto 5 people, only £0.90 each!!

Uses fresh supermarket 'value' ingredients blended with the Spag Bol Dave magic for a tasty yet economic meal for those who have spent too much on beer!

¨ STANDARD: £6.00 ~ Feeds upto 5 people, only £1.20 each!!

Uses fresh supermarket 'own brand' ingredients for a satisfying meal for those times where you just have no time to cook yet don't want Coffee & Cream!

¨ PREMIUM: £7.50 ~ Feeds upto 5 people, only £1.50 each!!

The fans favourite, uses 'top branded' fresh ingredients and lower fat meat. Still a bargain, yet a massively tasty meal!

*New for 2006*

 ¨ FINEST: £9.00 ~ Feeds upto 5 people, only £1.80 each!!

For the ultimate in Spag Bol Enjoyment, this option blends Extra Lean mince, with top branded pasta, and a sauce made from SCRATCH with fresh vegetables and a blend of herbs and spices!

STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO ORDERING:

1 Choose your option from the 4 available above.

2 Choose a cooking time (below)

3 Call or email Spag Bol Dave .

 email: spagboldave@hotmail.co.uk

tel: 07915643625

SIMPLE !!

Cooking times Mon - Thurs: - 6.30 pm - 7.00 pm - 7.30 pm - 8.00 pm

PUBLICITY:

I was filmed for BBC Midlands Today and shown on BBC1 on their 6.30pm slot.  This included filming me cooking and interviewing my satisfied customers.

I have had an article printed in the Birmingham Mail

I had a telephone interview on BBC Radio West Midlands

I also have a thread on the Aston Guild Website:

http://www.thestudentsguild.com/cms/forum.php

Go in General Randomness, and you'll find Spag Bol Dave

Also, Iv had an article printed in the Aston Times, issue 592, page 18:

http://www.thestudentsguild.com/cms/render.php?folder_id=2 Issue 592

Running:

I completed the Adidas Half Marathon @ Silverstone race circuit and achieved a time of 1 Hr 52 Mins (tbc).  This was a huge event in which 10,000 people took part.  It was amazing and I would recommend that you all take part next year . . . challenge yourself!!

My Flora London Marathon 2006

 

 Time: 4 hrs 53 mins

 

 Best Bit:

 

 All the little kids coming out to support us, giving out sweets and fruit and holding their hands out for ‘hi-fives’ . . . and the little kid who shouted to me ‘Iv got your number!’, that put a smile on my face. 

 

 Worst Bit:

 Mile 23 and 24, that’s when the pain kicked in!

 

 

 The start of the day went exactly to plan; I arrived at Greenwich Park with my official photographer, Pete (www.pete-whipp.co.uk) and my head of security, Big Dan (www.iwrestlepolarbearsforfun.com) at 9am ready to prepare for the big start.  The queues for the toilets were huge, but thankfully being of the male variety a stretch of bushes were getting a jolly good watering from most of the competitors!

 

 As the race began I ran at a comfortable pace as I knew at least 4 hours of running was ahead of me, but despite it being 9.45 am I was amazed by how many people there were out supporting us runners, the first section of the route went along peoples houses and all the residents had come out to cheer, some still in their pyjama’s and some had already started on the beers!

 

 It was great to be running with all the people running for charity and in fancy dress, especially the gorilla, the rhino, the wombles and all the other wild animals running and especially the guy in only a thong!

 

 The race was very comfortable for the first 18 miles and this helped me enjoy the wonderful experience of so many fantastic supporters and runners.  I was especially touched by all the many people running for charity and for those loved ones they have lost, like me.  I feel this was a truly great example of human spirit as so many people were putting themselves through such a tough experience for the good of other people and I felt immensely proud to be part of this.

 

As I approached mile 22 that is when I passed the Cancer Research cheering point and this gave me huge encouragement to keep going and I even found the energy to give them an over energetic salute.  As mile 23 came I knew I only had half an hour more but by then my legs were killing me and for the first time in the race I had started to lose my breath and so these two combined lead to only one thing – pain.  I would have hated to see what I looked like because I was grimacing with every stride and had to stop to walk at one point.  It was here that I thought of the reasons I was putting myself through this pain and I thought of all the cancer sufferers, including members of my own family, and thought of the pain they must go through suffering from such a disease and having chemotherapy and that put my pain into perspective.  I then started running as I could now put up with the pain; it didn’t matter to me anymore it, it suddenly seemed so unimportant, 30 minutes of pain to put up with was nothing when I think of the pain for all affected by Cancer.

 

When I reached mile 25, I put on a particular song on my mp3 player that always (I don’t know how?) makes me go mental and I then started sprinting unbelievably fast past everyone, in fact when I was sprinting there was no one running faster than me, however because of this rather foolish sprinting action I started to get a stitch and so walked to take in deep breaths.  At this point there was 800m to go and a very kind man encouraged me to run to the finish, little did he know that I then sprinted off like a crazy man as that little bit of encouragement and kindness from a complete stranger spurred me on.

 

 

As I got to within meters of the finish line I was overcome with all sorts of mixed emotions and the sprinting had stopped and I think I was a bit delirious as I crossed the line.  But that was it I had done it!

 

I collected my kit bag and proceeded to walk down the Mall to meet my friends and family, I say walk, but that would be kind; it was more of a hobble.  In fact I saw the St John’s Ambulance crew with a load of wheelchairs and was very tempted to ask for one!

 

All in all a brilliant day, and something everyone should strive to achieve . . . it doesn’t have to be 26.2 miles, you can do just 3, but do something for someone.

 

A huge heartfelt Thank You! To all those supporting my cause

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. Please dig deep and sponsor me online. Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Cancer Research UK 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.