To raise £15,000 for two great charities (£7,500 for Ali’s Dream and £7,500 for Rainbow Trust), my challenge is to complete 12 marathons in 12 months starting with the London Marathon in April 2006 and finishing with London Marathon in April 2007.

Please help the kids and sponsor me now.

PROGRESS UPDATE

Race 11 Marathon de Sables 24th-31st March 2007

WOW - that was some experience. There is no way I could describe the journey on these limited lines but I'm pleased to say I made it back ok.

Firstly thanks for all the messages of support whilst I was out there. It was by far the hardest thing I have ever done or am lightly to do.

The race was split over 6 days / stages (29km, 34km, 32km, 70km, 42km and 11km) and I started to doubt myself after the first 10 minutes.

Never have I run over such difficult terrain, carrying a 10kg load, in such heat or over so much sand. Some idea of fun!

My feet were fine until the 70km stage where I managed to get 8 blisters on my right foot. After that, running the last 2 stages became even harder.

Although there were serious highs and lows myself and Jonathan surpassed our expectations coming 227th out of 756 that started. We were 30th and 31st brit out of about 250. 30 didn't finish the race including 1 French competitor who unfortunately died after the 70km stage.

I have lots of photos and stories for anyone interested.

Only 2 weeks to go until my final race, the London Marathon and then time for a rest me thinks.

Race 10 Thames Path Ultra 17th February 2007

This was my first Ultra (greater than Marathon distance) and at over 50 miles was double the length on a standard marathon. With MDS coming up we decided to run with our packs as practice for the desert.

About the race - what a fantastic course, all the way along the Thames from Reading to London via Henly, Hurley, Marlow, Maidenhead and Windsor.

If you ever get the chance, walk the route, its spectacular.

With a light pack on we took our time although pretty much ran all the way and took 11 hours in total - starting and 9am and finishing in the dark at 8pm.

Next for the big one!!

Race 9 Luton Marathon December 3rd 2006
What can I say. 3 laps round the same course just outside Luton. Weather was good and the time wasn't bad (3hrs 51mins). Now time for some intensive training before the next one.

Race 8 Amsterdam Marathon October 15th 2006  
At last! A marathon I've enjoyed and not for the reasons most of you will be thinking! The weather was perfect for running, the course was flat and beautiful and I ran a respectable 3hrs 40mins which, bearing in mind it was my 3rd marathon in 5 weeks, I was quite happy with.

Race 7 Berlin Marathon September 24th 2006    

Only 2 weeks after the last marathon and I was slightly concerned about the legs holding up under the strain. After the last few races some of which had as few as 200 runners, Berlin had 50,000! It was so packed it took us 20 minutes to get across the start line. The Berlin Marathon is rated in the top 5 in the world and it was not hard to see why. What a fantastic place and a great race. Although it was another hot day (hitting 28 degrees) the race itself was flat and this really gave us the opportunity to enjoy the views and the sites. We got round in a respectable 4hrs 1 min. Next stop Amsterdam in 3 weeks!

Race 6 Robin Hood Marathon September 10th 2006

OK, having been very well prepared in the last 5 races I made the foolish mistake of having more than a bit to drink on the Friday night. In fact, so bad was I, I decided to take the train to Nottingham rather than drive on Saturday night. Waking on Sunday the last thing I fancied was running 26.2 miles but as it’s for the kids…….
Anyway we set off at 9am to be confronted with a 1 mile climb which sort of shocked the system into action. By 10am the temperature was about 24 degrees and rising. By 11am I whacked on the iPod and sort motivation from Eminem (who some of you may have heard of).
After several energy drinks and support from Jonathan we made it in 3hrs 47mins (not bad considering). Anyway, a valuable lesson about preparation learnt – don’t drink 2 bottles of Rioja before a big run!

Race 5 Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1 August 13th 2006

Continuing in the same vain as the previous marathon this one was again multi terrain, although not as extreme, but this one had some serious hils. Try running up a one mile long hill after already doing 16 miles.
We completed this marathon in 4hrs 44mins which is quite a respectable time given the type of marathon it was. Im looking forward to the next one which will be largely flat and I wont need directions!

