The Result
A stunning day to be running a marathon by the seaside yesterday, and it proved to be memorable for a variety of reasons.

Unfortunately I did not achieve my target of coming in sub 4 hours. I was going great guns up to the half way mark, clocking in a time of 1hr 49mins for the half marathon. At the 14 mile mark I could no longer ignore the urge to relieve some of my exuberant fuelling from the previous day, and had to stop in the portaloo for 10 minutes. This proved to be a bit of a turning point, as for the remainder of the marathon my legs went solid and would repeatedly cramp up. So unfortunately I finished a disappointing 4hours 34mins. I knew I was in trouble when Elvis Presley passed me at around 18 miles chomping on a cheeseburger.

I finished 3,689th out of the 12,000 starters.

Thanks to everyone who sponsored me.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page; I'm going to be running the first Brighton Marathon in April 2010, and I've chosen to raise money for YouthNet. Find out all about YouthNet by clicking here http://www.youthnet.org/ They do lots of good work supporting young people in a key part of their development.

Those who have known me for a while, will know I used to be a skinny whippet, who became a fat boy, and is now ensconced firmly in a mid-life crisis, desperately trying to re-connect with my youth, by becoming a whippet once more. This is a tough fight in the face of the inner fat boy who keeps trying to burst out. So I need lots of motivation, and this is just the sort of goal that will help. So you are not only supporting YouthNet, you are helping me. So double doses of gratitude will be heaped upon you.

This will be my first Marathon, so it's going to be a challenge. I was planning on doing it dressed sensibly, but I could concede to wearing anything which meets the requirements of being safe and or legal; that meets the highest sponsors desire.

I'll posts updates on my progress on both Twitter and FaceBook

Twitter - http://twitter.com/jamiercgriff

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/jamiercgriff

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.