On Sunday night and Monday, I was numb from the waist down. I can only describe it as vague pain, there was no specific pain, just my entire legs felt like they had been anaesthetised. Monday night, I managed to secure a rub from Leanne. It was horrible, while there is nothing wrong with her technique, it hurt a lot as she gave my hamstrings, calves and thighs a good rub. It ached and I was screaming a lot.

Tuesday, the pain changed. Now rather than being numb all over, I had specific aches and pains, shooting sharply around my body. Feet, ankles, shin, calf, hamstrings, all over. Wednesday, same as Tuesday.

Thursday, things began to ease off, I only felt like I normally do after a rugby game and a 12 hour drinking session. Friday, the pain is less but I am still absolutely knackered, tired. Been in my bed 10pm every night this week.

I am doing my best to rest but with Jack around, that’s hard I am so looking forward to my holiday and have been eating exactly what I want this week!

Additional Photos

I came across these photos of me (on the Internet, some photography company trying to flog you prints of yourself for 20 quid a pop):

Chris and Ed running the Edinburgh Marathon (Seafield, 5 miles)

Ed running the Edinburgh Marathon (Seafield, 5 miles), Terminator style

Ed running the Edinburgh Marathon (Unknown)

Ed running the Edinburgh Marathon (Gosford House, 18 miles)

Ed running the Edinburgh Marathon (Musselburgh Race Course, 26 miles)

Ed finished the Edinburgh Marathon

Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.

Lance Armstrong

With that in mind, it was time to get on with it! Months of training, changes to diet and lifestyle, all coming to a head on a very wet Sunday morning. Very, very wet.

6am found me trying to convince my digestive system that eating a jam covered bagel was a good idea, while it was having a wee panic attack to itself and sending me off to the bathroom more often than I would have liked After pottering around checking and re-checking my gear, 7am rolled round and Suz tried to make sense of why she was awake so early on a Sunday!

Not long later we were heading to Princes Street in the pi**ing rain. Christ, the weather was rubbish. Rather surprisingly, considering we live in Edinburgh, I had hardly trained in the rain! I hadn’t been avoiding it, it just never seemed to be raining when I headed out. So suddenly, on the day of the Marathon I’m having to wear more clothing than I did during the winter training!! Bloody rain.

Looking really happy at the start!

After hanging around listening to the world’s most annoying commentary, it was time to start running - after we dodged the puddle of pee (see Ed’s blog!). About a hundred meters in, we hit our first support crew - Suz, Louise, Lesley and Jo. Very impressed to see them all there at 9am on a very wet Sunday morning - so before I go any further I’ve got to say CHEERS!.

Myself and Ed (to the left) just starting.

So off we went heading up the hill of more pee (not kidding here, I wasn’t dodging the puddles to keep my feet dry - I was just worried about what was in there!) before skirting down passed Parliament, running side by side with a big fairy. No, I’m not slagging Ed, there was a 6ft bloke running dressed as a fairy!

Not long after this Ed started playing the ‘how many people we know’ game (hang on, I reckon there might be a link to the fairy here…) with me quickly establishing the lead at 4 - 0. Ed soon started to level the score, with a random spotting of Johnny (does it count if they’re not actually there to see you - just passing?) and then starting calling out random people’s names… I reckon the first guy just waved to shut him up…and then Ed tried to count his dog too!!! As for the family that I scared the crap out of - well, in my defence, Ed had been waving at random old couples standing at their living room windows!

Anyway, after a bus full of waving folks (at least they were by the time we passed them) we were heading for the Prom and more familiar running ground. Part-way along came our next support crew, with big Ed supplying the Mars bars and the rest of the Henderson gang providing both a drop off point for unwanted gear, and a chance for me to pull a very odd face, as shown in Ed’s piccys.

In my mind I had broken down most of the race into slightly less daunting sections - so from here it was onwards to Musselburgh. Just after we left the prom Ed started to pick up the pace a bit, which I figured might happen, and started to pull ahead. The way I looked at it was that Ed would probably take off at pace for a while, and I was quite happy sticking to my usual pace. As it was, my knees started to ache by the time we were coming round to the race course.

