pickupthepacepaul

On 19th May 2021 I finished my challenge of 11 marathons in 11 days. I am over the moon to have finished my challenge. It started out as a challenge of Ten in Ten (TiT) for Cancer Research,  but because of event clashes I turned it to 11 in 11. I had one goal, which was to finish all 11 marathons, which I knew would be a tough challenge for me. I had a real stretch target of finishing all my marathons in sub 4, and I had no idea how long this would last. Little did I know when I started that I would finish all 11 within 6 seconds of each other.

Today I ran my 83rd qualifying event towards the 100 marathon club. I am confident I will reach 100 in early 2022. It is quite sad finishing this challenge, especially with another 10 in 10 starting today. So tempted to do 20 in 20, and to be honest the physical impact on my body is the 4th consideration. The first being family, second work and not wanting to use all my leave, third is the sheer cost. All in all, it would be lovely to keep going, but I just can’t.

It was a strange feeling today. Those who started the TiT with me were gone, with only a few taking on the 20 remained. It was nice to see a few more starting their challenge. I started in the rain, and it rained for a good 2 hours, before the sun came out and it turned into a really pleasant day. This run was all about finishing, I ticked off the miles, I dug deep and I kept going. My legs are so tired after completing 290 miles in 11 days. The most miles I’ve ever ran in a month is 215, and I’ve far exceeded that in just 11 days.

I had a few ask me whether I was going to go faster today, and I was tempted. However this challenge has picked up with me hitting my time day after day, and I wanted to finish what I started. I have plenty of time to go faster when my body is rested, and I did not want to risk injury. I posted last night that I wanted to achieve 3:59:25, because that is the average time of my first 10 marathons, all finishing in 3:59:2X. So that is exactly what I did, finishing on my watch in 3:59:25, although I believe the official time is 3:59:24. On a side note 3:59:24 is a new finish time and was the only time between 3:59:22 and 3:59:28 I had not finished on until today.

Together we have raised over £4,500 for Cancer Research, thank you so much. If you are able to share one last time or make any donations, I am very grateful. I really want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated, sent a positive message, or supported me in any way. Thank you to Rik for putting on a fantastic event, and all my fellow TiT and TwiT for sharing the towpath with me. Most of all I want to say thank you to my wife and kids, who have not only tolerated me over the last 11 days, but supported me, been understanding (most of the time), massaged my bum with the massage gun, and gave me occasional lifts. I couldn’t have done it without you all by my side.