Mission Accomplished: 4hrs 45min

Well its the morning after the day before, I can't really move my legs that much this morning but that's hardly a surprise. Yesterday was truly amazing. I headed down for City Hall and met Jo, Nuala and Aron. We waited with eager anticipation for starters orders and just shortly after 9am. We had to walk for the first 100m or so but soon we were off, I was overawed by the mass of people sprawling out in front of me, easily about 5,000. As we set out towards the east of Belfast, the sun was shining right overhead, there was little wind and I was concerned it was gonna be warmer than I had expected, I had support in the form of lil cols who was waiting for me, it was good to get her mad encouragement even when it was early on in the race. The first stage which took in the Holywood Rd and the Syndenham Bypass went pretty well and I got into a real good pace, I was coming up to the first checkpoint at Bridgend when I saw a poor soul, being treated at the pavement, a relay runner who was probably in his fifties, I was saddened by this and noticed other people around, me, some people were running in this race and putting their health at risk for their own indivdual causes a truly humbling experience. I was then heading through town and out the Falls Rd past Clonard Monastry and on to the Springfield Rd and onto the Shankill and up Tennant St to the second changeover point at Hillview. Things were going well, I was getting myself ready for the Antrim Road which is a gradual incline lasting over 2-3 miles, it was tough and I could feel a bit of the acid in my legs, however I still felt I was a good pace. I went past a mobile timer which was placed at the halfway point which was displaying 2hrs 22min so I was encouraged that if kept up at this pace, I'd be in under the 5 hour mark. I descended the whitewell road and through onto Gideons Green which is down by the shoreline of Belfast Lough and was now heading inwards towards town and the finish (10miles away) This is known as the bleak part of the course as it takes in the Dargan industrial estate and as expected it threw up some lovely funky smells, that I care not to get a whiff of. I don't even know what they were making that threw up that smell but I can assure you, I don't really want to know. The path along the shore was narrow but I was overtaking a few marathon runners and fresher relay runners which really encouraged me as it was demonstrating that I still had a lot of puff left. As I came through the industrial estate I really started to slow and I found myself beginning to wane in spirit, probably because of the grim surroundings, there was little water available which didn't help matters. I guess this was as close to the wall as I got but I was still wary at the time that things could get worse. I came through corporation st through the last relay point, it was here that I had done the relay last year so it was a welcome sight as I knew I was so close now. The runners at this relay stage are marked with an E before their number so I had a wee joke to myself that I was never so glad to see such a long list of "E numbers before" I guess you had to be there but any crappy joke helped me along the way. I went on though to lanyon place were i near choked on my own dextrose tablet (Top tip! Don't run fast and eat at the same time tis bad). I was now onto the towpath heading up to the ormeau bridge, I could see the finish line on the other side of the river but I knew I still had the Ormeau road and Ravenhill to contend with. The Ormeau is a bit of an uphill and so at this stage my legs were pure acid, just then at the Errigal Bar I got a big cheer and I looked and it was mummy and daddy and Val cheering me on, what a boost! I charged on and then got another cheer from Elizabeth who had already completed her leg of the relay! It was great I summoned enough energy from this to go up to the apex between the Ormeau and the Ravenhill Rds. I knew the ravenhill would be tough as I had run it last year and even though it's downhill, it's deceptively long. At this stage I was trying to focus on everything positive to keep me going. I went round the corner onto the embankment and I knew I was there, I rounded the corner and there it was, the finish line. I got such a rush of adrenaline, that I just tore at it and sailed over the finish line. It was over, i was just punching the air with my first, I had achieved something amazing and I was so chuffed. My first mission was to get a medal as I didn't get one last year as a relay runner so I wanted one! It was a great feeling to get that wee hunk of metal around me mmmmm. I spied Mum and she was cheering and I seen Val further down. I then got to meet Paula and Mark and wee James and Eva who were indifferent to the occasion around them. So that was that I still had enough energy to walk a mile up to vals via the Errigal to get a wee Guinness. Then onto Vals for a shower before getting a meal in Bourbon. It was really nice to wind down after the run and I was glad to get out for much deserved drinks later on in the evening.

Today, as expected I am sore but am still functioning, I went to the Ramada hotel to get a Swedish Massage which was bought for me by the girls. It was great and shall I just say it was "extensive and thorough" (Oo-er!) I am now sitting glad that I am not at work again tomorrow as I am getting more stiff by the hour. Time for a hot bath and then some DVD. No marathon to think about now, although it doesn't take long for something else to come along take up all your thoughts such is life. So I shall leave you for now. I shall be summarising in a future post soon but for now take care

As ever

Connor

The Last Broadcast

Good morning!
Yep here we are, my God that flew in very quickly! Just up at around 6.15am took me ages to get off to sleep, it must have been about 1am but I expected that it would be that way, kinda like Christmas Eve all them years ago. All set just cramming loadsa carbs into me in the form of toast and pancakes and hydrating up with powerade I feel really excited and can't wait until that starters gun fires. I anticipate that there will be some rough spells but I will draw mental strength from the support of family and friends from far and wide to see me through. The Donations are spillng in and I'm easily up to 880 pounds which is more than I ever dreamed of raising, so thank you, thank you soooo much for all your donations and messages of support. Well as it is now nearly 7 and I've got some more eating and stretching etc I shall shall say goodbye and leave you with the thought that you could be doing this in 15 months time if you put your mind to it,

Over and out

Connor

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