Overview

So we did it! Yesterday we all finished the London Marathon. We found it tough, particularly with the heat, and Tom who was still suffering from tonsillitis. Some of us were disappointed with our times but we all got round the 26.2miles which was the main aim! Despite all this it was a fantastic day - We were interviewed by Jonathon Edwards for the BBC in the morning (but don't think it was shown), the crowd were fantastic, the other PDS runners were great and it was a real relief to finally cross the finish line and collect our medals.

But perhaps more importantly, we have raised over £10,000 for the Parkinson’s Disease Society which we’re really pleased about.

So thank you to everyone who has supported us and sponsored us. Its been a roller coaster journey but we're really chuffed with what we've achieved and while we might not do the London Marathon again we will hopefully keep on running!

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Hi all

Firstly thank you very much for all your donations to the Parkinson’s Disease Society and for supporting Team Hocking’s Marathon attempt. We have been overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity and have so far raised over £9700!

Our training hasn’t exactly gone to plan with various injuries and illness over the last few months, and Tom currently has a nasty bout of tonsillitis and spent a few days at the beginning of the week in hospital….. But he is feeling a little better now and we will all be lining up at the start tomorrow and are determined to make it through the 26.2 miles!

We also just wanted to let you know that we are being interviewed at 9am tomorrow by Jonathon Edwards as part of the BBC’s London Marathon coverage – this will be aired live on BBC 1 so look out for us if you’re watching!

We’ll let you know how we get on.

Best Wishes
Team Hocking

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Sarah

The last few weeks haven’t exactly gone to plan…..we have all had colds and sickness bugs and now Tom has got a bad case of tonsillitis and is currently in hospital on a drip……. Not exactly the best start to running 26.2miles!

On a positive note, we have now reached and are exceeding our fundraising target! We currently have around £8800 for the Parkinsons Disease Society which is a really fantastic amount – I wonder if we could make it £10,000…….

Anyway, at the moment we are really hoping that we all get to the start line on Sunday - so please keep your fingers crossed that Tom recovers enough to be there.

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Sarah

Yesterday Debs, Hannah and I set off on a 20mile run. It was another hot day and I’ve got a good sun burnt outline of my running top on my today. We used the 10 minute run, 5 minute walk strategy and managed to keep an even pace for the first 12miles. We got a bit slower for the next 4 miles. And then being a kind sister, I ditched the others at 16miles and then ran the next 4 miles back (not that they were much further behind me!). So it took me 4 hours to do 20 miles. I felt ok but my legs felt really stiff for the last few miles and I think I would’ve found the next 6 miles tough. Anyway I’m glad I finally have 20miles under my belt and am feeling a little more positive about the marathon now – only 3 weeks to go now!

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Rosie

I am still running just being slack with the blogging.  4 weeks to go until the big day!  We have now raised more than £7k and I think we'll make it to the target before the marathon.  Most significant runs in the last few weeks have been Silverstone, Harrogate, Abergavenny and Exeter.  I was disappointed with my Silverstone half marathon run.  After taking more than an hour to get into the place and park the car, we made it to the start line with minutes to spare.  All started well, possibly too well with 9.5 minutes miles for first few miles but all went down hill from there. Whether it was the most mind numbingly boring course I have ever run, the heat from the midday sun or my previous weekend run of 14.5 miles I don't know but at least I beat the yellow submarine.  My time was 2:23 and I had been hoping to do 2:10.  Since then have been on conference in Harrogate and went for a short run with a colleague around the parks of Harrogate.  I have increased my weekend mileage running 16 miles along the Brecon and Monmouthshire canal in just under 3 hours and then 21 miles last Sunday around Exeter and the Exe estuary.  Again I was disappointed with my time of 3:58 but i'm glad I ran that far.  Didn't really hit a wall just found myself getting particularly slow around 15-19 miles and had to keep telling myself to keep moving.  The good thing was that I was starting to feel better again around 19.5 miles.  I'm sure I can do it but think 5 hours is probably more realistic than 4.5 hours, however maybe on the day and with crowd support and some music i'll be nearer 4.5 hours.

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Sarah

I’ve been having really bad shin pain again for the last few weeks. It has really interrupted my training and I have now realised that there is no way I will be able to run the whole 26 miles - i've just run out of time. I’ve seen a podiatrist again who has given me some insoles and lots more stretches and it is slowly getting better.

On Saturday, Debs and I went for a run by the river. Debs has also had bad shin problems throughout the training and so she and Hannah have decided that they are going to run / walk the marathon. Last weekend they used this technique to get round Silverstone so this weekend I thought I’d give it a go with Debs. We did 16 miles which took us 3.5hours because we did 10minutes run, 5 minutes walk and after 10 miles we did 6minutes run and 4 minutes walk. This seemed to work well and for the first time in ages I actually really enjoyed it! Physically I found it really comfortable and my shins were ok as well. Debs found it a little bit harder with the heat but it was the longest either or us had run before so we were quite pleased.

I’ve decided I don’t really mind if it takes me 5.5hours to complete the marathon because if I run/walk it at least I’ll get round and running with Debs and Hannah will be more fun anyway. Five weeks to go and I’m actually starting to look forward to it now!

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Silverstone Half Marathon down, just the big one to go! Debs and I tried out our run walk strategy for the race and aimed for less than 3 hours.  We kept strictly to 10 mins run, 5 mins walk all the way round and did it in 2.41 which was great. Having done very little if any training we were a bit stiff at the end but OK!

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Rosie

Well this morning i set off in brilliant sunshine and blue skies wearing my sun glasses - but 2 hours later it was pouring down with rain so felt a bit stupid running with sun glasees on at that point.  Ran 14.5 miles around exeter.  Took me longer than i had hoped - 2 hours 35 mins but it wasn't a flat route!  Usually i do a long run by the canal and estuary which is all flat - and have been doing 12 miles in just over 2 hours.  Ate a couple of jelly babies every 30 mins and took some water and lucozade sport drink with me and felt good.  Felt like i could have gone on longer, which is probably a good thing seeing as i'm marathon training!  Not sure the rest of the team are feeling quite so good and all seem to be injured - hopefully, i won't be doing the marathon alone.  Fundraising going well - £6460, just £2040 to go!

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