Hello there! 

Well we did it!  We all completed the Berlin Marathon successfully and, apart from a few black toenails, bruises and sprains, we are all recovering well. 

As I lined up at the start alongside 40,000 noisy, excited runners in plastic bags and looked up through the drizzle at the grey sky, I did question why I was putting myself through this.  Never have I been so grateful for a waterproof plastic bag to wear.  Mine was a distinctive turquoise - thanks to Cancer Research - and stood out nicely in contrast to the 1000s of yellow Adidas ones around me. 

I had not realised Berlin was quite so wet. It rained all day (all weekend actually). As the rain got heavier, Zeb questioned the wisdom of those choosing to run as large sponge animals.  I have to admit that, when the race finally started, I spent more time watching my feet than sightseeing - a necessity to avoid the puddles and with so many runners crowding the streets and pavements, jostling for a good position.

Strange to be surrounded by so many people yet feel quite alone in my own little world focusing on the next km marker with continuous thoughts such as 'should I speed up or slow down now?  Is that twinge the start of something important? Will my hamstring hold out? Should I have a gel now?  How long should I go without a painkiller?  Would I feel better if I had a tan and a nice bouncy ponytail?  Surely I must be faster than HER? Only 2 hours to go.  Have I really been through all this before? Why? Should I speed up now..?'.  

At 30km I was a bit disappointed to be overtaken by a dragon.  However, I was later told that the first dragon completed in just over 3 hours so clearly dragons do have an advantage over ordinary runners. At 35km I remembered Flo's comment that at least there was no longer a wall to hit but, just to be sure my sugar levels were in no danger of dipping, smeared some extra gel in the area of my mouth and over my hands and vest. I was now high enough to get over any wall - real or imaginary. 

At 38km I thought of all those friends and colleagues we were running for and reminded myself how lucky I was - this was just a run - I could stop the pain and discomfort at any time. Knowing we had so much support from so many generous donors really helped me feel it was all worthwhile.

Thank you so much to those of you who have already donated. If you have not already made a donation to Cancer Research UK by sponsoring me, on behalf of all of us, please do so as soon as possible.

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Many thanks for your support.

Veronica