Sheeplechase

Today, I am running up a big hill dressed as a sheep in aid of my local school.

As you do.

Marathen

Thousands of people are running the thirty-first London Marathon today. I'm not, I got it out of my system last year, but I wish them well.

Last year's event raised millions of pounds for charity and saw 41 world records broken. Here's to more of the same...

Marathanks

So the website is closed and the final count is in, but first a very big

Thank You

to:

Garry Collier, Marleen, Beth Williams, Alan Williams, Tanya Jones, Sarah Holmes, Anne Howells, Carrie Parsons, Mary Nelson, Nelson Browne Management, Emily Wood, Maggie Davison, Teresa Walker, Nathan Onojaife, Anthony Quinn, Glen Barnham, Abigail Gallagher, Lowri @ Kings Place, Emrah, Emma @ Kings Place, Esther McAuley, Melanie Boyce, Iliana Flade, Jayne Dickinson, Mike Green (KPMF), Ellie Paskell, Erika Poole, Katie Ventress, Martin Carr, Simon Rhodes, Carl Barnes, Gary Merry, Barbara @ All Hallows, Anonymous, Mary Carroll, Stephanie Farrimond, Sanita Simms, Verity Clayton, Caroline Ginty, Dean Bavage, Mols, Jude and Finn, Andy Bloor, Melissa Anderson, Jean and Jon Miles, Bryan Evans, Nerys Lewis, Matt Hawksworth, Kathryn Wain, Deborah Scarborough, Mona Al, Donal & Rach, George, Jessie and Dorothy, Stephen Hicks & Simon Ives, O Nathapon, James Bisp, Abigail Tarttelin, Ros Harries, Sarah Daykin, Anna Masing, Mrs. Frequently, Holly Thomas, Ryan Forde Iosco, Christopher Nye, Jessica Stanley, Richard Doherty, Stephanie McWilliams, Karina Cornell, Lizzy Suffling, Gareth Owen, Nadia Nadif, Gavin French, Cat Nicholls, Lisa Rose, Nansi Eggleton, Nicola Berry, Alex Hornby, Ross Sadler, Sarah Wills, Patrick Harris, Pippa Neilson, Shubha Banerjee, Lucy V Hay, Carol-Ann Bavage, Simona Piantieri, Nia Davies, Anne Harskamp, Penny Davies, Anthony Clark, Ray Stahacz, Jay Venn, Laura Green, Nichola Doe, Sarah Holmes' Mum, Irwin, Alexandra Bell, Zoe & Glen, Valentina Cartago, Cameron Cook, Eleonore Mills, Ellie Pullen, Andrew Wain, Katy Organ, Dean Bavage (again), David Flynn, Ri McDaid-Wren, Antonia Christophers, Mike Jenkins, Zoe Cooper, Charlotte Moore, Ashley Williams, Spencer James, Melanie Boyce (also twice), Anne Howells, Anthony Howells, Claire Smith, Matthew Raymond, Lyndon Edwards, Penny Dimond, Bill & Sue Nelson, Penny Davies (extra), Gillian Crew and Ann Firbank.


Together you've raised....

£2,015.14

There are some examples of what the money will spent on here.

Blister Vista

With the tale of the running of the marathon covered, the aftermath is perhaps also worthy of a bit of attention.

As soon as we crossed the finish line and stopped running I had somehow forgotten how to walk. My knees no longer wanted to bend. The short walk from the finish to Trafalgar Square took me a ridiculously long time. Continents move faster. Mark wasn't feeling well and Brogan was trying not to thump a very vocal nearby idiot, so we trudged on at a snail's pace. It was great to meet up with our families and friends and have a sit down at the fountain's edge. I removed my trainers to give my punished feet an illicit dip and this is the sight that greeted me:


Isn't that a beauty?

The next day my knees were both still in a fixed position, but I could walk. Getting from a seated position to standing however took a lot more effort and faith than I could ever have imagined. The cupboards were bare and I had to head out to the cornershop for something to eat. On an ordinary day it would take me less than five minutes to get there and back again. The day after the marathon the round trip took at least an hour. It must have been like watching a contender for the world's shortest stiltwalker take those first few tentative steps into a future that is both pointless and terrifying.

