After months of training, I can now say something I would never have expected to pass my lips, I have completed all 13.2 miles of Leicester’s annual half marathon.

Early training sessions consisted of a pathetic lap of my local park, so after spending hours building up my fitness and stamina, I was excited to join almost 3,000 other marathon hopefuls on a brisk October Sunday morning.

All started well and I (slowly) breezed through the first hour or so, but at mile 10, I soon started to feel the pain. My legs ached like never before and as the course started its uphill journey, I could do nothing but up the volume on my iPod and power through.

I crossed the finish line in 2 hours 28 minutes, full of excitement, knowing that I had not only accomplished something I never thought I would do, but also raised over £160 for local charity LOROS.

Will my next challenge be the full marathon? Watch this space!

Marina with medal

After training for what seemed like an eternity, Marina and I finally took part in the 10km Race for Life at Leicester’s Western Park last Saturday, the 10th July.  During what has been the hottest day of the year to date, we set about running the some 6.2 miles along the bumpy course with the other 1,500 brave souls who were all running/walking/crawling to raise money for the very worthwhile charity, Cancer Research. After 58 minutes I made it to the finish line with Marina hot on my heels - both of us smashing our personal best times. It was a great day fuelled with emotion as it’s humbling to see just how many people have been affected by cancer in some way or another. We’ve received a lot of support from friends, family and work colleagues and between us we’ve raised over £700 - something we’re both very proud of. Question is - who will be joining us next year?!

Post event sweats...