Well, if you saw the images on TV you all know what an amazing day out it was, but despite reading and listening to seasoned veterans saying what an incredible experience it is, to participate really is indescribable.

The support that you get from the spectators is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.

Running for the RNID was really good as they only had a small number of runners (compared to a lot of the bigger charities) so when we ran past their cheering post they went crazy.

John and I both found the Isle of Dogs / Canary Wharf part the hardest bit of the course. This was around miles 17-22 when my knee began to shout very loudly, and because this was the furthest I’d ever run in my life I think my body didn’t know what the hell was going on.

John’s knee was also in pretty bad shape around here.

From miles 22 - 26 it’s an old cliché that the crowds carry you across the finish line but it’s completely true, I couldn’t imagine running any further but around Tower Hill a crowd of girls all began yelling at me to keep running and erupted in a huge cheer when I did, then a half mile from the end I saw an old school friend at Big Ben cheering me on which was great and a real last minute boost (cheers Chalks !) to make the final hobble/dash to the finish, which on the clock I managed to get in the finishers photo under 5 hours (chip time of 4:53).

My overarching memory of the race - a guy standing on the side of the road somewhere in South London with his hand out offering jelly-babies to the runners shouting the enticing sales pitch of …”SWEETS FROM A STRANGER ” .