Over the next few days movement returned to my knees and I began to walk less and less like I was evacuating my bowels with each step. I quickly discovered that stairs were the enemy and that heading down was much worse than climbing them. In the midst of all this the down escalator at my nearest tube station broke, appropriately down, and I faced either a long walk to another station or a perilous and agonising descent to platform level. I'm still taking ibuprofen to help with the inflamation but it's getting easier all the time and I haven't had to place frozen peas of knees since last Monday.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, you can still sponsor us and if you still need a reason you can take another look at my blister:


Total sponsorship to date = £1,963.14

The Tables Turned

I'm taking part in a rehearsed reading tomorrow of a play by William Morris.


He is, of course, the William Morris more famous for this:


The semi-staged reading by the New Factory of the Eccentric Actor is of his only play, the brilliantly named The Tables Turned or Nupkins Awakened, described as 'A Socialist Interlude' and to my knowledge it hasn't been performed in decades. I'm playing Lord Tennyson.

The performance begins at 7pm here.

P.S. There seems to be a difference of opinion as to whether or not we are featured but the BBC coverage of the London Marathon is about to disappear from the iPlayer Marathon Part 1, Part 2 and the Highlights. I haven't been in a position to watch it so I suppose I'll never know.

5 Hours, 34 Minutes and 22 Seconds

Most of the week before the marathon was spent wondering which part of Europe Brogan was in. When he was back in Blighty, the worrying shifted to the weather. The forecast was for a very very hot day. As far as the weather goes: I am really good at the cold. I barely feel it, but I'm not a fan hot weather. Marathon or no marathon.

We arrived at the start with about an hour to spare as soon as we had handed in our kitbags and excess clothing it started to rain. Had we been running it would have been fine, but we were standing around waiting for the race to start and watching each other shiver.

We made our way to what are inauspiciously refered to as 'pens'. Despite the three of us having consecutive numbers it transpired that Brogan was to be in Pen 8 while Mark and I were supposed to be in Pen 9. In the mass of people it seemed unlikely that if we didn't start together that we would be able to find each other. So we waited for a distraction and bluffed our way into Pen 8.

It stopped raining and the race started. The inhabitants of Pen 8 shuffled forward as the 10,000 or so people ahead of us made their way across the starting line. It took us about twenty minutes to get there and then we were running. A marathon.

We started with a comfortable pace and the first thirteen miles flew by. All of a sudden we turned a corner and tower bridge loomed into view. It's true what they say about ignorance, it really is bliss. My lack of geographical knowledge in London had never served me better than the surprises it afforded me on the marathon route. We crossed the bridge and as you turn right you begin seeing runners coming towards you. Faster runners who are closer to finishing than you are. We also started seeing people we knew. Brogan's family and friends were there and tellingly mine weren't. Neither of these things helped my state of mind.

The next five miles or so were much tougher, but when I saw my family at 20 miles it made a huge difference. Brogan asked if I wanted to stop, but I wasn't sure if I stopped whether I'd be able to get started again. The sight of my mother, father and cousin running along the side of the road kept me going. And then they kept cropping up, we saw them at 22 miles and again at 25. They must have been running faster than we were.


I was definitely running slower and slower, and at one point I was overtaken by somebody walking. I couldn't run any faster, Brogan was struggling to get into a rhythm without getting faster and Mark was sort of running about in between. The two of them would regularly have to slow down to let me catch up which can't have done either of them any favours. For the most part Mark was in the best form with an army of friends cheering him on and women throwing themselves at him.

The crowd were great and having our names printed on our shirts definitely helped. There came a point that I thought if I heard one more complete stranger read my name aloud encouragingly that the lump in my throat might it's way out. Minutes later I was crying like a baby.

The last five miles or so alternated between being alright and being really difficult. The last mile was agony, we slowed right down in order to keep something in the tank for the finish. We crossed the finish line together with a time of 05:34:22.

