The oldest man on the day!

Last year teachers – like yours truly - were the largest profession to run the marathon… got to be the best at something.

However...

The oldest marathon runner to complete the Marathon was 101! And called Buster. However as this link shows this may not be true… as some people think he may only be in his late 90’s… still there’s not enough people called Buster in this day age and he's running for a good cause so who cares...

Buster keeps himself busy as he still holds down a job with Pimilco Plumbing…

As you can see he – believes in taking on carbs as he goes just like all the other top athletes…

http://www.justgiving.com/bustermartin1

In 2007 - 50,039 people applied to run the marathon, 36,396 started and 35,694 finished… so 702 stopped half –way and went to the pub never to be seen again. And 13,643 didn’t make it through training… Which I can understand as I can’t run at the moment due to a sore thigh, hip, leg or something.

So Buster even if he is under a hundred is doing good and doing pretty well.

Look out for him

Offical charity cheering points... on the Isle of Dogs

From the Evelina: I've added my own comments in red

Picture is of supporters last year

16 miles into the longest run of their lives, the Flora London Marathon finish line can seem a lifetime away. That’s when our team of runners need your voice to carry them through to the end and help them raise more than £45,000 for patients at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospitals.
Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Charity, supporting the work of Londoner’s local hospital, will have 25 runners in the Flora London Marathon 2009, all working together to make sure your loved ones receive world class care. To help them along the way we will have a cheering point and we need your help to create a warm welcome so our runners know that we are behind them all the way.
There will be a hot snack and drink for any early birds, T-shirts, balloons, noise sticks and cheer boards to keep your runner on track.

Your help and enthusiasm will make all the difference and you’ll be pleased you experienced the London Marathon first-hand. (I will running fast here and looking out for past Pupils from George Green's School... possibly cheering?)

Volunteers are needed on Sunday 26 April from 10am – 5pm so if you can handle the pace email our team or call 020 7188 1196 today.If you can’t make it to the 16.5 mile cheering point, why not join in the roadside action at mile 22.5 by Guy’s Hospital and the Tower of London or mile 25.5 by St. Thomas’ Hospital and Parliament Square. (It's nice to know where all the hospitals are in the last 5 miles).

A map of the Flora London Marathon route will be a great help – visit www.london-marathon.co.uk to get your copy.

Finally I am short sighted and not the most observant person at the best of times... I shall do my best to wave but if I miss you... I apologise in advance.

If you want to let me know where you will be leave a comment.This is done by clicking the word comment below.

A quick reminder of why I'm running!

The Evelina Children's Hospital is is “a hospital that doesn’t feel like a hospital”. As a family when our daughter Scarlett became very ill we were rushed there to its world class facilities these saved her life.

The Hospital provides everything from routine care to life saving treatment for over 100,000 children every year. To keep this going it needs to buy the very best equipment and facilities. The Evelina Appeal is the way ordinary people like you or I can help with this fantastic work!

Scarlett Today and Scarlett at the hospital - the difference your donation can make.



Please consider giving using my justgiving site - hit the buttons on the left or by giving your time and energy?

Beating Gordon Ramsay already...

Just been checking the justgiving page and I'm ahead of Gordon Ramsay so far... hopefully I'll keep it that way as his best is 3hr 45 and i'm aiming for 3hr 30.

http://www.justgiving.co.uk/gordonramsay

He's on £20 quid today - no doubt he'll get a few quid for his great cause. The Scottish Spina Bifida Association

Mothers day and a big bridge

Sunday was Mothers Day and super mum to the girls and Wife to me Jo was very patient while I did my 20 mile final long run. Jo is a great Mum who looks after us all making us feel safe, loved and happy... we'd all be lost without her. so Happy Mothers Day from Me and the girls.

I decided for this big run to go to Tower Bridge and practice my wave - just in case I'm on TV. I was at the Tower Hotel for a Headship course on the Friday and got a bridge lift for a Naval Destroyer coming through... fantastic sight unless you were on a run... then you had to stop. Inspired by this and looking at the bridge over lunch I decided I was going to run to it.

I went there, (7 miles), then back to Greenwich, (14), then on to Woolwich and back to Catford down the South Circular (20.5). When making this route I forgot that I was advised that the start of the marathon is all downhill... "so don't go to quick".

