well the day started off well with my usual tuna sandwiches 4 breakfast, collected my sister then off to the church to meet some of the bloggers lovely to see you those i managed to catch up with... me my sis and rod then took the long walk to the baggage busses and settled in the pen for the start.

the sun was allready making itself felt as i made it to the tyne bridge,and i realised i had lost rod and my sis somewhere behind me, so the headphones went in and the music kept me going took my first drink at the 3 mile point and boy did i need it i felt so dehydrated water never tasted so good ....then onwards again i  tried the powerade at both drinks stations and boy did it taste awful sorry but im not a fan of the stuff it seemed to get slightly cooler and more comfortable for me as i turned of towards southshields at the 7 mile point but im not sure if that was just my mind playing tricks on me as i knew i was past halfway. i ran through every shower nd even appreciated the kids squirting me with water to cool me down however was not keen on the bupa boost thing at 10 miles at this point i was also aware of a blister forming on my foot and thought oh well not long to go..i  stopped briefly to say hi to emmteeyess  just before i hit the hill im sure that it has got steeper from last yr as it really pulled on the legs ouch then along the sea front to the finish yippee i made it in 2hr 50mins which is faster than last yr with less training so im pleased with that!!! then on to the mamouth task of finding the people who were to meet me at this point i realised my sister still hadnt finished and began to worry as i had passed lots of people requiring medical attention on the way round and was just hoping she was ok soon enough she also finished and i breathed a sigh of relief...

eventually found my daughter and fella in the pub right on the finish line and began the mamouth task of gettin out of there now comes the problem so i thought but no car was parked no more than 100 yrds from the finish and yet i was back in north shields within 30 mins it pays to know someone who lives in south shields i know this now lol as he knows all the side streets and missed all the traffick jams ...thanks mark xxx

when i got home i had a gazebo to build and a garden to furnish and decorate ready for my sons 18th party haha would have rather run again than build the gazebo but we got there in the end and i had time for a very quick bath b4 the guests started to arrive and by now was also getting a headache nd feeling tired so went easy with the alcohol but still had a really good night and enjoyed the party last guest left at 4 am and i eventually got to bed ahhh bliss

expected to have aches and pains for a couple of days afterwards but im pleased to report didnt happen but the blister is still making itself felt lol i have good intentions to train more next yr and make a better time again but who knows what the future will bring for now im happy i made it and will concentrate on that acheivement with a sense of satisfaction thanks to all who take the time to read this sorry its so long and look forward to next yr take care all xxxxx