EDITION 22

RICHIES RUNNING DIARY
The story so far... Pirates Adventure Show's Richie Prior, Martyn Smith and Jeremy Kerner have volunteered to run the 2008 London Marathon to raise funds for Great Ormond Streets Childrens Hospital. Jeremy is an experienced runner, Martyn is a world champion acrobat, and Richie is neither...from their initial promise to run the Marathon they are now committed to running, and training hard towards there goal

We arrived in London and went straight to the Excel Centre to register. It was very well organised, we even had time for a pre-race massage. We checked into our hotel in the Docklands and decided to go across to the O2 arena for our pre-race pasta meal. Then it was early to bed. None of us slept very well. I woke at 6.00 and we met for breakfast at 7.00. The full English looked great but it was bran flakes, bananas, toast and fruit juice for me! (Although I promised myself the fry up the following morning).

We then made our way by train to Greenwich. At each stop the train got busier and there was a definite smell of too many carbs about if you know what I mean. As we arrived in Greenwich we were all taken aback by the number of people around. The queues for the toilets were enormous so we did what everybody else was doing and went in the bushes. We got changed, gave our bags to the designated lorry, and headed for the start.

The amount of fancy dress outfits were amazing, from an 8 foot robot to a fella in just a leopard skin thong! The official start was at 09.45 but with the sheer size of numbers (40,000) we eventually passed the start line at just after 10.00. As soon as we started we were all dying for the loo. That’s the cost of drinking so much water and energy drinks. So it was back into the bushes along with the 100’s of others who’d been caught short.

The start was great; loads of people cheering you on and the atmosphere amongst the runners was very jovial. We were passed by the Wombles in the first mile which was a little demoralising but we were concentrating on our own run. The first 10km was fine, the sun was shining and we were going fine past the Cutty Sark in Greenwich. Then all of a sudden the heavens opened and the rain came. It was a cold rain but it didn’t dampen our or the crowd’s enthusiasm. We went through the halfway point in just over two and a half hours which we were all happy with.

At this point I started to struggle so the boys went on ahead. As I got to 16 miles the doubts started to appear. My ankle was giving me trouble and my legs were starting to hurt. I decided to walk for a bit just to conserve energy. Can I just say at this point that my faith in human kindness has been restored, the amount of encouragement, sweets, chocolate, fruit and drinks that were offered was amazing and definately helped me carry on.

The last six miles was really hard as the rain had returned and my legs were saying no more. This was the unknown for me as I hadn’t run this far in training. But with the encouragement of the crowd and the fact that failure was not an option I carried on. The last 2 miles are a blur now, but the crowd kept me going and seeing Big Ben and Buckingham Palace was just sheer relief. Turning into the Mall I wanted to sprint to the finish but a slow crawl was all I could manage.

Passing the finish line I don’t mind admitting was a bit emotional. I’d finished in 6hrs 6mins and 30 seconds. Kenyan Martin Lel had won the race in 2hrs 5mins and 15 seconds so he was probably back in Kenya by the time I’d crossed the line. But who cares? I’ve got the medal and the silver foil jacket.

Scott finished in 5hrs 2 mins and 5 secs which was remarkable as he’d only replaced Jeremy 2 months previously, and Martyn finished in 5hrs 48 mins and 8 secs. Martyn , a previous World Champion acrobat, said he’d never been through anything so tough before.

So that’s it from an idea at the end of last year’s Pirates Premiere to running 26 miles and 385 yards. It’s been quite a journey and if I’m honest something I probably won’t do again. But all the money we’ve raised is going to The Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital which is a great cause and something that all of us at Pirates firmly believe in.

I can now have a drink and eat all the things that I shouldn’t again (that full English has never tasted so good). The physical effort was awful but the day will live with me forever.