The end of my run on Sunday was the start of the marathon, but backwards, so was therefore all uphill... and it really hurt... at mile 17/8 my toe seemed to explode and one of my nails which was purple is now black... but numb... so thats OK I suppose.

Anyway I got home... and really enjoyed the run. Because there was lots to see... as well as the bridges and Tower... I passed two places that my Father (Danny Cregan) had worked when he first left school. The first was the Seager Whisky Distillery - in Deptford and the second at Tower Hill was a Bonded warehouse somewhere underground.

The Seager building seems to have been demolished but the outside facade is in place. This will form part of a new landmark building - see pic 2 - according SE8 expert the Deptford Dame on her blog.

While running along I remember my Dad telling me how he would go to Ronnie Scotts - where he was a life member, then walk to work in Deptford and be first in... I thought this was very impressive a bit like going to the North Pole - which was another thing my Dad applied to do - and 8-9 miles with no sleep and a days work to follow was pretty impressive...

However running has shown me that a lot journeys we make by bus, car, train etc... could be made faster and for free on foot. Especially for London school children who will wait with a free oyster card for 30mins to make a journey which can walked in 20mins.....

Vote on my finish time - additional info to help you make your decision.

Those of you who follow the blog and send me emails saying why haven't you put anything up will have noticed I've not run for a week or so. This is because I've felt unwell and developed a pain in my leg. Both seem to be easing now so I've concentrated on doing other things other than running such as weights and ab work. I suspect that I have over used my legs as I walk at least 5-6 miles a day as well running.

Anyway....

With a month-ish to go... Myself, Ben Morgan and probably all other runners are trying to predict our finish times.

There are sites to do this. You type in your time for a shorter distance and then it's calculated using some strange mathematical formula. I've bored of this so instead... I'm checking out the celebrity runners and deciding could I take Gordon Ramsey? Will I lag behind Jordan or make Peter Andre eat my dust! Yes they are all running too...

A full list of celebrities running - most I've never hear of is available at this link. Click here.

Bug

I've not run all week as I've had a stomach bug and felt weak. So I'm switching to weight training and short running Friday and Sunday of this week. With maybe a bit of skipping to build the legs.

As I've run a half marathon every week for 3 weeks I may have simply done a bit too much? However I'd like to get a 20 mile run under belt in the next week or so. So I'll be aiming for that.

St Matthew Academy students - qualify to run in the London Mini Marathon

Two students from St Matthew Academy will be running on the 26th April in the London Mini Marathon.

We will not be running side by side and they will run 5 instead of 40 odd km... but this in a way is more of an achievement as they had to qualify for their place by being one the fastest in their age group from the Borough at the recent trials. Well Done

3 London boroughs - 16 miles and breakfast

This has been a very busy week. I've only run twice but less is more and both runs were good and... in the morning.

I ran to school on Wednesday making use of the gym of facilities on arrival for 20mins before using the very nice showers. All new buildings like St Matthew Academy have to have a place for cyclists, runners and other self propelled people to clean themselves up. I even have a hook for my towel... Many thanks Guy.

Today I notched up 16 miles and ran through 3 London Boroughs - Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich. Which means that by the next run I will be less than double digits short of the 26 miles. Which is the optimistic way of looking at it... rather than... WHAT!... 10 miles on top of this.

Although I felt fine today I did feel a bit tired afterwards. Which leads to a question for which I haven't found an answer. Should I eat before I run in the morning?

In fact I've found many different answers in lots of different books... so it seems a matter of whether you can manage it or not.

Answer a) = No... you'll get a stitch, feel bloated and it's good to practice running on empty in training.

Or

Answer b) = Yes... as it will give you more energy and prevent muscle loss.

My answer at the moment is eat loads before bedtime...

On arrival home I was so hungry I had two poached eggs, 3 slices Wheaten, a banana, a bowl of shredded wheat, half a sausage my daughter hadn't eaten, two pints of water, two coffees and a jammie dodger!

I've now raised, doing the half marathon and this run, over a £1000 for the Evelina. Many thanks to my two most recent donors. The 2 Johns. Neither of whom are actually called John as one is Sean and other is Jon - which isn't John but Jonathan.

On the MP3 - Sébastien Léger - The Beatport only mix of Eric Prydz - The People.