The finishing line... at last!

Well, on Sunday The Great North Run finally came round and it was time to see how all the training I'd put in faired. I felt pretty good - the little beer gut had disappeared and a slimmer, leaning Alboy (though still short) had taken my place - and the weather was lovely! Considering the weather the day before was blowing glows and pissing with rain, a clear blue sky and a healthy dose of warmth was the least I was expecting. Still, 13 miles is a fair old distance, so it was going to be anything but easy...

What did help pump the adrenaline and keep going to the end was the terrific atmosphere on the route. It was crowded for the 55,000 runners but everyone was polite and lovely when we kept bumbing into each other accidentally. I lost count of the number of bands playing on the route (the def Leppard tribute band was ace) and the locals in Gateshead and South Shields are an admirable lot. Who else would cheer on a bunch of strangers on a Sunday morning rather than watch the Hollyoaks omnibus. Some even provided their own refreshment for the runners on the side of the road in the form of biscuits, ice-pops, water and tissues when they had no real need to, which is, frankly, awesome!

However, the best part of the day was when me and my mate hit the Tyne bridge after a couple of miles. Just as we stepped on seven Red Arrows in a really tight formation screamed overhead at a stupidly low altitude. That got us buzzing! As we stepped off the Tyne bridge they flew back over following the route of the Tyne. Spine-tingling stuff! We did miss out on shaking hands with Chris Hoy and Rebecca Addlington though, as we were on the wrong side of the road when we crossed the start line, but hey-ho, it was still just nice to see a couple of Olympic gold medalists as one begins the first of their 13 mile trudge!

All in all, a great occassion. The run went well also. The first 10k was completed in 50 minutes, but I struggled between 10 and 12 miles, where the route, rather punishingly returned to a gradual up hill struggle. The old lactic acid was beginning to kick in around that point! However, I put a good finish in during the last mile, which ensured I just pipped my target time of one hour and 50 minutes. For the record, I ran 13.1 miles in one hour 49 minute and 23 seconds. Lewis beat that however, finishing in an hour and 40 minutes! Good work fella!! And of course the real winner was the MS Society for whom we managed to raise over £650 for. There's nothing quite like the sense of accomplishment you have crossing the finishing line when you have that in mind!



Having finsihed the Great North Run I am now also in a position to officially state that people who run marathons are crazy mad bonkers... my legs have been killing me since and I'm working from home today as I'm certainly not hobbling to work in such pain, and that was only after half distance! Crazy people, I tells you. What's the betting I'll soon be doing the London Marathon, eh?