Edinburgh Marathon

Well it's over. 4 hours and 10 minutes. I was hoping to break 4 hours but in 25 degrees of heat, the last six miles were really tough. It was very sad to hear that one runner died of a heart attack.
It started off lovely and cool, with an overcast sky, and the first 8 miles went by at an 8 minute per mile rate. I felt great. I tried to imagine I was being chased by a mad Scotsman in a kilt and tam o'shanter. When I turned round I was. A whole gaggle of them. But at least I wasn't overtaken by the Loch Ness monster. Listened to Desert Island Discs for 45 minutes on my digital pocket radio and when that finished, I'd got half-way round in 1 hour 55. Then the sun came out with a vengeance, in 79 per cent humidity. Despite taking on lots of water and energy drinks throughout, there was one point at around 20 miles when I was so thirsty I had to beg a bystander to let me finish her bottle of water which she did very graciously. Then, at the next water station I downed an energy drink so quickly I got a stitch which meant stopping every so often to stretch my stomach muscle. That put paid to the sub-four hour bid. At the end they gave you a medal that weighed seemingly half a ton depicting Edinburgh Castle. I was so knackered, it could have been the Taj Mahal and I wouldn't have complained. I joined a queue, as you do. I thought it was the queue to get out. In fact, it was to have an official photo taken. I dread to think what I must have looked like.
However, I thoroughly "enjoyed" it or do I mean "endured" it? I was pleased in that seven years ago I completed the London Marathon in almost exactly the same time. And the other good news is that I reached my £1000 target for Afrikids. In fact, as I struggled over the last few miles (most people around me did as well) it was the thought of the kids in Ghana that helped keep me going. That and Florence and the Machine on my ipod!
The biggest disappointment, however, was that this year you didn't get a free pint. Ah well. It was a great experience and, extraordinarily, having joked with my daughter Kate's friend Lois that we would race each other, and having not seen her once during the actual race, we finished within a minute of each other. And thanks to Kate and Sarah for the Bobby God and Run Lois Run signs that they made for us.
And, of course, thanks again to all of you who sponsored me.

Dogs

There have been books, films and countless articles on the dogs v cats debate. I've always favoured cats mainly because I like their independent nature and the fact that they take very little looking after. What's more, they don't smell and don't jump up at you and whiddle all over you and put their muddy paws all over your clean clothes. But the main point, and what dog lovers always fail to mention when stating their case, is that cats don't savage you and kill you. Not the domestic variety, anyway.
My anti-dog bias came home to me this week when I was on a run - part of my marathon training. A big mongrel dog ran straight at me causing me to slip on the wet grass and twist my knee. For a few minutes as I ran through the pain, I thought that six months of hard work had suddenly gone down the drain. I rested it for a day and then began a scheduled three-hour run. After 20 minutes the knee gave me shooting pains and I was momentarily in despair. Thankfully, though, I was able to run it off and all appears well now.
But my antipathy towards dogs, guide dogs excepted, remains stronger than ever.