Updated on Oct 27th 2012 at 10:58 PM from the JustGiving API

Hello again, running friends. After five months of training, race day finally arrives tomorrow. In the last two weeks, I have been able to maintain the level of fitness and regularity of training in order to give myself the best chance of posting a respectable finish time for my first race. I am particularly pleased with this, as it has been achieved despite two very minor setbacks. The first was that I would appear to have over-trained up to around the time of the last update, as I had acquired the classic symptoms of Shin Splints! I anticipate the hilarity with which this item of news will be received to all who are aware of my, shall we say, laid back nature. It will likely find its crescendo among those who have worked with me, or waited for me to meet them somewhere on-time before lunch.. :o) The second setback was that my running shoes completely fell apart. Sod's law would have it that it occurred about three miles from home - in the rain. Thanks to the expert advice of the staff at Alexander Sports in North End and £100 later, I was back on the road in a pair of running shoes that are so spongy, I recon I could bounce from Portsmouth Common onto the surface of the Moon. Support for the race has been astronomical in comparison to my expectations. I've not really raised money for charity before and I thought that achieving the initial target of £100 would've been respectable. However, online donations alone have now surpassed £400 - smashing three revisions of the total target since the fundraising began. Thanks again to all those who have who have sent sponsorship money via my Dad's 'justgiving' link, surprised me/Dad with cash in hand and sent Good Luck cards in the post. They are all very much appreciated. In training, I have been covering a mile at a rate of somewhere between nine and ten minutes, which I don't think is too bad for a first-timer. The race starts at 10.35, so for the benefit of those who plan to come down and watch the race and find the crowds near the start line to be a bit of a challenge, use that as a guideline of when I am due to pass each mile marker. See you tomorrow! Mat

Updated on Oct 16th 2012 at 8:33 AM from the JustGiving API

Unbelievable Support. 2nd Target of £200 now exceeded. I've therefore set a 3rd target of £300. To all who've donated so far, Thank You :-)

Initial Story.

Rain or shine, in darkness and in daylight Mat has been pounding the streets of Portsmouth over the past few months in a bid to complete 10 miles in the Great South Run.

It's not been easy. He is missing his cornish pasties. 

When he started training in May he could barely complete 3 miles and now he is getting ready to complete 10 for the first time.

Mat initially intended running this race for fun, but has kindly agreed to let me organise some sponsorship on behalf of NACC (The National Association for Colitis and Crohn's Disease).

I've suffered from Crohn's Disease since the age of 21 but sadly not a lot of people know much about it. It's a form of inflammatory bowel disease.

NACC is the leading Charity in the UK to research and help sufferers of IBD as well as IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).

Even if you are not able to attend and cheer him on waving your 'Go Mat' banner, if you could dig deep and donate a few pennies we'd all be really grateful. 

Update on Oct 16th 2012 from Mat.

Hello fans.

Thanks for your donations and support so far. It is just under two weeks before the event and training continues to go well - I am now running 80% of the competition distance every other night, which is the most I've run since I was growing up in Gosport and getting chased by the big kids.
It is far cry from the 2-3 miles that I struggled with once or twice a week back in May - but I will still need to somehow find another two miles on the day.
There have been highs, which include overtaking cars queuing along the Eastern Road to get into Pompey at rush hour - and letting them know), and lows, which include one such driver catching up with me further down the road, having his passenger wind the window down, and brand me as a "run wanker" (fair play).
Other highlights include getting sprayed by Lorries going through puddles, sideways torrential downpour and one particularly traumatising incident where I was chased for some distance by a Bee.

For the benefit of those who plan to witness some part of my last day on Planet Earth, I received my Bupa pack this evening, and have learned that I will be part of the "Orange" wave of runners (first group) which departs from the D-Day Museum at 10.35am.
Unfortunately for me, it appears that I have been entered into the same group as the Elite Professional Men (or as I have come to refer to them, Ethiopia).
Since I am almost certainly going to be the one at the very back, I am toying with the idea of wearing a Sonic the Hedgehog costume to take the piss.

Looking at the course, it looks like the best places to watch may be along Winston Churchill Avenue, which is about the 4 mile mark (and doubles back on itself for the fifth) as well as the windy home straight along the coastline, which runs from about 8 miles to the finish.

Unless you're an early bird, I anticipate that the start area will be heavily oversubscribed.

See you on race day.

Mat