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Flora
London Marathon
1998

Running

Well, I'd always enjoyed running so, when I packed up soccer, it seemed natural to take up the sport. I joined Harlow Running Club thinking I would be an also-ran, only to find, as I progressed, that I was one of the better Vets (40 years old and upwards).

I had a couple of spells on the committee but, at the time, if your ideas didn't go along with the secretary's they were thrown out. It got to the stage where he cancelled a meeting because he couldn't make it -- afraid that we'd vote something through that he didn't like. Yet the rest of the committee didn't question this. It was also around this time that Liz and I became interested in coaching and took our first steps on the coaching ladder. The secretary's wife coached the club's youngsters, our two children among them, and Liz wanted to help. She wasn't welcomed though so we both took our newfound skills to Hertford and Ware AC (now a part of Herts Phoenix) where Dave Rice gave us a lot of support.

Before that happened though, I had formed, and was secretary of, BP Lunch Runners, based around the nucleuos of -- you guessed it -- the guys and gals at Hemel Hempstead who ran during their lunchtime. There were always half a dozen or so from BP raising money for charity by running London

The photo was taken during my third Flora London Marathon in 1998, when I was 46 and running on a championship place (hence the blue "low" number) due to my previous year's time of 2:47:54 (my best). I'd not done the training that year though so, although hit halfway in good time, I knew I wasn't going to achieve my dream of 2:45. I eventually walked for nearly a mile but still managed to come home in just over the three-hour mark.

More to follow soon. . . .