April 2010

 

Lisa & Linda’s Adventure…on on on on!!!

So, we did the training…following the 3-runs-a-week schedule acquired by Spooky from t’interweb….in some blinking cold weather. Training supposedly started on 21^st December – we decided to ignore that until just before new year obviously. We braved temperatures of minus 4, snow, lashing wind (lots of it across the fens) and driving rain….and we survived.

By the time April came round we were feeling pretty confident that we would be able to complete the 26 odd miles…..not fast….not without toilet stops….but intact. We were at the peak of our physical and mental fitness – somewhere between Paula Radcliffe and Dawn French.

Friday 9^th April The Eurostar delivered us into the centre of Pareeee where we stayed in an apartment on the banks of the Seine belonging to Spooky’s friends Catherine & Olivier – what splendid people and what a place! From the 5^th floor balcony we had a magnificent view of that majestic old ship of the , Notre Dame cathedral. We were treated to fab food, including a big dish of pasta, before Catherine and Olivier bade their farewells and left us in charge of their bijou home for the weekend.

Saturday 10^th and the nerves were beginning to build. After sleeping in (shouldn’t have succumbed to the red wine) we made our way to the Marathon Expo to claim our race numbers and timing chips, to hopefully grab some freebies and to get a good eyeful of some athletic totty…..well, girls have got to have a hobby. We also ate more pasta…lots of it.

After getting thrown out of the expo for lewd behaviour and harassing the male runners (Lisa that is) we decided to visit the scene of the following day’s adventure – it was a road with nothing much happening on it, but we felt better to know vaguely what it looked like. We didn’t want to tire our athletic legs out too much so we headed back home for a spot of tea and cake. On the way we found Julia, Henrik, Rachel and Jared, our loyal supporters.

In the evening we ate more pasta at Julia and Henrik’s – thank you chef Henrik! – it was so delicious we ate 4 plates full of the stuff – surely we had taken on enough carbs to get through the race. It was a lovely evening with some great friends and enough to take our minds off the impending torture.

Sunday 11^th, the morning of the race!! We both woke with a headache, a sore throat and a stomach doing Olympic-style somersaults. A couple of Ibuprofen with breakfast (Jamie’s porridge with dates and stuff) and we set off on the metro. We were slightly unnerved when we got off the train and the rest of the runners stayed on it – however we all ended up in the same place in the end. Now for 35,000 runners how many toilets would you expect the French to provide at the start – we counted 9 but maybe we missed a few. Sacred bleu!! Following Julia’s advice we found ourselves a café, bought a cuppa, used their facilities a couple of times and sat there till the race started – top tip Julia!

At 8:30 we made our way to the starting pens – of course ours was right at the back and we had our backs to the Arc de Triomphe practically. This marathon is completely different to mass marathons in the where the last pen would be full of Elvis impersonators, Teletubbies and men in mankinis. Charity is not a popular reason for running in and all runners looked scarily athletic. After much nervous pacing about and emotional fidgeting we were underway! Well, I say that, we thought we might have heard a gun in the distance but weren’t sure until the people in front of us started moving about 10 mins later. We crossed the start line 20 minutes later and we were off!! Unbelievably we managed to spot Julia half way down the – for Julia to turn up in the early morning is a terrific sacrifice which we truly appreciate – it was brilliant to see her friendly face and have a hug to set us on our way.

After all the waiting it was good to get moving – we started out at a reasonably slow pace (no change there) and kept it steady. At 7km Julia popped up again to offer more support just before we nipped into a small park to squat behind a bush (again, no change there).

The weather was perfect, sunny and cool. The support from the crowds on the way round was amazing – we had our t-shirts printed with our names on the front and it was so encouraging to hear people calling our names and wishing us well on our way. The pompiers were fantastic – tres fworr! They can put Lisa’s fire out any time – quote of the day!!

Over half way now and still feeling reasonably good. At 24km our loyal support team put in another appearance – Julia, Henrik, Rachel and Jared were there with a sign saying “Smile, you’re marahashers!” and waving their orange pom poms (just the boys on that one). The hash primary teachers would be proud of their artistic skills. Was great to stop for another hug and some more encouragement – thanks team!

Fatigue was just starting to emerge at around 18 or 20 miles – not awful though and we carried on regardless, with a smile on our faces. Team Hash turned up again at 20 miles with their “Beer Near” sign – eliciting much comment and amusement from other runners. Rach and Julia joined us to run the final 6 miles. Julia ran with Spooky and Rach with Lisa.

Julia and Rach did an excellent job of encouraging us through the last 6 miles of the race (known as the last half of the marathon) when it was starting to feel a bit tough and speech was difficult. The last few miles dragged a bit but it wasn’t long before mile 26 was in sight – we put our foot down and both managed to finish on a sprint (or a very fast shuffle) for the finish line. THE FINISH LINE!!!! We did it! Spooks came in 11 minutes ahead of Lisa with a fab time of 5h 7m. We both had a blub after we crossed the line. Spooks kissed the man who removed her chip (ooer missus) and Lisa hugged the man who gave her a medal – the things you do on your post-marathon high.

After walking about another 800 miles up the road we finally managed to find our fantastic friends who helped us to complete our first marathon – they had champers and cakes – great recovery food!

So how did we feel? Not blistered nor bruised nor chafed and we never hit ‘the wall’ but euphoric, happy, powerful, relieved, uplifted and overwhelmed. In particular Spooky has laid to rest some ghosts in her past. We have many people to thank, the people in Paris we have mentioned, all the people who sponsored us (current total is around £2,300 for Cancer Research UK), all the people who let us use their toilets and gave us snacks during training (you know who you are) and all the people who have wished us well and encouraged us. Finally a big thank you to Stephen, Neil, Bill, Thomas, Benny and Anna who never complained when we went out training for hours at a time or fell asleep on the settee afterwards.

We are marahashers and we are proud! Hurrah!!!

PS You can see our photos on the website:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8181078@N05/4530076713/in/photostream/

 

Feb 2010

Thanks for getting this far!

Linda (Spooky) decided long ago that a marathon would form part of her 50th year (I know, she doesn't look a day over 49..) and somehow Lisa (SYB) found herself persuaded that it would be good to make it part of her 40th year. Anyway, the upshot is that we're doing the Paris Marathon on Sunday April 11th. We're planning to take it very sloooowly, taking in the sights, the croissants and possibly the pastis on the way.

We both think that this will probably be the only marathon we'll ever do!

Through running the marathon we would like to raise money for Cancer Research UK. There have been tremendous advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in the last 30 years, as a result many people (including Spooky) have lived to reach significant birthdays and do silly things like run marathons. If you would like to contribute and leave us a message of support we would be really grateful.

 

Here's all the JustGiving blurb: 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 - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Go on - you know you want to!