Thanks for visiting my fundraising page!  (Listed at the bottom is what your donation might go towards for athritis care and also thankyous to the offline donors.)

Firstly I would like to thank everyone who has given me support and given donations over the past 6 months to make this event happen.  Also well done to Ryan Cheeseman for winning the second raffle to take the cash prize with Paul Swain and Stephen Bradshaw getting 2^nd and 3^rd. (it was not fixed honest!)

I would also like to give anyone who is thinking of doing this event a few tips:-

1)      Bring  your phone on training runs and avoid potholes (potholes  are dangerous and when you find out you have a nasty sprain  7 miles from home with no taxis around, you will soon come across that moment of despair when you realise you have no phone on you!)

2)      Use Vaseline.  Jogger’s nipple is not a myth!

3)      Try running for a charity where you are not running in pink.

As for the day itself it was everything I hoped it was going to be.   Although technically injured ( I hadn’t run for 4 weeks coming into the event due to ongoing dodgy ankles) I swallowed enough codeine and paracetomol in the morning to put an elephant to sleep and got on the train at a brisk 6:20 to get to London for the event.

Hoping I could beat the traffic and would get there early I soon realized this was not the case when I got to Waterloo station with Buzz lightyear, Superman and a guy with a toga wrapped around himself struggling to get on the first tube.  After getting to Greenwich station feeling a bit worse for wear there was a mile walk to the congregation area for my start point which was nice!  After listening to Ant (out of ant and dec) crack jokes and  gee up the crowd I did my limbering up and then advanced towards the start point. 

As I was in the slow pen it took 20 minutes to cross the start line so everyone in the crowd had time to wave to the cameras, enjoy the morning sunshine and  admire each others outfits (the postbox, and the man with the 20 foot puppet  woman attached to him got my vote for best costumes).  The temperature at the time felt nice but it was too become a hindrance as the day wore on to myself and a lot of other people.

My first realization that it was going to be a long day was when we hit maze hill around 2 miles into the run.  I was trying to get off as fast as possible but my body was not ready for an uphill climb at this early and I took a few deep breaths in as I got to the top of the road.  I ran on and felt ok for the next mile or so but suddenly was feeling pains in my right hip which I was unprepared for.   I was trying to keep myself going as I knew I had run 13 miles before without stopping but on this occasion I lost the mental battle.  I decide after mile 7 to do a run and walk job to try and get a reasonable time by going for a third of a mile then walking 200 metres then running for another 3rd and so on.  This seemed to work ok for the next few miles and when I got to crossing tower bridge with the famous landmarks of big ben the houses of parliament and the brilliant support of the crowd I was still coping with the pain ok. 

After getting over tower bridge I saw peter Andre and Jordan along the course.  She looked pretty good (unfortunately her running limp didn’t!)   As I ran along beside them a group of 12 lads tied by skipping ropes started serenading them with his big hit mysterious girl.  I don’t know whether Peter Andre was smiling or grimacing at this stage so I gave him another personal chorus to ensure he wouldn’t forget the tune. 

After getting to around the 15 mile point my good hip decided to give up too.  I don’t know whether it was a factor of the drugs wearing off, the increasing temperature or I was being punished for not running for a while, but my body went into a hobble mode.  At this point a lot of other people were suffering and the St John’s ambulance in full swing with people at various stages of cramp, dehydration and general fatigue.

I have to say the sights of the crowd the amazing Caribbean and various bands and more importantly people handing out sherbert dips kept me going.  At mile 18 I caught the site of my dad and brother doing the fastest 200 metre sprint Id seen.  My brother at this stage decided to get out the video camera after spending the previous few hours relaxing in the pub to film the official race video interview.  After being asked a few obvious questions from my dad:-

1)      How are you feeling 

A – Shattered how do you think!

2)      Keep  going Your looking really good

A-     Dad I don’t think your going to allow me to pull out now! I’ve been walking the past 2 miles I’m struggling with a hobble!

3)      Did you see the guy in the big Rhino outfit go past he’s beating you!

At this point there was no answer to this so I said my goodbyes and cut the interview short to tackle the last 8 miles towards the finish line.  

After hobbling into the city and seeing the sites of the large impending buildings and the swelling crowds I was crawling at this stage but willing myself on to finish under 6 hours.  The smell of barbecues and going past Billingsgate market made me realize I hadn’t had anything to eat since 5 in the morning and at that point I decided a quick walk was the best way to get to that meal I knew was waiting for me at the end. 

With 2 and a half miles to go I knew it was going to be hit and miss to get under the 6 hour goal  so I tried to run for 50 metre spurts.  With 800 metres to go another guy in a rhino costume overtook me and a guy running for help for heroes with a prosthetic limb who looked like he could go all day was just behind.   

With 250 metres to go the cameraman was lining up to take the photo so I went into my flying slow run towards the finish line.  Arms opened wide crossing the line I felt elated as I stopped my watch at 5 hours 58 mins 10 secs and I had just enough energy to get the medal around my neck before my legs told me it was time to sit down for a while to recuperate.

After meeting with my friends for a few drinks afterward  and telling them stories about the day I had time to realize past the niggles of pain what a great day and experience it had been.

 After 4 months of training, ( a few weeks of injury too) I realized  how far Id come from the first week when I was out of puff after half a mile weighing 15 and a half stone, to  45 minutes after running a marathon (weighing 13stone 10 pounds) enjoying a few pints and not feeling too bad.  I would definitely recommend the experience to anyone thinking of taking part – singing mysterious girl to peter andre was definitely worth all the blood sweat and tears!