More support crew spotting - this time Craig, Gail and Kaia (the dog) all helping to keep the motivation levels up!

Round about now things got a bit confusing, as loads of people started sprinting past me…which was a bit de-motivating…until I realised they were the fresh batch from the relay race! Then two woman with balloons attached caught up - balloons saying 4hrs 15 mins - pace setters! Cool, I figured I’d just keep up with them for a while and that would save me thinking about my pace.

And it worked pretty well, as I stayed with them all the way through Prestonpans, Port Seton and part of the way down the long lonely stretch in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, the route started to throw some small, but deadly hills at me. By the time I got to the turnaround point, I was back at the point of having to walk up the hills and run flats or down hill sections. While being bloody sore, I figure I could handle this.

Like Ed, I also had to endure the crap random up-hill bit around 19 miles, and to be honest I would have walked it if I hadn’t heard the combined shouts from the Henderson / Green support crew By now I was done with my running pack (drank it all and was using my knee support), so I left that with said support crew. Feeling somewhat lighter, and energy levels topped up again thanks to Big Ed’s Mars bars, I set off for what was starting to feel like the final push.

The 19 mile gear drop!

This is where the real battle began. You’re probably thinking I mean a battle of mind over body, willpower and other such meaningful things. Nope, I’m talking about my battle with the deadliest nemesis known to man. A clown. That’s right, for the next 6 miles my main motivation was to avoid the embarrassment of being beaten over the finish line by a man dressed as a clown. I’d overtake him, then get to a hill, walk up it and find him overtaking me. Evil clown…

My Nemesis!

On a slightly more serious note, by the time I got to about 24 miles I was really suffering. I don’t think I ever thought about stopping, but I was really conscious of just how much damage I was doing to my body. Round about now I really started to think about why I was doing this, and was surprised to find myself crying! Yep, grown man, running a marathon, crying. Quite funny really! I guess it was the first time I’d had no way of changing the subject or doing something else when I started thinking about being in a coma and the effect it had on me, and to be honest, I’m glad. It felt good to just deal with it for a change.

The last Dash

Then we come to the end. After the last slight uphill, it was a flat run to the line. By now, my running style was more Forrest Gump than Linford Christie, so the last mile was bloody agony. But coming into the race course and hearing the crowd, and especially the Big Support Crew (Hendersons + Suz, Louise, Lesley, Jo, Dave and Mum & Dad up in the stand) cheering me on made a last push possible. Like Ed, I reckon I did a sprint finish, which means I was probably moving slightly faster than a lamp, and crossed the line with a cheer, arms in the air.

Yep, definitely looks like a sprint finish!

2 days on, there’s a couple of things I can say for definite.

• Running a Marathon bloody hurts.
• Training was definitely worth it, but on the day it’s all about willpower.
• Having your loved ones around makes a huge difference!
• And running a Marathon really bloody hurts!

So here we are at the end of what has been a huge event in both our lives. I have to say a huge thanks to Ed for not only setting up and running the fantastic website, but for stepping up and putting himself through the hell of the training and the actual Marathon. He gets to choose the next challenge…which scares me a lot…..

Seriously, cheers Ed.

Cheers!

All in, I’m really glad I did the Marathon. I never thought we would raise this much money - thanks to everyone for sponsoring us. It’s a lot of money to any charity! For me, it’s provided some closure on the whole Meningitis thing. I feel like I’ve completed a recovery that has taken 10 years, both mentally and physically. And it feels pretty good, if a little sore

And I beat the clown.

Ed Henderson

4:32:59

Chris Green

4:42:34

Very happy with these, my time being 2 seconds quicker than I thought

Rose & Jack gave me a lift up town (THANK YOU), it was absolutely pissing of rain and my clothes plan had changed last minute. I now had a hat, gloves and jacket to wear. Kitted out with my new Nike Triax watch and Rose’s iPod I was confident that despite the weather I had enough in the bank and distractions to keep me going.

