After arriving in a wet and cold Durham on the Saturday night (but to a warm north-east welcome) - things were not looking too good though for the Sunday. However the taxi-driver assured me that the bad weather was heading south.
He was right, and the weather was more than well behaved for the day of the run - to the point that my fading tan looks like it may have made a last minute return! It took ages before the run actually started and never have I wanted to start running so much! Perhaps the highlight of the whole race aside from the tremendous support from the crowds was the sight of Sir Jimmy Saville waving through all the starters.
I think I actually managed to run about 50-60% of the course distance - running at a fair pace at one stage. However by the 9th mile I was seriously hurting and by the 13th it was getting painful. Funnily enough with the finish in sight, I sprinted the last 250 meters with ease!
Will I do it again next year - I think so. To be honest the race didn’t live up to my expectations, but I definitely want to better my time. However I will need to train properly as my body is feeling the effects at the moment. I ache.
Now all that’s left is the collection of the sponsorship money - so come on everybody - it’s time to pay up!
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