If you want to read my March update on how my training went and the silverstone half marathon please go to the bottom of the page.

Some people may be wondering why Im trying to run this marathon so heres a little insight into the reasons:-

1.  I was feeling pretty happy the day I applied. (Im getting less so with the thought of the training!)

2.  To see if I can complete a big event that will challenge me to my limits (a bit like the Friday and Saturday nights out!)

3.  To raise money for a worthwhile charity and to try and find out what its like to run a mile again without screaming for a taxi!!! oh no forgot its just another 25 on top of that too.......

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Arthritis Care gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

Your donations can help athritis care do the following:-

£20 means atrhitis care can answer the phone to one more person in need of emotional or practical support to overcome the impact of their athritis.

£50 means athritis care can run an information point in the community for a day with a trained volunteer on hand to give info and support on what services are available to them in their area or through athritis care.

£100 means athritis care can offer a free place on their preparing for work courses which supports people to manage their athritis and develop techniques they need to remain or return to to the workplace.

£500 means athritis care can support 6 families of children with athritis to give them the support they need to understand the childs condition and its impact and receive mutual support from others in the same position.

£1000 means arthritis care can produce over 2800 infomation booklets on wide ranging topics (from diet, exercise, pain relief and treatment options) giving sufferers more access to the information they need to improve their understanding of the conditon and to lead more independent lives.

£2000 means arthritis care can run one more pain management workshop helping 15 people to overcome the pain of arthritis and to make significant changes in their lives.

So hopefuly you can now see from this where your money is going!

p.s. Please post your messages of mockery or support and start digging deep for those pounds!

Big thumbs up and thanks to the offline donors : - Charles TIghe, Stephen Childs, Levi Day, Uday Udeshi. Lindsey Foskett, Veronica Cannlan, Dad!, Monika Rider, Sue Nicholson, Orna and Bob Cahill, Pirelli, Stephen Bradshaw, Tony Wheatcroft, Eric Foster, Ryan Cheesman, Matt Leete, Barry Parker

March update

Congratulations to Lee Shepheard winner of the half marathon sweepstake who came closest with his guess of 2 hour 12 minutes and 20 seconds (not bad actual finishing time was 2 hours 12 minutes 37 seconds).   Everyone will get another chance in April to predict my time for the big one in London and win a big cash prize.  

At the moment training is going well, I’m up to 14 miles now and have so far managed to run through sleet, rain and snow!  I am now under 15 stone for the first time since beginning university, but I don’t think the running is the sole contributor to this (I think it’s massively aided by the fact I’m no longer eating lots of donner kebabs with chilli sauce on a Friday night washed down with several pints!). 

As most of you are aware I have just finished the half marathon at Silverstone.  Luckily the weather was on my side and I managed to get there with 15 minutes to spare (If anyone has been to Silverstone getting there is a nightmare!) 

Having got to the event thinking I would have to run to the start they then announced it was going to be delayed by 15 minutes due to people still trying to get to Silverstone,  so luckily I had a brief period to do a warm up and then get to the start line to eye up my competitors.    As I didn’t want everyone to fly past me at the start I decided the best thing to was to do was line up next to the 6 man team in a caterpillar costume and show them my heels at the start with Bruce Springsteen’s born to run blasting in on my iPod!

My pre race strategy was to keep a steady pace and to pick up pace at the end, but this was broken within the first mile.  As everyone was jostling for a bit of free space with 6000 people jammed in like a can of sardines on the race track I decided to run like Ben Johnson on steroids!

Having got through the first mile in 7 minutes 30 (that is the quickest I have ever gone on a long run in the 1^st mile) I decided to try and keep the pace up and stick with 3 guys called Billy Whiizz, Tozzer and Wide load.  After mile 3, wide load (yes his running name did live up to his slightly large beer belly!)  and his friends shot off and I sat back to ease into my own race. The next few miles went pretty easy with everyone seeming to enjoy the sunshine and the warm support from the crowd.  After 6 miles I had gone though in 56 minutes and at this stage and for a brief moment of madness I was thinking of world records and the magic sub 2 hour mark.  Having felt pretty good I tried to keep under 10 minute pace to see how far I could go.

By miles 8 and 9 you could see a lot of smiles go from a lot of the runners and more grimaces as the miles slowly ticked over.  I started to realize at the 10 mile mark my magic lucozade and eye of the tiger on the ITunes just were not compensating for the fact that I was absolutely shattered, I still had 3 miles to go and the 10 minute pace marker I was unsuccessfully trying to follow was running his own race at 8 min 30 speed!. 

Things brightened up at mile 11 when I slowly trudged past wide load.  At this stage he was no longer the man at the start of the race whose beer belly was defying gravity with his sprightly stride.  I shouted a word of encouragement to him and forced myself to keep putting one foot in front of the other for another few metres.  By the last 2 miles the crowds seemed to get bigger and they really seemed to help everyone at this stage to get to the finishing line.  Having the finishing line in site at this stage everyone seemed to get a last burst of energy, sprinting skipping and pumping their fists in the air.  I on the other hand managed a 5 metre sprint across the line and just managed to get the energy to put my medal around my neck.   Having got my medal and paid my visit to the St john’s ambulance to get a large ice pack to put on my tender feet I could finally put a smile back on my face and enjoy the fact I had run 13 miles which  over 4 months ago seemed impossible.  

Then a thought popped into my head – London 26^th April only 1 month twice as long - 26 miles Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!