Ed in St Andrew Square (after being dropped off by Rose & Jack) in the pouring rain

I hooked up with Suz and Chris and a quick shelter in the doorway of a shoe shop and a wee in Rose Street (there were huge queues for the portaloos) and we were in our pen, warming up. We had selected the 4:00 to 4:30 pen which as we stood about pretending to warm up made us more and more anxious. The folk in there with us were like proper runners, they had all the gear, proper gear and I don’t think one of them had any body fat on them.

As time grew closer, the announcer grew louder and more annoying. We were facing the wrong way, heading towards Lothian Road as we had a wee turn at the bottom to come back round to the actual start. A couple of non-descript councillors started the race and Chris and I watched the front runners head off at practically double our pace. We knew it would be a few minutes (at least) till we actually got to the start line (and I was in no hurry).

Then all of a sudden, right in front of us, a wifie wearing semi-decent running gear, stopped, dropped her kecks and proceeded to do a wee, literally as close as the computer screen is to your eyes right now, I could have stuck my finger right up her bum hole if I really wanted, she was that bloody close. No apology, nothing, onwards we go towards the start line.

A couple of false jogs and we hit the start line running, making sure to start the watch. We jogged past Suz & Co. and headed off to Waterloo Place where we spent most of the time dodging puddles and overtaking, being overtaken. We went through Holyrood Park and by the time we hit Meadowbank my Squatting Pissing Woman count was up to 10. I then decided to stop playing this game and concentrate on running.

As we headed down to the Beach we attempted to kill time by playing a Who Can Spot The Most Folk We Know game. I had seen my brother sitting in traffic and Ian Boyter. I tried to claim his dog as a spot but Chris was having none of it. Chris then began to cheat and started waving at randoms on a bus, then a family in Craigentinny Avenue. The Dad of said family looked scared and I swear when Chris shouted HELLO, he put his arm round his children.

Down to Seafield and we were on the Promenade. Local knowledge had taught us to run at the top of the Promenade due to the camber and the holes so I giggled as I watched the unenlightened struggling a bit. The weather had stopped raining and by now I wanted to get rid of the hat and coat. We were approaching Henderson HQ where Team Hendo were based so I knew I would be able to dump them with Mum & Dad. A quick hello, photo and wave and were were off again.

Chris and Ed at 5 miles (outside Funpark at Portobello)

Dad managed to sneak a couple of mini Mars Bars into my hand (THANK YOU) and on we went down the coast. The rain had stopped now but the wind was pretty strong. As we passed the Rockville, Chris and I got separated, he had been behind me (just) for about a mile and I looked back and he was gone. Sorry. So I pushed on as I was running a very familiar bit of ground now. I was doing my best to keep the pace and kept it going pretty well all the way down to Port Seton. The wind was making it difficult to get good times but I kept telling myself that I would have the wind at my back on the way home. That was still a long way away though!

As I approached the Promenade at Port Seton (right where I used to live), I spotted Team Hendo again (Jack, Rose, Dad & Mum), the weather now was dark, windy and crap if I am honest. They all had their coats on and hoods up. Wee Jack was sitting on a bench right next to the runners, happily sitting watching. Then I realised, its cause he was eating. Still he saw me and I managed to give him a high five as I went past.

Ed about to give Jack a high five in Port Seton (13 miles)

The furthest I have ever ran is 13.1 miles (once in training, once in the Edinburgh Forthside Half Marathon) so as you can imagine I was now beginning to worry a little. I knew that once we left the safety of Port Seton it was country roads (and not a lot of support) down to Gosford. This was a good few miles till we got back to Port Seton again (9 in fact) so I was scared.

