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Published: February 12th 2009
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'Hey Dick.....'
This is much easier with your eyes closed you know! http://www.justgiving.com/3marathonchallenge It's 8am as I jump out of my bed.....by stark contrast to last weeks run, im feeling pretty good about this mornings run. Maybe it's because im not travelling as far this week, maybe it's because its a couple of miles less on fairly flat terrain and as Ben is giving me a lift, maybe its because I don't have to sit on a train listening to clubbers screaming in my earhole at 7am!
I load up on some toast and a cup of black gold (coffee) whilst I'm waiting for Ben. Thats when the phone rings and the chirpy northerner tells me that he's forgotten his race number! His plan is to travel from Crawley to Maidstone, then to me in South London before we head off to Watford and all in the space of just under two hours.
I'm not sure exactly where he thought this plan up from, but visions of Acme crates and unsuccessfully chasing a blue bird around a desert immediately sprung to mind.
Thankfully the idea passed, as Ben realised that he was neither a time lord or in possession of a DeLorean with a flux capacitor and that getting
between all these on time would be virtually impossible.
A quick drive through London and we were approaching the centre of Watford, time to drive about relentlessly in an attempt to find somewhere to park the car...it turns out that even leaving on time we were cutting it a bit fine!
Still not to worry, Ben is nothing if not a cool,calm and composed driver especially when the elderly driver in front refuses to let him out at a junction, prompting a small hurl of abuse revolving chiefly around the phrase 'oh well done you selfish f***rag,let me out you bast**d!'
We arrive just in the nick of time and as suspected the lack of a race number is no real issue as they are well organised and have some spares. Of course in the rush of attempting to attach the numbers to our chests, I manage to stab myself several times in the nipple with a safety pin almost drawing blood, it's at this point I ponder the very name 'safety' pin.
We hotfoot it to the starting line, armed only with gloves and bottles of isotonic orange beverages. See no advertising here!
'BANG!!'
I was starting to get tired..........
of looking at the back of the 10ft bloke in front of me. went the gun and we were off, well I say gun, now I come to think of it, there's a possibility it might have been an airhorn....in which case it probably went something a bit more like 'Wuuuuuuuuu!!!'
A quick sip of the Lucozade as we passed the starting line and our second run was underway. We got off to a good start and running on the path through the centre of a park was certainly a lot easier than the previous week's cross country affair! It wasn't long before we were running through a quiet Watford neighbourhood, well quiet except for the sound of almost 2000 pairs of feet hitting the tarmac.
About 5 miles in, my right foot really started to hurt, I had been carrying an injury all week and was kind of hoping that it would pass prior to today, but old Mr Injury, currently living in Right Foot, Darrens Leg, Darren had other ideas! It actually became pretty damn painful to run on and it soon got to the point where I was having a bit of difficulty keeping up with Ben. Strangely enough, it was at its most painful when I was
Head down and go for it!
'Ooh is that a penny on the floor?!' running downhill, as it would have to absorb more pressure, meaning that sadistically I was really looking forward to the hills we had to run up!
After a while the pain began to subside and allowed me to catch up with Ben, where I found he was having difficulties of his own. His left knee was giving him some grief. Being the frugal northerner he is, Ben is still using the running shoes he wore in GCSE PE all those years ago! Just kidding, he lived up north, they dont use running shoes up there...rumour has it wrapping cardboard around your feet is a popular alternative!
We soldiered on through the pain and it became a little bit more bearable as we ran the last few miles. I even felt a few drops of snow fall on my face...could this be a sign of things to come I thought? 'Nah don't be daft, we never get bad snow in England, I quickly reassured myself!'
It was then that on the horizon I spotted what is surely a mecca for all people running half marathons....that's right a harvester restaurant! Could it possibly be? or in my tired condition
Lunch on the Run!!
The Mecca of all that is grilled or served in a salad bowl. was I just imagining it?, was it just an oasis on the horizon? (by that I mean in a mirage sense obviously, not a bunch of Mancunian rockers with a penchant for singing the word shine in a particularly nasally way!)
Our hopes were confirmed and we quickly took note of the road name for post run feeding!
Back in the park and we were on the home straight, buoyed by the crowd we both pounded the pavement a bit faster than was sensible, especially for two men carrying injuries! I was struggling to keep up with Ben again as he flew down the final 1/2 mile, but did my best to hang on. Suddenly I heard somebody screaming my name, 'go on Darren, dig in!!' I should explain that a good friend of mine Paul was also present and running. He has been running marathons for the last 10 or so years and has recently been destroying his best times, running sub 3 hour 30 minute marathons. Thus it came as no surprise he was walking away from the finish line and heading back to his car as I was approaching the finish line. Still any encouragement is always welcome and helped spur me on a little bit to finish just behind Ben.
Another good but tiring day had and it wasn't long before we were stood at the salad bar tucking into much needed nourishment. Thats two Harvesters in two weeks you know...could this be another challenge on the horizon?!
As always guys, we aren't just roaming the UK's most exciting towns running and eating Harvesters for fun, please get involved and make a difference, it's as easy as clicking on the link below to sponsor us......
http://www.justgiving.com/3marathonchallenge
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