Just passed the finish line an official looking bloke stopped us and asked "Do you want the good news or the bad news?", Mark asked him for the bad and he said "False start. But the good news is we're doing it all again in five minutes time."

I definitely wouldn't have gotten through it if it wasn't for Brogan and Mark, of course I wouldn't have gotten into it in the first place if it wasn't for Brogan and Mark so they have a lot to answer for.

The commonest question afterwards was "Would you do it again?"

No.


Well now it's over, done, finished. All the more reason to sponsor us.

Total mileage = 127 miles
Total sponsorship to date = £1,691.80

Marathon

It's today. Brogan's back and we are all systems go.



Should you wish to come along and watch (or should you wish to avoid it) this is what Transport For London suggest. Failing that, it's on BBC2 from 8:30 and BBC1 from 10:00 in the am.

Whether you decide to watch or not, you can still sponsor us.

Running Raiment

None of the suggestions we receved for marathon costumes quite took off, so it looks as though we'll be running as...runners. That may disappoint, but we're currently far more concerned with whether Brogan, currently trapped in Europe by a cloud of volcanic ash, will be able to be back in time to run.

So here by way of a distraction, here is a list of all the suggestions we were sent:

Doublet, Hose and a towelling Ruff. A practical suggestion here from Garry Collier:



In light of the marathon's sponsor Anne Howells proposed air hostesses:


or virgins:


Carrie Parsons thinks that the Red Dwarf posse is the way to go:


Anthony Quinn wants us to don chainmail, if only to slow Brogan down:


Martin Carr's idea was to dress as Greek Gods:


Dean Bavage suggested sixties Star Trek uniforms:


Jean & Jon Miles' submission was Doctor Who, which offers up several costume alternatives, and since Tanya Jones mentioned tweed, this is probably what they all meant:


Lizzy Suffling suggested we dress as Royston Vasey locals from The League Of Gentlemen:


Top hats and tails was Verity Clayton's idea of eye-catching running wear:


This post seemed like such a good idea when I started compiling it, but I have to admit I had my doubts when I saw some of the results on Google image search for 'Greek gods' or 'virgins'. They are probably not safe for work.

If you want to make a suggestion you need to be quick and more importantly you need to sponsor us.


Total mileage to date = 101 miles
Total sponsorship to date = £1,265.30

Red

Everyone running the London Marathon is sent red laces to raise awareness for the cholesterol charity, Heart UK. They are the 'must have' fashion item of the marathon. Those without red laces will have red faces instead. Maybe.

Before:

After:

Do you feel more aware?

Sponsor us.

Total mileage to date = 101 miles
Total sponsorship to date = £1155.30

TACT

We are running the marathon for charity, namely The Actors Charitable Trust or TACT.

TACT provides help for the children of actors under the age of 21 with grants, advice and support. The smaller TACT Education Fund awards grants to student children of actors. TACT helps 190 children from around the UK at present. The children either have special educational needs or have a parent who is seriously ill or they are orphaned.

Just as there are benevolent funds for firefighters, nurses and the armed forces, so TACT was set up for actors. TACT was originally founded in 1896 as the less acronymically pleasing The Actors’ Orphanage Fund by Kitty Carson. The first orphanage was at Morland Road, East Croydon, followed by Langley Hall and then Silverlands in Chertsey, with a hostel for older teenagers in Rutland Gate, London. Since mid-1958 TACT has helped children in their own homes.

TACT relies on donations from the public, as well as the generosity of actors who are doing well and legacies from actors who are doing dead. Due to this support they are able to give more than £220,000 a year in grants to children as well as providing full-time advice and support.

Since 1965 TACT has also run Denville Hall, the retirement and nursing home for elderly actors and actresses, including those with dementia. Bought in 1925 by Alfred Denville, impresario, actor-manager and MP. He dedicated the Hall to the acting profession, in memory of his son Jack, who had died at the age of 26 after an injury on stage reactived earlier damage sustained in the World War I. The hall was renamed Denville Hall, and opened fully in 1926. Recently The 1960's wing was demolished and a new wing built with a ground floor designed for those with dementia.


