Three Lions - Charity raffle :)

Hello to all as part of my fundraising for the 10 in 10 I am raffling 2 tickets to see England v Ukraine in the World cup Qualifier @ Wembley on April 1st (no joke).

raffle tickets are just £1.00 each, 7 for a fiver & 15 for a tenner.

The raffle will be drawn on 25th March (my fathers 65 birthday - makes it easy for me to remember !)

To purchase your tickets you can do so at my Justgiving page - please in the notes include your name & or Fetch Nickname so I can get the tickets to you if you win. if you prefer you can send me a cheque payable to "Brathay Challenge" to David Bayley,Nationwide Building Society,99 Queensway, Bletchley,Milton keynes,MK2 2JZ.

all funds raised will go towards the wonderful work of Brathay Hall.

www.justgiving.com/davidbayley

"I am not a number.....I am a free man !!!"

But actually in many instances I am a number. whether that's wearing my No.8 baseball jersey (for my diamond hero Cal Ripken - the Iron man) or race number 47344 whilst pounding the streets of the city that never sleeps.

numbers play an important part in every runners life, it might be the 26 miles 385 yards from Windsor Castle to White city or just 5km from home to the park or the lake. There's time.distance pace & for some calories & heart rate.

Ask any marathon runner & they will give you their Personal Best to the second without the blink of an eye, ask when their wedding anniversary is & prepare for the pause.........

This week i finally made it through my first 500 miles running, glad i ran every single one of them, i wouldn't want to have walked them & got confused with the bespectacled boys from Leith. It took me 51 days through the wind, rain, snow & ice. now onto my next goal to complete 200 miles in February.

Still almost 2 weeks until my next marathon & i'm looking forward to seeing the beautiful Cornish coast & enjoying the finisher reward of their world famous pasties :)

Keep on running

David.

What do I think of when I run ?

Many people ask me "what do you think about when you are running ?" there's no one single answer but lots of little ones.

I never seem to remember my dreams when I wake, but I dream when I'm out running.

My thoughts are always those I would have if I wasn't running, but get interupted by work, phones, computers & every day life.

I think about travel alot & some of the races I would love to do but will probably never have the funds to do. Amongst those are the Safari marathon in Kenya, the Great Wall marathon in China & Maui in Hawaii.

I also think about those I may get the chance to do & that list is topped by Boston,Rome,Lisbon,Chicago,Toronto & San Francisco.

Yesterday I got to thinking about Desert island discs & the albums I'd want with me - I concluded I couldn't be without Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet, Def Leppard's,Hysteria,Meatloaf's Bat out of Hell & AC/DC - Live. I made a rule that I couldn't pick greatest hits compilations thus ruling out Queen's greatest hits & Elvis #1's.

I was out for quite a while yesterday & went from Music to films - I didn't get a definative list but Goodfella's, the Shawshank Redemption,Forrest Gump (as shown !!) & Armaggedon were in my thoughts.

I think about the wonderful people I have got to know through running, the tales they've told, the laughs we've shared, the finishes we've celebrated & the tough miles we've battled through.

I've met & ran with folks from Cincinatti & Minneapolis in the US & a great bloke called Martin from Linz in Austria - never met 'em before & may never meet 'em again ? running brings you an instant brotherhood & everyone belongs.

A race T-shirt from anywhere on the planet can bring a smile & instant conversation & I've shared a few beers in airports with the Dutch,Belgians, Germans, Austrians, Irish & folks from across the globe, you're never alone with a race T-shirt !!

keep on running & flying :)

Foxy Davy

The Good,the Bad & the Ugly !!

The title may seem a little misleading this ain't no Spagetti Western, although pasta does sound good !!

I guess I should cover them in order ;

The Good

Sunday's Punchbowl 30 mile off road Ultra marathon in Surrey.

On Saturday I set out for Sutton to my mate Dave's anticipating a long train journey, I got to Sutton faster than I ever had in under 2 hours. Dave's girl Mel cooked us the wonderful above mentioned Spagetti. Mel's a marathon running chef, that boy sure has landed on his feet !!

We headed off to Wimbledon for a few beers & an evening at a comedy club - had a fun night, 2 of the 3 comedians were incredibly funny & host New Yorker (via Peckham !)Lewis Shaffer worked the crowd well.

I expected a low turnout on the Sunday & whilst the event was full at 300 entrants an extra 100 were allowed on the day entry. It was wonderful running & navigating through the snow, the hilltop views of the snow covered countryside were a sight to behold. I ran with my mate Simon Illingworth & got to congratualte him on the MBE he received in the Queen's new years honours list, very well deserved for all his charity work since recovering from Cancer.

With 5 miles to go the field condensed & a group of 10 of us continued on towards the finish, Dave & Mel were amongst the group & Dave & I "treated" our fellow runners to our rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody !!

To my suprise we finished inside 6 hours & were treated to beans on toast & chips with a lovely cup of tea at the finish.

With marathon number 49 done I can look forward to my half century on March 8th, the day before my sisters 40th & a month after my mum's 60th (birthday's that is,not marathons !!).Number 50 will be down in Redruth, Cornwall & I can't wait.

The Bad

Work, it's been a quiet week & the dreaded redundancies are about to start, worry times for all :(

The Ugly

last night's run.

I ran 5.8 miles in a snow storm & it was lovely & only took an extra 30 seconds on top of my usual run but was very pleased. I met 5 hardy club mates & set off for an hours run, after 20 minutes the tank was empty & I had no energy I was really struggling but Andy & Fiona helped keep me going, I had to dig deep mentally but I made it & looking back it was good mental training for May.

Today I'm having a rest & recovering, I ran a leisurely 4 mile recovery run in my lunchbreak - you didn't really expect me to have a day off did you ?!!!

Keep on running

best wishes

Foxy Davy

Is my Ipod psychic ?

I have to say when it comes to the tunes my ipod selects while running I have to ask the above question ?

I also have to ask does it have a Ironic sense of humour ? I'm not talking Alannis Morrisette who doesn't understand the meaning of the word ? Rain on your wedding day is unlucky, not ironic. now if she was a weathergirl now that's ironic !!

This is something that first went through my mind when i ran my first European marathon in Paris. I simply selected "shuffle" & what did I get "highway to hell" by AC/DC - I wasn't seeing it like that at the time but gave me a chuckle & what did I cross the line to ? "sharp dressed man" by ZZ top - sharp dressed ? I was covered in sweat, water, lucozade & did feel that sharply dressed I have to say !! with those 2 artists I had run the alphabet too ?!!

There were other instances - in Edinburgh kicking for home I got 2Alive & Kicking" by Scotland's very own Simple Minds, In Belgium I finished to 2Start me up" by the Rolling Stones.

In Amsterdam in 2006 I pushed myself to the absolute limit to just break 3 hours 30 mins for the first time & what did I cross the line to ? "Hurts so good" by John Cougar Mellencamp & I hit the wall in Rotterdam to "running on empty" by Jackson Browne & when I needed to put down the hammer in the final 400 metres in Athens, Queen gave "Hammer to Fall" !!

But I finally realised my ipods true powers last week on a training run, I was struggling out there & what do I get "fix you" by Coldplay. The redway path has a stream of lights running down my right hand side & all of them are on exept for one & as I run past it to the Lyrics "Lights will guide you....." if magically comes on !!! How about that ?

Judge I rest my case my Ipod is physic !!!

Foxy Davy :)