The thing about running this kind of race is that your energy levels don’t go down at a constant rate, they can get quite low quite quickly, and mine did. Right around the 14-15 mile mark, I hit what was probably the wall and was cursing the fact I didn’t get another Mars Bar off Dad at 13 miles. I knew I had to keep going but it was very hard. For the first time that day I had to slow down to a walk. The fact I had ran over 14 miles without stopping was a feat in itself. Even in the Half Marathon I had two complete stops, as well as the Training Run so I wasn’t too disappointed. I told myself that I hadn’t stopped, I had merely slowed to a walk, and in the words of our Internet Training guru Hal Higdon - walking is a perfectly acceptable method of completing a marathon. I also cheered myself with the knowledge that I wasn’t just walking, I was making an effort and was walking proudly, strongly, smartly. Kind of a like a power walk, I needed to keep moving. I did not want to stop.

Miles 15 through 19 dragged by as I was dizzy, staggering a bit and really considering looking for a way out. Counting the time to the next water stop or Lucozade stop was all that kept me going and I managed to get to Gosford House and get round it (albeit mostly walking through the grounds) and on the road home. Chris passed me coming into Gosford House just as I was coming out so we said Hi and both cracked on. I needed food, energy, something to pep me up and then I got to Lyars Road.

This appeared to be a part of the route where they needed to take up the slack when it came to the distance, i.e. we basically came off the coast road, turned left up a street, round a cone and back down. Albeit, it was a bloody hill and the last thing I needed. I spotted Team Hendo (this time including Team Green) halfway up hill. I was walking and waved a bit and shouted that I needed food. At that point the iPod packed in and I was wondering that on top of the rain, wind, energy loss, bust iPod, what else could go wrong?

Ed struggling at 19 miles (up a bloody hill)

I got to the top and turned back down the hill, Team’s Hendo and Green about 100 yards ahead of me. Then disaster struck and one of the most horrible 5 minutes of my life. I got cramp in both hamstrings at the same time. First of all I have never had cramp in a hamstring, secondly, never had cramp while doing sport, thirdly, I wasn’t really in a fit state to deal with it. I cant really describe the pain, its one of those things you really have to experience to appreciate. The closest I can describe is excruciating agony. I probably looked like a robot grinding to a halt, unable to walk. Most of Longniddry was supporting at this little part and on top of the pain it was very embarrassing (for me and them). I did my best to walk it off but my legs wouldn’t go. I tried to bend over, stretch it off, but I couldn’t, it was too sore. Being honest, I wanted to fall over and wait for medical assistance but I wasn’t going to let the Marathon beat me. I leaned over trying to stretch, grimacing and I heard a wee boy said to his Mum, Mummy, what’s wrong with that man?. I couldn’t see them as my eyes were closed. She replied I think he has cramp. I wanted to reply and tell them to F**k off but I couldn’t, they had done nothing wrong, I was just angry so I kept my mouth shut.

A combination of strange stretching, attempting to walk and crowd support and I managed to break back into a walk. I got down to Team Hendo and being honest, the look on their faces wasn’t great. I think they thought I was done for. I said I was OK and thought I would at least give it a go. At this point I was still 7 miles from home. Even at my top running pace, that an hours jog. I scoffed down 2 or 3 Mini Mars Bars, had two Lucozades and nabbed some jelly sweeties off a stranger. I got my walking back up to power walking pace and off I went.

Then a strange thing happened, all the sugar/energy/carbs kicked in and I had a wee bit of energy, enough even to manage a jog. The road back to Port Seton was lonely, 3 miles of wee jogs, power walks and looking over my shoulder for Chris catching up. I don’t know what I was expecting to happen at Port Seton (22 miles), there was no magic pick me up, just more road. I think its that I knew I was back into civilisation again and the people cheering really do help. One lady even shouted Come on Wuh Muh Wuh at me

It then began raining and I shouted as loud as I could, Come on then, is the best you can throw at me!. I don’t know who I was shouting at, the Marathon, the God of Marathons, someone in charge. What with the rain, wind, hamstring, iPod, more rain I was actually beginning to enjoy knocking down whatever he threw at me. In your face God!

In and out of Port Seton / Cockenzie and back onto the horrible road back to Musselburgh through Prestonpans. At the last Lucozade stop, kids were messing about, jumping on all the discarded pouches, and they managed to get Lucozade over my legs. I apologise for my language now, but not for my sentiment. I called him a wee w*nker.

