The Pondo Nearly Marathon

1.6 mile loop, Repeat!

My hope was that Baby D would be here and I could go for a long 4 hour tapering run without fear of the little one making an appearance, but like best laid plans that idea went to pot when there was still now sign of the bundle of joy.

So the plan was formed, a 4 hour run irrespective of pace or distance, round a 1.6 mile loop that left me no further than 300 metres away from home at any given point.  Now running for anything over 2 hours is beyond my threshold now, and the thought of doing the same 1.6 miles continuously for double that would give anyone sleepless nights.  To help make this a little easier on the brain and legs, I called upon a few run friends.  "Come and join me for any distance, at any time between 8am and 12 noon."  The response was perfect.

First to join me was Rosh, he truly is a brilliant and supportive friend, one who is always there for me through thick and thin and we have been running together on and off for 2 years.  We met at the starting point of the loop and off we set.  Rosh had initially planned to do at least 6 mile with me and then part ways nearing the end of the loop.  On the fourth leg, Rosh was ready for retiring and I was fearful that I would have to do at least the next 40 minutes alone.

All fears quickly subsided as Cousin James The Iron Dude appeared from nowhere.  James completed the Bolton Ironman in July and is looking to continue this dream, so running with someone as talented as this seemed to increase the pace immediately, but we didn't care, it was an honour.  Looking fresh and ready for action he had heard my call via facebook but decided to keep it a secret that he would be joining me, he joined at the most perfect moment.  With the pleasure of actually running with an Iron Man, Rosh decided to partake in another loop.

James and I completed four laps before he had to continue his run home and no doubt increased his pace as he hardly looked phased! I had about 200 metres to run on my own before I was joined by Tilly Bean.  Tilly is awesome, awesome, fantastic, in fact, I cannot use enough words to describe her.  With her two wonderful children dropped off at the grandparents, and her runners on, she was ready to help me through the difficult times ahead.  As Tilly joined me I was just passing the 13 mile marker and this is my threshold, things were starting to fall apart. We chatted for the first loop awaiting the arrival of her husband Daavv who had cycled over the hills of Bolton to join us on this epic loop.  I told him to bring my knee support as pain was beginning to set in.

Daavv is the giddiest person I know and always up for a challenge,  He once missed the Manchester to Liverpool cycle becuase he was so excited about it, the night before he could not sleep and with no sleep there was no energy to cycle.  Daavv ran the Manchester Survival of the Fittest with us in a pair of plimsolls, he had not run 100m prior to this and did the whole run purely on adrenaline.  He took a little longer to join us on this loop as he had forgotten his trainers in all the excitement, but luckily he is the same size shoe as me and borrowed a spare pair of runners.  By the time Daavv joined us we were at 17 miles and my knee was giving up.  I was struggling to keep any kind of pace going, but after getting lost o'er the hills of Bolton, Daavv was happy for the slower jog.  Tilly Bean however, was keeping the faith and hurtling ahead.

After two loops Daavv was done, his cycle home was looming and his legs are built for pedals not pavements.  Tilly Bean was still going strong, but I had told her about a little hulk that would be joining us soon.  For the last hour, we were joined my Mo Farrah, if he was pure muscle, Mickey Love.  A genuine legend, great bloke and always a great chat to be had.  I had not seen Mickey for 3 years since Clare and I got married, but he has always been there.  A friend you can call upon and chat like you were only with each other yesterday.  Mickey was great support for the final few laps as he kept shouting, come on DD, not long to go now.  This is what I needed and he was there to offer this support.  The final 5 minutes felt like an hour, my legs fatigued, my knee in pain, my core aching, nothing left in the tank and no energy what so ever.

Through all of this and the support offered by the great people in my life, I cannot forget one amazing person, Clare.  Even though she is days away from enduring serious pain, she was there to support me when I indefinitely needed it the most. My legs ached, my body was beaten, and I could do nothing more than whinge and complain.  This is a ridiculous thing to do in front of my wife who has put up with so much pain and agony for 9 months.  How I can even compare 4 hours worth of self inflicted pain to what she has been through yet there to feed me sugar and carbs, help me get out of the shower and suggest a carvery dinner - what would I do without her.

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