2 June 2010: And finally...

So that's my final total, just over £2,500 all told, which is not too bad for a Billy Nomates.  Thanks everyone, see you next time.  That may or may not be a joke...

28 April 2010: My marathon tale...

As Bobby Womack said, here's the sad part of the story.  Well, there were a good few tears anyway.  The first wobbly moment was when I was sitting on Blackheath, an hour or so before the start, exchanging emails with various friends and family.  I was thinking about my Dad when Christine sent me a text saying how Mum and Dad would be behind.  That got me going a bit, silly old fool that I am.

I expected to struggle in the second half, but for some reason I found the going tough from the start.  The atmosphere was great, though, especially going through Greenwich.  From about the six mile point I felt a kind of heartburn that got slowly worse as the race progressed.  But my pace was OK on the south (proper) side of the river.  I think it was as early as mile 14 that I was really struggling, as the heartburn/indigestion/whatever got worse and made me feel sick.  To be honest, I think I would have been outside my (modest) target of five hours even without this, but it just made running extra-unpleasant.  So I completed the marathon, but I still can't say I've run it: I ran a half marathon and walk/shuffled another one.

The crowd support was unbelievable, and it was the many shouts of "Go Kimbo!" that kept me going.  As I approached the MacMillan Cheer Point at Monument I had Mum and Dad on my mind.  I applauded the supporters and then came over all emotional, and I had a couple more such moments in the final miles.  And then, when I finally crossed the line I went over to the Nicest Running Guru In The World and had a good blub.

So my finishing time was 5 hours 48 minutes and 27 seconds, following an acceptable half marathon split of 2 hours 30 minutes.  It wasn't what I wanted, but Jason has told me to get over myself, so I have.  I've completed a marathon, and I was on my feet for nearly three times as long as the Kenyans, which is an achievement.  Big respect to all my supporters: your money has gone to a fantastic cause.  Thank you all again for your, er, support.