Friday 20th April MARATHON 98

20th April - Day 98. Woke at 5:30, dad awake also we had a chat for a while, after the obligatory hobble to the loo for a pee! Not sure who won the "Hobble Off" I think a draw. Trying to work out the best route for today and a system to make it safe! We are being joined by my girls, Sheryl, Bianca and Regan, Cliff King at some point and Jon O'Shea from Haslers will be joining in Half way'ish. Jon did the Paris marathon and I believe ran a PB, well done Jon, but still a bit sore so only half today. Into the bathroom for a shower at 7:00, still hobbling, the massage was great and not deep, but always leaves me a bit sore! Shower had no power! In for breakfast hoping for better food and certainly better service than last night! Got a call from Ed at our office telling me some of our lads are working nearby and wanted to pop in to say hello! I met them in the car Park, had a quick chat, Dan Filby said I looked like an Ethiopian athelete! Shame I can't run like one! Good to see the lads, made me realise how close we are now! Anyway, in to breakfast, great service, good food and porridge cooked. Back to the room by 8:30, everyone due at 9:00 so cracked on with the route and getting ready! Our mob turned up just before 9:00 and that was the end of my controlled preparations! I had a call from Radio London and had a quick chat with Paul Ross and Gaby Roslin, then I got a call from Dan Fox from Heart and had a another little chat! All went ok I think and hopefully reached more people! All good here, everyone was buzzing and a good tone was set for the day. Another photographer from a national paper turned up at 9:00, sooner or later we might get in a paper! Great fun doing all the photos with everyone, not sure it was what the photographer wanted but we had a good time. All done and we were ready to go. Thank you again Premier Inn for your generosity. We set off just after 10:15, Karen and Sheryl running with me for the first leg. Weather was fine as we bobbed along chatting, nice and steady through to 5k, very good running, you must have been training well running with the dogs! Tag team change, India and Bianca joined me and the chatting was all one way! India especially can talk and talk, they both worked hard and ran another 5k. Tag swap, Jemima and Regan joined me. The fittest two people by a mile, regularly do up to 8 hours dance training a day! Jemima asked how much further after 2 minutes! All good they both settled in and the kilometres past quickly. 5k done Jemima stopped but Regan carried on! I think he found it very easy, especially when he said that I could go a bit faster if I wanted! Regan and I ran through to 19k then jumped back in the van. At this point we realised that we had gone slightly off course! Dad was really enjoying have the family and friends in the van and took the odd left instead of right! We were due to meet Jon in Albury at half way, miles off we re-planned and met at East Clandon. All good, introductions done, Jon had a colleague Lee with him. We set off for the 2nd half of the marathon with Regan, Karen and Sheryl, nice steady pace we ran for about 3k then the heavens opened! We caught up with the van, the girls jumped in, we carried on and got drenched! Thinking the rain would soon stop we pushed on, the rain did not stop! Regan got back in the van, I put a jacket and hat on and we pushed on again. It rained through to 40k then eased, the sun came out and it was hot! Nice steady pace, a few testing hills but great to have company. India, Bianca and Regan joined us for the last 5k to our finish on the A24 at Mickleham in a very enjoyable but still painful running time of 4'13"23. We all suffered towards the end, Jon still sore from the Paris marathon, Lee has not run over 5k for a long time and my legs are just shot! Thank you to everyone today, marathon 98 completed, I got to run with my family and friends, no complaints! We all jumped/squeezed in the van and we headed for our accommodation. We have been very kindly offered accommodation tonight, courtesy of the DeVere group at The Horsley Park Hotel, Horsley Park, Ockham Road South East Horsley, Surrey. We were very warmly met by the General Manager, Michael Micallef. Fantastic place and extremely good service. We all settled in the bar lounge for a quick bite to eat. Great hour spent, everyone buzzing about the day and the weekend coming up. All fed, I took Jon and Lee back to their car then back to the Premier Inn to Drop Karen and Sheryl at their car. Traffic was not good! 5pm on a Friday!! Anyway all sorted and back at our very nice hotel. Quick bath, washed my kit and down to eat. Great to be sitting at a table with family and friends, Sheryl sat next to dad and received a few of dads childhood stories! All good but now time to go! We said our goodbyes and waved them off, me and dad again! Legs hurting a lot, hip and left knee biggest problems today, time for ice! Well, another very enjoyable day done, another marathon chalked up, one more to get done tomorrow, still must keep focused on the task, I am not there yet! Now very late, so goodnight and thanks for all your messages and support today.

Oh & A Big Thank you to our shirt sponsors today Rimary Fluid Power & thanks for your great donation.

Tomorrow is a very big day!