What an event! I would never have expected to describe a marathon as great fun but it definitely was!

It was a 5am alarm call to gather at with Paula Radcliffe and 39,805 other folk who thought it would be a good idea to run a distance that would also be a reasonable car journey of 26.2miles through all 5 NYC boroughs.

The enthusiasm and support from the reported 2million spectators lining the route and by text message from the UK was unbelievable. With 'Ally' on my front and 'for Jonny' on my back (pushing me round) I heard what must have been THOUSANDS of shouts from the crowd. All together with all the banter I got in support of the kilt on the way round varying from "HEY MAN, LOVE THE KILT", to "Oh, i love a man in a skirt"(!) - hmmm!! Ha ha!

I finished in 4:03.12 in the dizzy heights of 12,579th place in what was easliy the quickest 4hs of my life! Although it is a pretty tough course with a lot of steady (relentless) climbs and a lot fewer downhill sections, there was constantly something to capture your attention (apart from the Queensborough bridge at miles 15-16 which was a nightmare!) from getting high-5s from what felt like half the kids and grannies in Brooklyn; to the bagpipers greeting us of the bridge into Queens; to the good spread of Saltire flags who I always made a point of acknowledging; to the roars of crowds up 1st ave who were lined upto ten deep making you feel like a super hero!!

I'm probably exaggerating the 'hills' but after 25miles Central Park really did feel like Central Mountain Range! ...not to mention the finish line which I swear was on wheels and getting pulled further and further away as the countdown 800m & 400m markers were passing!

I would thoroughly recommend this one to anyone who is thinking about running a marathon purely for the atmosphere round the course. Brilliant!

I'm so proud to have done it in Jonny's memory and deeply grateful to everyone for all their support and help, particularly to Linda, Mum, Dad and Granny for all their hard work and backing with those paper sponsor forms at their disposal, to Steven at the Review for his enthusiasm and interest to keep publicity train steaming along, to Jen, Dan, Russ, Jennifer, Jilly and Kat for their continued loving support and for putting up with some 'fragrant' running kit and endless running-bore chat(!) and to my boss Dave, who kicked off the sponsorship brilliantly and together with my other colleagues for their continued interest and support. Thanks go out to all who sent messages / emails / texts of support and sponsorship mainly about the great memories they haev of Jonny which have been lovely to hear and big thanks too to the Montrose Rotary Club for their generous and well recieved donation.

Thank you, thank you and thanks again

Ally x

Below is the pre-marathon speil...