Race Report:

Wow.  So it’s been and gone.  Entered the race in April 2009, booked the hotel in May, and 12 months later it’s all over.  And I gotta say, we had a ball!

Everything was set up nicely, got to London ok, no drama at the hotel, stayed off the beer for the whole week, got an early night and the weather was gorgeous all weekend.  Until about an hour before the race when it started to lash it down, marvellous.  Though to be fair, when it started to clear and the sun came back out about mile 10, I was praying for the clouds to come back.

Against all the odds, I managed to set off at a steady pace, and not like a greyhound with a smacked arse.  My race philosophy has tended to be: start fast, build up a lead, drop off in the middle section, then crawl across the line.  That clearly wasn’t going to work over a distance like 26 miles though, and the congestion caused by other runners probably saved me from myself.

I’m pleased to say my target was to finish under 4hours, and I staggered over the line in 3hr58m51s.  Needless to say, I’m over the moon with that.  OK, it’s a bit skin of the teeth, but anyone who knows me would expect no less!

I don’t recall hitting the wall as such, but I can honestly say that, had the race been 1 mile longer, I think I’d have been in real trouble.  Ironically, the best of the scenery en-route was probably the last couple of miles, and to be honest I don’t remember much of it.  Crossing the line, saw me promptly scooped up by the kind souls at St.John’s Ambulance as, for about half an hour, it’s fair to say I wasn’t quite myself.

A slightly unsettling half hour notwithstanding, a thoroughly fantastic experience which I can wholly recommend.  Do it.  Once.  Tick it off.  Stick it on the CV, then watch it on the telly.  That’s where I’ll be next year.  Maybe when my toenails have grown back, I’ll change my mind, but I doubt it.

Thanks for reading my story, and if you supported me, my charity and I are so very grateful.  If you didn’t, it’s not too late, it’ll take me weeks to wander round the office and collect sponsorship anyway, and every donation really matters!

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Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page, I really appreciate it, and I know my charity does too.

And yes, the rumours are true, this beer slurping, ex-smoker, couch potato is indeed running the Virgin London Marathon 2010 on April 25th (god help him!)

After a number of years running, and getting to the point where I'm now finishing in the top quarter of the field or so rather than near the back, I feel it's time to take it to the next stage.  I've run 3 half-marathons now with the following results: 2007=2hr08, 2008=1h58, 2009=1hr45.  This has led me to (foolishly?) believe that I'm at that so-called sweet-spot - experienced enough to do a decent time, but not yet too old where bits drop off half way round, if only I could remember what those bits used to do anyway.

Hotel is booked, I've dropped my beer intake by about 75%, though according to HM's chief medical officer I still should have died about 10 years ago, and the training is going really well.  Bring it on, I can't wait, really I can't.

And the best bit is, I get to tick off a lifelong ambition, shed a load of flab, add something useful to my CV unlike has an extensive tanktop collection, and help out a great charity at the same time - everyone's a winner!

Anything you can give will be greatly appreciated, and I will update this page with progress, and without doubt the final result - I am aiming for a <4 hour time, but only time will tell how realistic that actually is.

And now a bit of blurb about the charity I am running for, not a big charity at all, so every penny really does help:

What is “Action on Pre-Eclampsia”?  Pre-eclampsia is the most common of the serious complications of pregnancy. It is caused by a defect in the placenta, which joins the mother and baby and supplies the baby with nutrients and oxygen from the mother's blood. While we do not know yet exactly what is the root cause of pre-eclampsia, medical science is expanding our knowledge every day. By definition, pre-eclampsia cannot occur before you are 20 weeks pregnant and the majority of cases occur in the third trimester. Mild pre-eclampsia affects up to 10% of first time pregnancies with severe pre-eclampsia affecting about 1 or 2 in a hundred pregnancies.

In its early stages pre-eclampsia is symptom-less and is only detectable by regular antenatal checks on the mother's blood pressure and urine. Pre-eclampsia is known as a multi-system disorder which means it can affect different parts of your body such as your liver, your kidneys, your cardiovascular system or your clotting systems. Pre-eclampsia continues to be the most common of the serious complications of pregnancy and impacts on thousands of women in the UK each year. Worldwide the figures are stark. It is estimated that 4,000,000 have pre-eclampsia every year. 100,000 of these go on to have eclamptic fits. Every 6 minutes a woman dies as a result of pre-eclampsia.

Action on Pre-eclampsia was formed later in order to raise public and professional awareness, improve care, and ease or prevent physical and emotional suffering caused by the disorder. More information can be found at http://www.apec.org.uk/

Why choose to run for “Action on Pre-Eclampsia”? Pre-eclampsia is one of those things that you don’t hear about unless you know someone who is expecting but the work that “Action on Pre-eclampsia” does really helps get the message out there to get expectant mothers and midwifes to look out for the symptoms. It is a small charity and every penny raised will make a difference.

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.