I am glad, I kept a hold of my gloves, cause by now it was cold and so was I, bloody freezing in fact. I was thinking of mugging someone for their tracksuit but even that would use up energy. At one point I saw some jelly babies on the ground and was considering picking them up and eating them for some energy. I didn’t, honest.

Basically, the last 3 miles consisted of me, 2 blokes and a burd with a nice bum having a mini race between us as we all alternated between walking and running, taking the lead, overtaking. I thought it only fair that the girl with the nice bum who did a fair bit to keep my mind off the agony by jiggling her bum as she ran (not deliberate I presume) was repaid. I did so by running in front of her and giving her a good look at my bum. Thank you mysterious Bum Girl.

As we approached Levenhall Roundabout, about half a mile to go, I managed to jog it in home and as I approached the finish line, I saw Team Hendo on my right and (well in my head I was) managed a sprint finish.

Got my medal from Pete Twaddle (Rugby Club dude) and headed round to meet the Team. By now it was nice and sunny of course. Big hugs from everyone and a couple of minutes later, Chris came home. Mum had supplied some Magners for Chris and I which we duly drank.

Mum supplies Magners at the Finish Line

All done, smile for the camera

All in all, I spotted - Jack Henderson, Rose Henderson, Eddie Henderson, Liz Henderson, Johnny Henderson, Ian Boyter, Alan Shand, Andy Spence, Natalie Welsh, Bob Jefferson, Pete Twaddle, Derek Ireland, June Green, Johnny Green, Suzanne Green, Louise Dryburgh & Spiderman.

All, in all, what can I say. A lot of folk enjoy the Marathon, the day, the support, the banter and I can see how and why. To a certain extent I did. Its just the mind numbingly horrible sore pain part that made me want to lie down and die that I didn’t enjoy. Still, it was worth it. I did something I always wanted to do (once) and helped raise a shed load of cash for Charity as well.

Since I did it for all the other runs, here are the stats.

Map

Comes in 2 parts, its so bloody big. Click for bigger versions.

Route

Princes Street » Waterloo Place » Regent Road » Turn right on to Abbeymount » Abbey Hill » Horse Wynd » Turn left on to Queen’s Drive » Duke’s Walk » Meadowbank Terrace» Turn right on to London Road » Portobello Road » Turn left on to Craigentinny Avenue » Fillyside Road » Over Seafield Road East » On to Portobello Promenade» Through bottom of Kings Place » Promenade Terrace » Portobello Promenade » Turn left on to Musselburgh Road » Edinburgh Road » Left on to New Street » Turn left on to Musselburgh Promenade » Turn Right on to Links View » Turn Left on to New Street » Over The Electric Bridge » Left on to Goose Green Crescent rquo; Right on to Balcarres Road » Left on to Millhill Wynd » Left on to Linkfield Road » Turn left on to Ravenhaugh Road » Prestonpans High Street » Edinburgh Road » Turn Left on to Cockenzie High Street » Weyss Place » Viewforth » Turn Left on to Port Seton Promenade » Turn Left on to Port Seton Links » Links Road past Caravan Site » Straight past jct. Longniddry Rd / Lyars Rd » A198 to Gosford House» Turn around point at 0.25 mi past Gosford Gate » Back towards Gosford House » Turn left in to Gosford House » Circle Gosford House clockwise » Turn left on to A198 towards Port Seton » Turnleft up Lyars Rd » Turn around before Wemyss Road » Turn left on to A198 towards Port Seton » Links Road » Past Seton Sands Caravan Site » Turn right on to Viewforth » Wemyss Place» Cockenzie High Street » Turn right on to Edinburgh Road » Prestonpans High Street » Ravenhaugh Road » Turn right on to Linkfield Road aquo; Turn right in to MusselburghRace Course

Distance

26.2 miles

Time

Time on my watch was 4:33:01 (or 4 hours, 33 minutes and 1 second), this will be confirmed tomorrow when the Official results are posted. Time confirmed - 4:32:59 (4 hours, 32 minutes and 59 seconds), 2 seconds quicker than I thought!

