Marathon Day 17, Friday 1st April 2011 - Canterbury High School Running Track

A short journey from Howfield Manor brought us to today's venue, Canterbury High School where Andy was to have the pleasure of running 125 laps of the 400m track.
It was a good job we arrived early 'coz the car park soon filled to overflowing causing concerns as to whether we would be able to extricate ourselves when it was time to leave.

Barry and I were trackside, setting up the timer when Andy & Sophie arrived.  The look of horror on Barry's face when Andy limped painfully over to the steps and started to gingerly descend them towards us, was priceless! Andy's comment of "I'm afraid it will have to be a slow one today, Barry - Bloody hotel stairs!" immediately invoked a response (well, more of a croak, really)  from Barry of "What on earth have you done?".  Andy started to mutter something about slipping down the stairs at the hotel but then his face split into a wide grin with a loud  "April Fool!!!". I wish I'd had my camera to record the moment - What a hoot!

The tom foolery and pleasantries over, Andy had his usual send off by the Lord Mayor and  started his run all on his own, "Billy no mates" again!  All of the Year 7 pupils were allowed out to watch the start and Andy delighted them all by "High Fiving" them on the rails as he completed his first few laps.

Andy's "High Five" sparked off a chant of "ANDY! ANDY!



 Throughout the day, runners and school children joined him in his endeavours but for the most part, he was left predominantly on his own.  Towards the end of the run, I ran / walked a few circuits with him but ducked out when he put his ipod on, saying that he needed to burn a few miles!

He finished in a time of 6hrs 53mins, and very happy to do so!!

A happy bunny!

We decided that there was nothing to be gained by delaying our journey to Brighton so "set sail", deciding travel via motorway rather than cross country, which in the event proved to be a wise decision..  We arrived at our chosen overnight parking venue but determined that it was not ideal as it would have blocked all vehicular access to the park.  So, problem! A recce of the area revealed 3 options : Comet / Curry's car park, the car park of the Greyhound Track or the delivery yard of the co-op store where we had temporarily parked while we solved our dilemma. After consultation and seeking permission from Co-op management we decided to stay where we were, a good decision I thought!

Home from home!

Barry and I  discussed our plan of action for the following day and decided that there was little to gain by attempting to place the RV in the park but that Nikki and I could have a good sorting out and vehicle shake down day by driving to our next point of call, and leaving everyone else with the other 2 vehicles here for the day to support Andy.

That decided, we retired  for the night.

Benji's Blog

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Hope that's enough kisses for you, Sweetie Pie!!

We had a good day today at the school where Uncle Andy was running.  There was lots of children there and the Headteacher allowed some of them to watch the start of the race.

They were very happy when Uncle Andy "High Fived" them all when he ran past them - they thought that was cool!

I am going to an army camp on an island tomorrow where I hope I'll be able to wash the bus and clean it out inside. It's called Thorney Island and the camp covers all of it. Mummy will show it to you on the map. It's between numbers 19 and 20.

I hope your poorly cough id a bit better and that you are taking your medicine.

I will try to talk to you on the computer soon.

Lots of love

Daddy.

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