TACT receives no Government funding or statutory support. They have built up an income fund over the decades, and use this towards their work. The donations and legacies from supporters are vital in allowing them to help every actor who approaches them with genuine needs.

Core costs are kept to a minimum. TACT only has two staff and its committee is made up of entirely volunteers. They have no marketing or fundraising staff and they don’t pay any consultants. TACT is registered charity number 206809. The 206,809th registered charity there is.

Hese are some examples of families that TACT help:

A lone parent of two pre-school children battled cancer without support from their father. TACT paid for emergency childcare whenever she was in hospital and helped prevent her eviction from their home. TACT ensured she received the correct state benefits. Against medical prediction the mother has not only survived, but is now able gradually to move to full-time work as her children start school. TACT continues to help with music lessons for the children, until their mother can cope with the cost herself.

A teenager with complex haemophilia has regular bleeds in his joints, not just causing great pain, but leaving him dependent on a wheelchair. TACT’s support has enabled him to keep up with schoolwork and has enabled the extra mobility help needed during the holidays.

A young boy with autism has such challenging behaviour that it has affected his younger sister. His father is profoundly ill. TACT has advised constantly about education, and has supported the daughter with nursery provision and activities to boost her self-confidence.

A teenager who uses a wheelchair has had a monthly allowance from TACT which he uses to organise his own taxis and helpers to maintain his independence without having to have his mother with him all the time.

A father with young children needed childcare when his wife was dying and during the desperate months afterwards. While TACT ensured the state paid as much as possible, we were able to top up the amount so that the children had one person caring for them consistently. We continue to support childcare when it is needed, but the family has stayed together and dad is now working part-time. We have paid for some successful specialist counselling and medical help for one child, when NHS provision was not forthcoming.


You can help TACT carry on their work by sponsoring us.

Total mileage to date = 81 miles
Total sponsorship to date = £894.50

One Month To Go...

The big day and the big distance are only a month away...

Recently we were tweeted and re-tweeted and re-tweeted about.

We three ran the Reading Half Marathon last weekend. It was good to get an experience of what running with a few thousand other people is like. The Mayor of Reading chose to start us off with the phrase "Milk your glory". Yep.

It took a while for 18,000 people to cross the starting line and so by the time we had, the front runners were already at the three mile point. Here they are on the left at about half way. Probably mere seconds later.

Almost immediately after I started running my knee flared up again and although it was painful I was determined and I kept running. Slow and steady wins the race and all that. I was surprised by the number of people who started walking at the first opportunity. What's the point? Do a sponsored walk.

Another common sight was people who ran as fast as they could for as long as they could and then walked until they felt they could run again. Surely that sort of stop/start running puts more of a strain on you than just running slower? Very few of the stoppers took the time to look behind them before they stopped. I had quite a few near misses.

The first third of the route was the hardest for me. My knee was tight and it wasn't easy dodging around the other runners. As people sped off the pack thinned and it got a bit easier. We then saw many of the same people further along, often struggling as we passed them.

Being a cynic, I hadn't really believed that the crowd really helped, but the people of Reading proved me wrong. Just you try and quit when a complete stranger looks you right in the eye and says "well done". Brogan's family were at about the halfway point which was exactly when I needed a boost. Suddenly I was running faster and enjoying it. My knee was grumbling less and it was less effort to keep up with the other two.


The penultimate mile or so was a bit of a slog as you are sent off on a big loop and it feels as though you are getting no closer to the finish line. Sooner than I thought we were at thirteen miles and then the last 400 metres. We ran into Madejski Stadium and it was once round the outside of the football pitch to the finish line. I sped up, I ran as fast as I thought my knee could handle. I probably ran faster. We crossed the line together. My time was 2 hours 32 minutes and 48 seconds.

So now I am resting the knee.


Here we are looking like Jim Fixed It for us. You'd have to be cruel not to sponsor us.


