THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED, I MADE IT & WE MADE IT! £750! AMAZING! 

I did it! 6 hours 24 minutes. 

We started out at 7.30am freezing cold with quite a bit of wind. The run starts with a couple of miles of uphill slope before first glimpse of the wall. It was spectacular, with the sun out and everyones spirits buoyant the first 2060 steps went by in a flash feeling very comfortable on fresh legs. 

Then comes the hard grind, the course sends you out into the countryside through small Chinese villages where the kids hi-5 you and everyone is shouting jia yo, (come on!) The terrain was pretty bad in some places, we were running over uneven stones and bits of brick, I was fine, but a lot of people were reduced to walking and taking their time to save their ankles. 

Reached the wall for the second time at around 4 hours 10 and then a combination of dehydration and probable sunstroke got the better of me, I managed the first 100 steps and had to sit in the shade. Threw up some water and banana, was dousing myself in water to cool off, but that just made me shiver, I just couldn't bring my body temperature down. I'd make a few steps at a time, desperately searching for shade. Frank and Jaime (2 other guys I was running with) found me around 45 mins later, they said I looked pretty bad, I was slurring my words and not making much sense, but they helped give me the support to carry on a few steps at a time. By this point, the people I was with were all in just as bad a state for different reasons, Frank was having to left himself up the steps backwards because of his sore knees, a Scottish guy called Spike was cramping up pretty badly, it really helped to make fun of each other and laugh at the situation.

Finally made it to the last step, such a great feeling, by this point I was almost back to normal again and even managed to jog down. 

Feeling like my old self again, I ran the last 3 miles which are all down hill to the finish, crossing the line with a sprint. 

With 3 days to go we've made the 650 Target! WOOHOO!

My school has been amazing, getting all the kids and teachers involved. I have my own board and charity box! A huge 'XieXie' to Celia for the translation and encouragement.

The bus from Beijing leaves at 3.30am on Saturday for a 7.30am start.

You can check out the live results at www.great-wall-marathon.com I'm hoping to be finished by roughly 5.30am GMT (Also keep an eye out for my fellow idiots James Ashton and Mike Weber)

THANK YOU SO MUCH! WE MADE IT TO THE £500 TARGET!!!

To update you all on my training.. It's been a long hard road, involving, getting lost at night, full moon runs through the Hutongs, rush hour pollution, beautiful sunrises, late nights and almost passing out through Sunstroke. But with just 2 weeks to go I'm feeling pretty good. Injury free (touch wood) and very excited!! 19 miles is my longest distance and 3 hours 5 minutes is my longest time on the road. (stopping to take some self portraits, check them out! and yes I know I have my T-shirt inside out, I learnt the hard way that it stops the chaffing...) 

What's he doing again? Running?

In a word, Yes! The Great Wall of China Marathon.

Why on earth would you want to do that?

My mum has just been diagnosed with breast cancer, so I have decided to raise money for the charity 'Against Breast Cancer'. The charity focuses on the prevention of secondary spread and developing a vaccine. In my opinion a very worthy cause.

Here's what google says about it..

The Great Wall Marathon is a one of the Adventure Marathons of the world.

You will run on the Great Wall itself, taking in some 3.5km near the start and again near the finish - while negotiating the giant steps of The Wall at the start is tough enough, trying to negotiate them near the finish on tired legs is something else altogether! The rest of the route is through stunning mountain scenery on good tracks and asphalt roads, which along with the high temperatures you can expect, make this marathon a true test.

How far is the marathon?

26 Miles 385 Yards (or 42k) including 5164 steps.

Most marathoners expect to be over 1 hour slower than their road times. (But as this is my FIRST one, we'll have to wait and see!)

Messages expressing stupidity/encouragement/awe or d) All the above, are very welcome.. 

Thanks for taking the time to check it out, just give what you can.

There's just over 5 weeks until the big day, I'll keep you updated how the training is going, so.. BRING IT ON!

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