Hurts so good !

a bit of John Cougar Mellencamp today to celebrate a day of blood, sweat & tears around the streets of Nottingham.

I met up with a variety of folks from this wonderful website, my own club Milton Keynes Lakeside Runners, a great selection of 10 in 10 runners past & present & of course the guys already members of the 100 marathon club.

I was joined by mates Dave,Mel & Malc all dressed as naughty school kids & we briefly did "battle" with the Sparta army & took a few great photos before someone's big mouth meant I got interviewed live on local radio !

Race wise Nottingham seems to get hillier every year & yet the course has hardly changed in the 5 times I've run it ! I struggled out there & whilst getting through halfway in 1.58.58 sub 4 wasn't looking optimistic as my knee was giving me a lot of pain so I settled for 4.30 but met Rory Coleman with 7 miles to go & he was going for sub 4 & so i thought I'd keep him in site & try to eat up each mile in 9 minutes & it really hurt but I just wasnt prepared to give up on it & kept pressing on overtaking quite a few as I went.

I finally went past the 26 mile sign in 3.54 & knew I'd have just enough time to get my wings out & fly home even blowing a kiss to the mad fetchies in the granstand screaming my name :)

I couldn't hold back the tears as I finished - I was happy,hurt,bleedding (blister) & relieved to have finally reached my holy grail of running 100 marathons. It's been one hell of a journey & one that has changed my life.

I celebrated with a few drinks & my good friend Dave Ross made a speech involving our race excursions into Pole dancing clubs in Bratislava & gay bars in Barcelona - cheers Dave ! Lol !

I got my medal & couldn't wait to pull the 100 marathon shirt over my head - the most expensive shirt I'll ever own !

A truly fantastic weekend with some fabulous friends & I want to say huge thanks to you all

In the words of Kenneth Wostenholme "they think it's all over............. It is now" :)


Honoured to belong to Fetcheveryone, Milton Keynes Lakeside runners, the 10 in 10 club & now finally a full member of the 100 marathon club :)

Keep or running & running & running.......


Foxy

2 become 1 :)

I cant stand the Spice Girls so really annoyed they have the most apt title for my blog. I guess I could have had Nena's 99 red balloons or Bon Jovi's 99 in the shade ? But the Spice Girls it is & you'll be humming it all night !

I started the the day with 2 to go to hit 100 marathons & ironically the title of the race was "2togo"

I felt tired at the start but decided to stick to my plan to go for sub 3.30 but with 5km gone that was optimistic & I really struggled from 5-15km & re set my goals for sub 4 but i was in agony with my knee & almost crawling but I gradually got reelled in by a few mates who help dragged me round for a few miles each, I had a great chat with Paul from Ampthill & Glyn from Leighton Buzzard which took my mind off the pain.

The last 3km were tough you could see the finish line but the course looped away a couple of times & i was relieved to finally see the line & I broke out the airplane early with probably 80 yards to go & landed in 4 hours 10 mins. (race directors that make you run along the canal & then put loops in ? scocking ;) !!)

I celebrated with a few beers & thought only sensible to grab an ice cream with a flake :)

I'm relieved it's over & just hope I can recover in time for the century ?

Tomorrow I will be a fox in schoolboys clothing - my best Angus Young impression tomorrow :)

For those about to "run" we salute you :)

Foxy