Total mileage to date = 81 miles
Total sponsorship to date = £702

Injury Time

The three of us were intending to run 14 miles last Sunday. We managed ten. Mark's knee was giving him trouble and so we walked most of the rest of it.

The next day my left foot was in a lot of pain and I was limping like a pirate. For the last week I haven't been able to run. The foot improved but the limping didn't stop because my knee hurt. Presumably I was overcompensating and put a strain on the knee.

It's better now, but that's still a week's training missed.


Total mileage to date = 51 miles
Total sponsorship to date = £387

A Runner's Code Of Conduct

OK, first up I'll admit that I'm new at this running lark and maybe it's just that the novelty has yet to wear off, but so far in my experience runners are rude.

I imagined that when people out for a run passed one another in the street that they would acknowledge each other in a similiar fashion to those aboard passing narrowboats on a canal might. I was more than a little disappointed to discover that they don't.

I don't really understand why that is. It doesn't matter who you are, from the haughtiest of ultrafit superhumans to the sweatiest most out of breath of the New Year's resolute. We all have the same things to contend with: pedestrians that don't look where they're going, motorists that don't look where we're going, unfortunate lungfuls of car exhaust or secondhand smoke. I assumed that we would rise above it all, together.

So I'm proposing a sort of a code of conduct for runners.

1) Acknowledge each other. It doesn't have to be much, a simple nod or a smile will suffice.

2) Make way for pedestrians. I don't care if it puts you off your stride, let them through.

3) Stick to the pavements wherever you can.

4) Wear bright clothing in case you can't.

5) Eat. Not during admittedly, but an empty stomach won't get you very far.

6) Travel light.

7) Run around large groups of people, not through them.

8) Encourage those less fit than you. As a wise man once said: "It's much easier to be fit than get fit". If a sweating struggling slick of someone passes you then they are working harder than you and deserve your respect for making the effort.




Total mileage to date = 41 miles
Total sponsorship to date = £292

I've Run 26 Miles

By the time you read this I will be out running and I will have run 26 miles. There I've done it. That's it, I've run a marathon.

It's OK that I've run it in instalments, right?

We are running the marathon in costume, but which particular costume is entirely up to you. A few suggestions have been made already but there is still no frontrunner for a costume, so there is still everything to play for. If you make a donation you can make a suggestion as to our attire on the day, so there is still everything to pay for. The bigger your donation, the more likely your idea will get worn.


We now have a Facebook group with a wall to debate clothing options on, but costume recommendations unaccompanied by donations will fall on deaf ears. Here's a link to our Justgiving page, all the better to hear you with.

Total mileage to date = 31 miles
Total sponsorship to date = £122

Please Just Give

We're running the London marathon for charity. Specifically TACT. Less acronymically The Actor's Charitable Trust. I'll write a bit more about the sorts of things they do with the money soon, but in the meantime if you want find out more you can do so here.

In order to make it worthwhile for the charity we each need to raise £1,000. Grand. And because we're running together we're raising together. To that end we've set up a combined Justgiving page. Please donate some cash to a very good cause, whether it's a pound or a pound a mile or a mound of pounds: all donations are equally welcome.

The photo below from left to right: Brogan West, Mark Collier, a disembodied arm attempting to open shop & Me. The countdown above the door states that we had 90 days until the marathon, it's now 87 and counting. That's right we have 87 days to get fighting fit for the big day and the big distance, you have 87 days to help us reach £3000, but I'd appreciate it if you could put your hand in your pocket sooner rather than later.

I'm Going For A Run

New Year's resolutions are for making and then breaking. So the most efficient way to come out of the other side with your head held high is to avoid making them in the first place.

I didn't make New Year's resolution this year, but I, someone who doesn't traditionally go running, am going for a run in January. This is because I am in training for the London Marathon. Yep, I'm as surprised as you are. I've agreed to run it for charity so I can't back out now.

I'll post when you can, and should, sponsor me.

So spare a thought for me as I puff and wheeze and stumble about.