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I between the last blog and this i did the VLM. My time was 4.35.15. i has recovering from  a heavy cold and it was really hot. Here is the report i circualted to freiends and PFM

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John’s 2011 London Marathon. – Match Report The Training and the week before. I’ve been running for nearly a couple of years now, building distance and a little pace, and I’ve really fallen in love with it. Or at least if not the actual running but the place it can take you. I’ve had some powerful moments; my first 4 mile run, running across Blackheath on a cold winter’s night, doing the Bexhill half marathon in a monsoon and wearing skin tight clothing and a fluorescent yellow knitted hat in public. The complete list would be long and I think at least temporarily running has changed me and changed my life. It’s tough on the knees but good for the head. For London I’d followed a marathon training program and through it clocked up nearly 500 miles since Christmas. With a week to go to the day everything was going well until I went down with the cold virus/manful/flu that seems to be sweeping London. Instead of careful preparation, race planning and day dreaming I spent the week feeling terrible It completely wore me out and it was the morning of the Saturday before I was clear if I could run it or not. The Day. Mindful that going by the medical book I should be watching it on TV tucked up in bed I lined up at the Red Start in Greenwich Park, fully kitted up with Garmin GPS running watch , IPod, energy gels, jelly babies, inhaler and , just in case, 20 quid for a cab. It was 6 or 7 minutes to get over line, a quick wave to the BBC helicopter and we were off. The running itself becomes a blur in hindsight and only a few moments puncture the haze. These are; Everything the media has said about the crowds lining the route was true. Thousands and thousands of people all wishing you well often by name, as it was written on my shirt. Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf, Greenwich and the last few miles were amazing. It was hot and from half way St John’s Ambulance were getting very busy. It would be exaggerating to say people were dropping like flies but three images have stayed with me; a man collapsed before half way just before Tower Bridge, another in the Blackfriars underpass and a woman only a few 100 metres from the finish, all three surrounded St John’s people. I started cramping at 8 miles which is Surrey Docks. I remember think that if this got nay worse I would be in deep trouble 18 miles further on. It cleared up, to a point at least. After about 20 miles things got quite painful and I’d long given up looking at the readout of my Garmin to see what my pace was. At 23 miles I started talking to myself ‘I can run 3 miles I’ve done it loads of times it’s easy. I can run 3 miles I’ve done it loads of time, it’s easy. I can run………………….’ I didn’t see any celebrities but I think Cheryl Baker was behind me at some point, and I don’t remember being overtaken by any Rhino’s. I didn’t quite believe I’d reached the finish and did manage to pick my pace up for the last couple of hundred metres. Go here for more info on my run see below http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79989810 The Charity Here is a video that will tell you more about MS and the work of the MSRC. http://www.youtube.cohttp://www.yout...?v=gAaVcaDDAsE m/watch?v=gAaVcaDDAsE If anyone would like to contribute please click below. http://www.justgiving.com/john-huntingdon1 A huge thank you to all PFM for your generosity and I will be doing it all again , for MSRC, next year