I’m sure for many of us the last weekend in April was like any other weekend. The weekly shop, football, a few drinks maybe but for Minty this was going to be a weekend like no other. He was embarking on an epic feat that many, including myself, didn’t think was a realistic target. He was going to “run” the Virgin London Marathon.
 
Rumblings were coming from Mike in August last year saying that he was going to run the marathon and he had submitted his application. To say these claims were met with disbelieving looks and amusment would have been an understatement! But Mike being as stubborn as he is, ignored it all and joined Bannatynes to commence his training.

A few months passed and nothing more was mentioned of the Marathon. Minty was still attending the gym, although probably not as often as he would have liked and everyone else got on with their work. Then in January, during our trip to Anfield, Mike was discussing with Nick Jones, a previous Marathon competitor, realistic targets for completing the 26 mile course. Well of course I couldn’t not give him some stick about his aims but again, Minty took it on the chin and nothing more was said.
 
In February, when most of us were looking forward to a long hot summer, after what had been one of the coldest winters since records began, Minty was still in training but in reality he knew that a nightly run for 90 minutes on a tredmill was not enough to prepare him for his challange. Mike began to run the roads of Shrewsbury in an effort to bridge the gap in fitness he would need.
 
Back in the office, Mike’s talk of the marathon returned and sponsorship forms were falling on our desks, to the amusement of everyone, including Roy Thompson, who was in building a partition wall. Mike would be running as part of TeamGo, to raise money on behalf of the NSPCC Shropshire Business Group (click here for more details). Of course, we all put our names down to sponsor Mike but in doing so we also gave him an incentive to hit his target of finishing the race in six hours. If he finished within this time, we all agreed that we would double the amout we sponsored him for, however, if he failed, he would have to pay our sponsorship money for us! Nothing like the thought of losing money, to focus the mind.
 
As the day drew closer, Minty stepped up his regime and was running from Bayston Hill to the Wrekin and he started to realise how big a challenge he’d taken on. One such training session also proved to him the importance of using the correct footware. Whilst running, in the wrong trainers, Mike’s feet began to blister and he was unable to complete his run needless to say he would not make that mistake again.
 
The week before the race was upon us and on the Thursday, Mike travelled down to London with Sam and Logan, to begin his final preparations for the race. This involved going to collect his number and have his picture taken with the winner’s trophy (the first and only time he saw it…)
 
On Saturday, Mike spent the day trying to relax with his family, taking in London’s many tourist attractions but no matter how hard he tried, he could not shake off the nerves or the excitment of what he was about to undergo. I’m sure in there, was the thought that if he didn’t complete the marathon, he would be tourmented by us back in the office too.
 
The day of the marathon had dawned and Mike did not get much sleep the night before. Not the best preparation for a 26 mile slog around the capital. However he reported to Greenwich Park and awaited his chance to prove the doubters wrong. As the masses got underway, the pack started to shuffle forward and the atmosphere was electric, the nerves were gone and a sense excitment had overcome the entire crowd. This led to Mike not taking the steady pace he had originally planned and covered the first five kilometers in 36 minutes and 16 seconds.
 
The sun broke through over London and to Minty’s displeasure, the temperature started to rise. This, accompanied by his rather brisk pace at the beginning, led to Mike’s speed decreasing in an effort to save energy. At the half way mark,  the clock showed 2 hours 52 minutes and 9 seconds, just within his target time of 6 hours.

As the miles clocked up, unfortunately the heat began to really take it’s toll and Minty was reduced to walking for a short time whilst he took on fluids and tried to cool off a little.  As he did so, the fun runners in all sorts of costumes passed by and one can only the imagine the demoralising effect this would have but Mike ploughed on.
 
Mike rounded the corner on to the Mall and he was greeted by applause from the thousands of spectators, including Sam and Logan, who had lined the street to welcome the athletes home. The clock read 6 hours 17 minutes and 5 seconds when he trundled across the finishing line. He had not quite met his target but he achieved a massive goal in finishing, a feat that not everyone who entered was able to claim. Not bad for a man who effectively only completed two months of training.
 
Mike can be supremely proud of his success in completing the Marathon and in total TeamGo raised over £1400 for the NSPCC.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 at 8:31 am.