No pain, no Gain!

So the day arrived and the buzz of expectation was present around the city as the inaugural 2010 Brighton Marathon took off.

At approximately 9.00am, 7589 runners crossed the start line, amongst them the 50 runners who should have been in Boston on Monday and Vienna on Sunday; the Europe-wide ban on flights affecting marathons abroad.  In total 7426 finished the race – what happened to the 163 in between I can only guess! We passed a few casualties on the route that had collapsed from pure physical exhaustion and were being treated by medical staff.

I don’t blame them to be honest as we were both tempted to join them when the pain intensified to a level we had never before experienced. But the amazing support that Brighton managed to conjure injected a fuel that thrust us forward equivalent to a nitrous oxide burst in a car.

There were bands, there were drums, and there were cheers! Clear blue skies and hardly any wind made it that touch more intensive. But aside from my nipple bleeding and a mild case of sun stroke, we escaped the race with aching legs and a light tan! Before any of the pain had kicked in, there were moments of pure joy with a sense of the presence of God sitting heavy on us, or running alongside us for that matter. This was inspired from the knowledge that our friends and family were providing support and prayer, near and afar. Even the orphanage emailed to say they were fasting for us. How could we stop with all that behind us!?

But we did it! Crossing the line with a time of 4.16. But more than that, justifying all the money donated by all our supporters. Combined with the Liverpool Half – the two events have raised almost £2000. A fantastic achievement! We are sending the first payment of $450 to an orphanage in next few days and this will give 18 children regular meals, clothes and schooling for one entire month, to be followed by further monthly payments. That is what makes the hours of training and not being able to walk up the stairs all worthwhile! And we couldn’t have done it without you. Cheers!