Life is a journey, not a race !

I guess now is a good time to write about the run itself, the pain has (mostly) faded but the happy thoughts are still fresh in my mind.

After a pretty sleepless night at a hotel in Sunderland I arrived at the start line in good time, despite a last minute panic when I had to dash back and retrieve my bag as I'd forgotten my timing chip. Taz and I hadn't really planned to meet anywhere specific, probably quite silly considering there were a record 52,000 participants this year but as I stood in the allotted 'pink zone' I caught a glimpse of some purple hair in the crowd and so started to work my way forwards, squeezing between the other runners who were for the most part involved in pre race stretching and warming up. A little closer and I could see the purple hair was attached to a Taz shaped person wearing a Team Badger 08 shirt. My shout of 'Oi Taz' got a laugh from the people I was squeezing past. The conversation with Taz went something like 'This is weird', 'Yeah, it is, how are you?' Me: 'I'm fine. Actually, no I'm not fine, I'm about to run a half marathon !' and pretty much as that realisation started to sink in the crowd started to edge forward. It took half an hour to reach the start and for me it was quite a surreal experience. All of a sudden we were crossing the line and I noticed a bloke I vaguely recognised waving us off...it took me a second to realise it was Tony Blair. I crossed the start line at a jog and wondered if I'd have the energy to cross the finish line in the same way.

The first mile was superb, pretty early on I was glad I'd made the last minute decision to stick my name on the madasbadgers T shirt. Once you get used to complete strangers shouting your name in encouragement it's a pretty good feeling. Taz and I had started together but I could tell our pace was different - her fast walk was only a little slower than my jogging speed so as a gap opened up when we hit the Tyne bridge I settled to the most comfortable pace I could find and watched the purple hair disappear into the crowd. Any disappointment at that point faded when I heard more shouts of encouragement including 'Go on Brucie Badger' as someone who obviously read my T shirt as I passed. I was pretty comfortable for the first few miles, no sign of blisters and none of the dreaded chaffing (Vaseline on standby...eeeww) As expected my hair was in my face but I managed keep enough of it tied out of the way to be able see where I was going. The water points where pretty well spaced out and I took a bottle every time, unlike the guy in the kilt who overtook me at one, waving his bottle of cider in the air...I last saw him diverting off the route towards a pub and I'm still wondering if he ever finished the race !

Somewhere along the way I missed a couple of mile markers so when I hit the halfway point it came as a pleasant surprise. I was also surprised at how good I felt but decided to slow my pace long enough to send a text telling people I'd made it halfway, silly, yes but the replies were good motivation when things got harder later on. I was definitely walking for much longer periods by now but I was still able to run a little when I wanted - rarely up hill though!

The ten mile marker was one I didn't miss, nor did the guy running in St Johns ambulance colours who commented 'most deaths occur between the 10 and 12 mile point, take care folks' Charming ! I resolved not to die, told myself I was nearly there and pushed on, noticeably slower than I had before but by now convinced I could do it. I was walking even more now and everything was starting to hurt...I could feel the friction of blisters on the balls of both my feet and my ankles and knees were starting to ache. I reasoned that as everything ached pretty evenly I had nothing to worry about, I hadn't damaged anything excessively and my body was just objecting to doing so much exercise. I walked slower at this point, determined to keep something back so I could run or jog across the finishing line but I was feeling pretty tired.

Now, I've seen the red arrows so many times at airshows since I was a kid that I don't tend to pay attention their display any more - but as I shuffled along the road and those nine red aircraft came out of nowhere streaming coloured smoke I suddenly felt very emotional, I think after spending the last hour or so plodding along deep in my own thoughts I was suddenly aware again that I was part of something really huge and I knew if I could keep moving I would succeed.

Before I knew it I was plodding downhill towards the sea and then turning left onto the long final straight. 12 miles was so close but I knew the last mile and a bit would hurt. I waddled past the Cancer Research UK cheering point - a open double decker bus, the bloke on the top deck with a megaphone just told me I was doing great - nearly there. 800m, I remember this was two laps of the old school athletics track which always seemed such a long way when I was a kid. At 400m I noticed some of the people with space blankets and medals who'd long since finished the race were cheering, lending support and some were calling my name. At 200m I thought I'd try my legs again. I could still run, in fact somehow it was easier than it should have been. It’s funny but as I was filtered towards the finish line it felt like I could run as fast and for as I long as I wanted. I tried to smile for the cameras but god knows what I'll look like in the final photo... then I was over the line…I did it. Three hours, nine minutes and fourteen seconds ! Walking suddenly seemed difficult again and the meeting area seemed a bloody long way away. I found the letter T and Taz and the gang were waiting with cheesecake. Then it was time to find the baggage bus and join the hour and a half queue for the metro to get back to the car.

Would I do it again ? Yes ! Next year ? I don't know. Once it's all stopped hurting I'm intending to go for a run again and if I'm still running occasionally when the GNR '09 is open for entry who knows what will happen ? In the meantime though we’re still accepting donations for this year on the sponsorship pages.

Thanks to everyone who supported me and gave me the confidence to give it a go. Thanks also to the people who said I couldn’t do it (yeah, there were a couple) - You motivated me in a whole different way !