Race 4  Fairlands Valley Challenge July 23rd 2006

This was an interesting one!!! Before the race we were handed 4 pages of notes which we had to use to navigate our way around the course, as if a marathon isn't hard enough anyway. The temperature on teh day was around 27-29 degrees which is sitting in a beer garden weather, not marathon weather.

The route took us across quaries, hills, corn fields, over walls and all sorts of places that should only be accessed by strange ramblers. But we managed to complete it in 5hrs 36 minutes. This one was tough, probably the hardestto date. It was all made worth while as there was a large free b-b-q at then end...woohoo.

Race 3 ( Edinburgh Marathon ), June 11th 2006

What fantastic weather this weekend….unless you’re running a marathon – which unfortunately we were. Yes, on Sunday it was the Edinburgh Marathon (number 3 out of 12) and it was hot, very hot. That in itself may have been OK but it was also hilly, very hilly. With a starting field of around 9,000 I set off full of confidence and far too quickly, and paid for it. The heat really turned up after 10am and the last 13 miles were torture. I managed to finish in 3hrs 54mins but in the end was grateful to make it – many didn’t!
This was certainly the hardest race to date with temperatures hitting 26 degrees. This years Marathon de Sables hit 42 degrees every day (6 days in a row) this year and they had their highest number of retirees. Better get training I guess… 

Race 2 (Halstead Marathon), May 14th 2006

I was not sure whether or not to train or rest after the London Marathon so did a bit of both, including several glasses of red wine which I’ve been told is now proven to be good for you. Slightly less glamorous than London with just over 400 competitors the Halstead marathon was described as ‘undulating’ – or put another way, HILLY. Hills aside, Halstead was a challenging but very scenic run through the open countryside. The weather was slightly warm at 18 degrees but I guess I’m going to have to get use to that – this years Marathon de Sables ran in April and the temperature hit 42 degrees C every day! My legs managed to survive the 3 week break since London although felt sluggish from mile 20. This is probably not surprising given the fact the medical advice dictates you should run a maximum of 2 marathons a year. Anyway, my finishing time was 3hrs 43mins which bearing in mind the hills I was happy with. Time now for a medicinal glass of red. 4 weeks until the Edinburgh Marathon – d’oh!

Race 1 ( London Marathon ), April 23rd 2006

Woken up by my alarm at 6am, and with a cold kindly passed onto me by one of my lovely children I opened the curtains to be greeted by dark skies and rain – the perfect start. Fortunately the day improved once the race began. In spite of the weather the London crowds came out in force to cheer on the 42,000 competitors (35,000 finished). By the end of the race, it was actually nice to be cooled off by the rain. My official finishing time was 3hrs 30mins 05secs (4,802th), a personal best and well ahead of Matthew Pinsent, Steve Redgrave and Gordon Ramsey. I was not able to walk properly after the race until Thursday! 

Many thanks for your support and to all those who have already sponsored me.

Cheers, Joe

MY SCHEDULE 

1.    Flora London Marathon, London      April 23, 2006   26.2 miles
2.    Halstead Marathon, Essex            May 14, 2006    26.2 miles
3.    Edinburugh Marathon, Edinburugh   June 11, 2006   26.2 miles
4.    Fairlands Valley Multi, Stevenage   July 23, 2006   26.2 miles (cross country)
5.     Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1, Wiltshire     August 13, 2006     26.2 miles (trail run)
6.    Robin Hood Marathon, Notts          September 10, 2006    26.2 miles 
7.     Berlin Marathon,           September 24, 2006    26.2 miles
8.    Amsterdam Marathon, Holland        October 15, 2006        26.2 miles
9.    Luton Marathon,  Luton        December 03, 2006    26.2 miles
10.   Thames Path Ultra. Reading to London    February 17 2007            54 miles
11.  Marathon de Sables, Sahara           24th - 31st March 2007         151 miles
12.   Flora London Marathon, London     April 22nd 2007            26.2 miles