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Having run this race last year & not done as well as I'd have liked, I am giving it another go this Sunday (6th April) for my chosen charity, the RNLI. I have done quite a lot of training over the last few months in spite of injury & lousy weather.  I am hopeful that I can put in a rather better performance this time.

I have supported the RNLI for the last 25 years through annual membership, as I believe they do a fantastic job of saving people's lives at sea. All the crews and support staff are volunteers who have day jobs but are willing to drop everything when an emergency call comes in so they can rush to the rescue in a matter of minutes, no matter how bad the conditions, often putting their own lives at risk. They all have to undergo rigorous training at the RNLI training college in Poole before being allowed to serve on active duty. Equipment wise they have a large fleet of different types of lifeboats stationed around the coastline, many housed in purpose built stations. All this costs a lot of money, and without any state funding the RNLI relies heavily on donations.

I am really keen to raise as much money to help this worthy cause as I can, so as with my previous challenges, to give you an incentive to be generous, I am offering a prize to the person who most accurately estimates my official time for the run (chip time not gun time) - THIS WILL BE WINE/BEER/CHOCOLATES TO THE VALUE OF TWICE YOUR DONATION (maximum value £20), out of my pocket of course! So please leave your estimate in your message (hours, minutes & seconds) when you donate by visiting http://www.justgiving.com/Pete-Des-Moulins3. For any of you who would prefer to donate by more traditional methods, please e-mail or phone me and I shall arrange to collect your donation and estimate personally. Only estimates received before the start time of 09:15 on Sun 6th April will be eligible, and in the event of a tie the first tying entry received will win. I shall confirm successful completion, and the prize winner, on Monday.

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. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

POST RACE UPDATE

Well the race is run, and what a fantastic day it was. The weather relented & remained dry, if a little breezy, while the temperature was perfect for running. The city was heaving with spectators/supporters, which really makes the event happen for the participants, so thanks to all of them.

Boy is 26.2 miles a long way! The second half can very daunting, but the training paid off (and my watch was over reading my pace, leading me to run slower than planned), allowing me to put in a fast finish. I never dreamed I'd be able to do that!

My time was a reasonable 04:51:08, which means that Barbara Doherty wins the prize (I know she sits next to me but there was no collusion) with her guess of 04:49, narrowly beating George Scottow with his guess of 04:53:23. Well done Barbara!

So far I have managed to raise £350 for the RNLI, which is fantastic. Thank you so much to all of you who have kindly donated money to my chosen cause, and I shall thank each of you in person. But we don't want to stop there! This page will remain open until July and I have raised the target to £400, so I would encourage anyone who has not already chipped in to scrape a few pounds together & donate them to this worthy cause - all donations welcome, large or small.

Many thanks to you all, and I wish you health & happiness.

Regards, Pete.