A few more photos from the London Marathon...

It is now 4 weeks, 4 days since the London Marathon ....more photos below.

It's been a busy month really, with decorating the house, gardening, looking after guests from abroad, and baby-sitting Trevor's gorgeous grandsons, aged 18 months and 4 years. Poor old Trev has had a stinking cold since the marathon and he is only just starting to shake it off. I had one too but women's colds are always much shorter, milder and they suffer far less ;-)

The amount we have raised for Carers UK is now just over £2600! We're hoping to persuade people to part with a bit more cash in an effort to reach our £3000 target. We're as pleased as punch with the amount though, and very grateful to our sponsors.

On the 14th May, Trevor and I attended a Reception at the House of Commons, hosted by Carers UK. It gave us the opportunity to meet with Carers UK staff, Dr. Hywel Francis MP, carers themselves and other marathon runners. As we were early, we popped into a House of Lords debate first. Embarrassingly, I fell asleep!

Here we are, just before reaching the finish line

This photo was taken with a disposable camera, carried in Trevor's 'bum bag'. This picture was damaged as Trevor threw water over himself (and the camera) to cool down during the marathon!

Trevor's still smiling after a 26-mile run....

....so am I, but some of the people around us looked exhausted!

Marathon runners for Carers UK
The House of Commons - 14 May 2009

The most-asked question since we finished the marathon is, "will you run in another one?" Trevor's answer is, "probably not" and mine is, "maybe". We've got a few shorter races lined up, including the Bupa Great North Run (Newcastle to South Shields - Half-marathon) in September.

We'll make a decision in October but in the meantime, there is a life besides running, and we intend to live it.

The Flora London Marathon 2009: We did it!

Hello from 2 marathon runners!!

24 weeks of training paid off on Sunday, as Trevor and I took part in the London Marathon... and succeeded! It was a privilege to be amongst 36,000 runners on a beautiful warm, sunny day in the heart of London. Approximately 1,000,000 spectators lined up along the 26 mile course, cheering the runners and encouraging the weary ones to keep going.
We had hoped to complete it in well under 5 hours and kept a steady pace for the first 20 miles. However, we slowed down considerably and had to walk for a while until picking up speed again towards the end. It took 5 hours 31 minutes to step over that wonderful finish line. It was a magnificent and memorable day - and NO INJURIES!!

Thanks so much to all who donated to Carers UK. By the time we have collected in pledged sponsorship, we should have raised around £2,500. If there is anyone who has not sponsored us, and would like to help us get closer to our £3,000 target, please click here to go our online fund-raising page. The page is open for donations until 26th July 2009.

Here are 5 photos of us taken just before the start. I've ordered one taken as we approached the finish line - available next week.

Here I am, about half an hour before the start. My sleeves look a bit odd in this pic!! I took precautions to protect a sensitive calf muscle but fortunately it behaved itself

Trevor, always smiling!

More and more runners arrive to hand over their numbered kit bags, before making their way over the start 'pens'

Mr Rubik's Cube

This photo, and many more showing the creative costumes of some of the runners are available at the Runners World site.