Graphs

I made a graph, the blue is the pace I was aiming for and the red is what I ran. Can you spot when I got tired Click for a bigger version.

Stops

I am very proud to say that I only had 1 stop and that was when I got simultaneous cramp in both hamstrings around mile 19. The rest of the time (even when walking), I never stopped at all.

Comments

To be honest, said most of what I wanted to say above. To summarise, I am not going to run a Marathon again, and I cannot recommend it to anyone Thank you thank you thank you to all the folk who sponsored us, supported us and helped us. A special thank you to Rose for looking after me with my carbs these last few weeks. You will all be rewarded by Jesus one day.

This is not quite the end of WMWMarathon, certainly the end of the running but the JustGiving page is open till around 27 June 2007 so we will try and squeeze a few more pounds out of you folk, as well as the fun of collecting all the pledges.

After that, I’m done and will move onto my next challenge. Will be announced shortly.

For all the nerds out there, my headline is based on a quote by Steve Redgrave in 1996. After winning his Gold Medal, he was asked if he would be competing in Sydney in 4 years time. He said Anyone who sees me go anywhere near a boat again, ever, you’ve got my permission to shoot me.

He reversed his decision in 1997

Will Blog tomorrow with more details, right now I am f*ked, ache, feeling sick and hungry.

So this it, all the training, the generous sponsorship by you guys and the final week of grumpy carb loading (sorry Suz!). I’d love to say I’m sitting here ready to go, feeling great and happy with the prep that I’ve done; but I don’t know if you ever feel that way! I’m looking forward to the race, but the nerves are pretty high right now. I feel like I’m a lot fitter than I’ve ever been, but is it enough? I guess I’ll find out today…

I’m off to eat my bagel, try not to cry at the weather forecast and start sorting the last of my gear. Due to weather , think I’ll be in my running shorts, Helly Hansen top and race number 2632. And my running pack, just so I’ve got somewhere for my knee support

One last thanks for all the support!!

Thank you to all the messages of good luck (text, email and Comments here), it really is nice and only makes me even more nervous. Final last gasp sponsors always welcome and we have had a few, thank you.

I have all my gear ready, hat, gloves, cagoule, t-shirt (I will be wearing my red WMW t-shirt and black shorts, number 2666), socks, shoes, iPod, new watch pace band, iPod holder, headphones, etc. etc. and have my final track listing loaded onto the iPod. Rose and Jack, along with Mum & Dad are out roaming tomorrow to support me (look out for a giant Winnie The Pooh balloon) so that will be good.

The weather is supposed to be this tomorrow but we will wait and see:

I didn’t get much of a rest today, ended up cutting the grass, playing with Jack, cutting the hedge, playing with Jack and my feet are sore (probably about ⁴/₁₀ just now) so I am dreading tomorrow right now as the pain in my feet is quite sore. I also got a few back spasms earlier this evening.

Anyhoo, night night.

Thanks girls.

Thank you to some overnight sponsoring and a nice chunk of donation this morning from Suz’s work, we have just beaten the £3000 barrier. Amazing. I am speechless.

A big thank you to all 162 163 165 donations we have received, that’s incredible and lets hope we can get a few more in the next two days!

Last night I got a call from Chris, apparently The Sun had been on the phone. They had managed to track Chris down, not quite sure how and he had done an interview on the phone with a reporter.

We then had a photo shoot with a Sun photographer in Leith Links where we once again ran up and down, pretended to stretch etc. There was no Jack this time, although he was there with Grandad for moral support.

From the sounds of it, we should be in Saturday (although I am going to check today). Not quite sure if it will be an article about Chris or if we will make it in as a nugget of a general Marathon article. Wait and see!

Despite easing back on the training, I still ache, am still sore. I have made a decision. This is the last run I am going to do. I am going to spend Thursday, Friday and Saturday doing nothing, RESTING. Do not ask me to help shift furniture, play football, go boozing, lift things, do housework, have sex, do gardening, I will not do it. I will catch up on all my missed chores in about a weeks time