Marathon Day 49, Tuesday 3rd May - Lancaster, Ryelands Park

Very early start today for journey from Preston to Lancaster. M6 very busy for this time of the morning but all proceeded well until satnav went mental with 1.2miles to go and took me on a tortuous tour of a housing estate!  Eventually arrived safely and set up in glorious sunshine, if a bit fresh at 7.45am!

The support that Andy had at the start was truly amazing, the public almost overwhelming us in their endeavours to catch a glimpse of the man!!!

 Andy's adoring public mill round just before the start . . . . . 

 . . . . .  they await the start with bated breath . . . . . 

 . . . . and he's off, officially started on his way by Jim "The Horn" Duffy!

. . . . Jim rubs his hands with glee as he considers the fine job he has just done, whilst Sophie seems fascinated with the timer!

Andy's a couple of hours into his run now and the children from Bradford  Schools have arrived to further develop their video project and to run  with him!

One can imagine Andy's thoughts as he approaches this welcoming committee! lol

Andy trails the field yet again!! lol

The children had a wonderful time (and so did Andy, I believe) and after they  departed it was time for Sophie to run with him until the earphones and the iPod called to him - then he was on one!!!

He finished in a time of 6hrs 46mins, happy with his performance and feeling relatively comfortable.

A happy man!

The drive to Carlisle was thankfully uneventful but due to the number of parked vehicles, we've had to settle for placing the RV in a car park adjacent to the marathon venue with a short journey scheduled to relocate it tomorrow at 7am. 

Grilled salmon and trimmings for dinner then,  luxury - a hotel bed for the night, courtesy of Best Western.

Just finishing Blog then another early night planned.

Benji's Blog

Hi Benji

I bet you are looking forward to school tomorrow. It will be good to see all of your school friends again.

You will be able to tell them about your holiday on the boat and about Daddy's adventure with Uncle Andy.

We are at Carlisle tomorrow - that's number 50 on your map so you can put the flag in it in the morning.

I will talk to you then and see you very soon.

Love you millions.

. . . . and I love this photo - my little Shivna dancer!

Daddy

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX