Dicki

I know it's been absolutely ages since we completed the Three Marathon Challenge, so long in fact that Summer has been and gone (or so it would seem!). This is just a very quick blog to thank each and every one of you that sponsored us. The response was overwhelming. The Just giving website closed last week and everybody was good to their word and paid up, just as well really....I was a bit worried I might have to flex the 22" pythons of steel! We set out to raise £2000 for the British Lung Foundation (BLF), well not only did we raise that, thanks to all of you , we obliterated it!! The grand total we submitted to the BLF was £3,427.20!! This week when you all head back to work, give yourself a big ... read more

www.justgiving.com/3marathonchallenge It was pretty early when we crept out of the hotel, keen to avoid another long winded conversation about partying with the hotel owners. We parked up Massimo the Skoda in Treviso's hideously overpriced airport carpark and hopped on the bus. One hour later and we were heading across a dual carriageway that connects Venice to mainland Italy. I was hoping for a slightly better experience of Venice than the first time I was here. Last time was in the hotter months and as many of you are probably aware, it can get very busy during the peak season. Add to that the stench rising up from the less than crystal clear waters and you'd struggle to believe this is a supposedly romantic city! If you trawl your way through the history books you'll discover ... read more

www.justgiving.com/3marathonchallenge It's often said that 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day'. Perhaps that explains why we were a tad hungry and disgruntled on arrival in Bratislava. Our hostel in Vienna had served up what appeared to be some form of prison food. As we scooped up our trays and sat down we spent the next 10 minutes working out what the gooey substance on our plates was. It was either very runny scrambled eggs or yellow porridge! The sun was out in Bratislava and that helped to cheer us up somewhat as we wandered to our hotel. There would be no messing about with buses and metros on marathon day this time. Rich had conveniently booked us into a hotel in the city centre. Great, we thought, that is until he explained that ... read more

www.justgiving.com/3marathonchallenge It was ciao to Rome. Time was a valuable commodity and later that Sunday afternoon we set off towards the Adriatic Coast of Italy. Unsure of how far we would make it, particularly as we were all a bit jaded, we decided to play it by ear as to our destination for the night. We headed east along the motorway in a bid to reach the coast before dark, pulling over solely to stock up on paninis and use the rest room. I have often thought that if I owned a motorway service station in Italy, then I would make them all sell antique pine furniture and swords. It seems a bit off an odd thing to have at a service stop i´ll grant you. That is however, exactly what we stumbled across on our ... read more