Bucko's World

Well, it’s all done and dusted and it’s looking like the final total is £1,556.43.  A MASSIVE thank you to everyone who supported us either financially, with training, on the day, or all three, please award yourselves a hardy pat on the back.

Our last training day had gone splendidly well with over 10K being covered in about an hour forty, so confidence for the day was high.  We were both injury free, so our only concern is what the weather might throw at us over the course of the race.

Luckily the weather on the morning was pretty perfect for a run.  Cloudy with a chance of meatballs with perhaps a hint of a shower.  Never a problem when running, unless it’s on city streets with their notoriously slick surfaces when wet, and all those pesky drain and manhole covers which can send you arse over ‘arris with just the slightest of missteps.  Eagle eyes required then. 

The biggest problem we had was finding our luggage station and then having to negotiate the 1.5K walk from there to the start!  As you can imagine by the time we got there (or as close as we could get) we were busting for the wee we hadn’t had at the bag drop.  Fortunately we come to a stop right by the “last toilets for 3K” and a quick nip over the barriers leads us neatly to the queue.  Unfortunately Blind Sam and his gang of remedials had been tasked with putting the portaloos in place, meaning several units had their doors facing each other so close they couldn't be used, unless there was a way in through the roof.  This meant the loos left were aleady beyond disgusting and are therefore a memorable part of the experience for all the wrong reasons!

Waiting in sight of the start was great fun.  Chatting to all and sundry, especially others in The Brain Tumour Charity’s distinctive running vests, the atmosphere was heighten by the Army Wives signing the National Anthem brilliantly, and then the completely amateurish starter counting us down from 10 seconds to start 5 seconds late.  Most people ignored the nob and set off as the gun went.

It’s a good thing he wasn’t in charge of anything else and the start went well, group of 2,000 being let go at a time, with me and Catlin reaching the start as 12 minutes clicked over on the clock.  Not to bad, even if we have already covered about 2K by this point!

The run itself was amazing.  The support along the route from the public was just superb, and high fiving and chatting to other TBTC runners was inspiring.  Of particular note were the crowds along Embankment down to Hungerford Bridge, with what looked like thousands of people hanging off it cheering and clapping us on.  Big grins all round!

We finally crossed the finish line at an indicated 1.40.00, which translated to 1.27.55 “bib” time – a record for us running together.  To be honest, today was never about the time, but more about the experience and running in memory of Shaun.  Oh, and having a bloody good time too – so it looks like we succeeded on all accounts.

We finished off a great day by heading back home and getting monumentally drunk in Prezzo in the high street, whom I must thank for their patience, as we became more and more rowdy as our meal went on.  A well deserved gratuity to all there from us.

And so I’ll wind up the series of runners diaries with a few relevant factoids about what this has meant to me, other than raising a shedload of cash in Shaun’s memory.  So in the course of training I’ve :-

Lost 15lb since we began

Lost 4" from my waist

Used three different pairs of running shoes

Covered 500KM in training

Found out that dolphin sperm dies in salt water (bit random, I know)

Found out that some people you think are a shoe in to sponsor you don't; and others you would not have thought of, out of the blue, do

10K shown on a Map, looks far, far further than it does on a running machine

Running for this charity has been a really special moment in my life.

Running for this charity with my Goddaughter Caitlin, has been a really special moment in my life. (Thank you for asking me princess!)

The support from friends, family and colleagues in the run up to the race has been epic

Support from friends and family on the day was epic (Tom and Eve, Kieran and Paula, Conor and Lil' Tom, Lisa, Jamie and Maria, Jack and the Garden Gnome (aka Lewis)

These type of events are some of the most fun you can have with your clothes on!

So there it is, I hope you have enjoyed reading and I hope to be back soon with more runners tales once I know exactly what I’m going to do.

Goodnight, God Bless and R.I.P. Shaun Denney.