And there it was done

Tuesday 19th April

This is going to be very difficult to write. Even if I were able to put my feelings into words I don't actually know what I do feel. I expected elation, relief, maybe a 'post exam' dip, maybe a few tears, pride in the achievement perhaps. And I suppose there has been a little of each.


A broken man
Friday night - 2 days to go - and a right ankle the size of a rugby ball.


I expected to be a physical wreck, but other than the knee which never did forgive me and some late damage to my right ankle which made the last 3 days pretty tough I don't seem to have any physical damage. Certainly I wasn't the skinny creature I expected to finish as. Quite the opposite in fact - if anything I seem to have put weight on. Which just goes to show what I have always suspected - the combination of reduced chablis intake, restricted diet and copious amounts of exercise are not the recipe for weight reduction.

So how do I feel? I suppose sad is the closest I can get. As to why.....well certainly I had some lovely times in the villages of the Somme and the Marne and I'm sorry those bits are over. Even the awful bits on the main roads were tolerable because I knew they would soon be over. But that is no reason to be sad. I will visit the areas more leisurely at some point in the future I'm sure.


It might sound bizarre but actually I think I feel a little sad because I'm sorry it's over. Perhaps I'm sad because I have to think of something to do now? There were moments of real joy when I crossed the line - and particularly the sight of the Leatherne Bottel crew and my friends standing under the Porte de Noel was a great lift. But it just seemed very very strange to stop running. It seemed wrong.

For the record it was 657km door to door. 11 and a bit days of hell. So why I am laughing? I wish I could say.

Ouch my knee hurts

Wednesday 13th April

Roye, just north of Compiegne, France

386km run, not sure how many to go. Quite a few I guess

Apologies to all those to whom I promised blog updates, but this is the first time since we set off that we have had internet access for the lap top. So quick report on the first 7 days.

Day 1
le depart! Fantastic atmosphere at the restaurant. Friends, staff, supporters and some press photographers. Plus Sir John with the klaxon. First day was the longest and one of the hottest. John & Jamie kept me alive with provisions from the bikes. Dehyrdated and tired at the end but otherwise ok.

Day 2
Weather even hotter and carried on with John & Jamie as support. Second half of the day was tough with the first hills of the North Downs. Didn't notice it too much until the next morning when the quads were burning a bit. Enjoyed supper with the 2 boys and said good bye to them. Great job Jamie & John - couldn't have done it without you!

Day 3
Still hot and now properly into the North Downs. Joined by Uncle Paul in the car shortly after breakfast. Took most of the day to run the stiffness out of my quads but more worryingly the first signs of left knee problems emerged.....

Day 4
The trek down into Dover. Again supported by Paul in the car (Thanks again!!) I was surprised to find my quads had now recovered. Unfortunately the knee was deteriorating and by the time I arrived (frozen) at the port I had developed a severe hobble. Ferry to france late on Sunday evening then Calais for some sleep

Day 5
weather still beautiful. Knee not. Realised very quickly that running was not an option. So developed a curious sort of shuffling straight-legged run walk which got me through to lunchtime. Whereupon the knee gave me a bit of a break and the afternoon was unbroken running again. Fauquemberges was the first of our French B & B's with madamme cooking. Lovely night.


Day 6
another nice morning but this time with a cold wind just to knock the edge off it. Knee was just as the previous morning except slightly more swollen and more painful. But I had refined the shuffle and by lunch was running reasonably freely again. The afternoon's 30km were non stop and apart from the (by then) biting wind, fairly trouble free. Long stage this one at 63km.

Day 7
Blanket fog in the village by the river where we had rested our weary heads, but a 3 km climb out of the village brought a glorious spring morning. Within an hour the shuffle had turned into more of a run and for most of the day I had a glorious time. Stopped at all the war cemeteries which as ever were pristine, quiet and unutteringly sad. Only blot on the day was an acute knee problem with just 3km to go which reduced me to a reall hobble.

As I type this I have a bag of semi-frozen peas trying to take down the swelling which has now become rather concerning - even my left thigh has swollen in sympathy. Pain killers, Chablis then sleep are the only cures I can offer. See what tomorrow brings!

John & Julia

The day of reckoning looms......

1 more sleep to go....

Nothing more to be done now. Big staff and support crew meeting this evening. Everyone seems happy with everything and by all accounts pretty excited about the adventure. Anita the masseuse and Jonna my ever supportive chiropractor both say I am in good shape (for an old man); wife, son staff and supporters all say they have complete confidence; weather forecast is superb. No excuses left.

Some lovely and apparently hearfelt cards arrived today. Including the one photographed here full of mocking messages from the Leatherne Bottel team. Another £430 added to the pot since this morning which now brings the running total to £11,500. I did my first recorded radio interview today. Tomorrow we have one booked from another radio station to go out live at 4.30 pm. Not sure how 'live' I will be at that point in proceedings.

Early start in the morning with John and Jamie coming to load up the bikes at 7.30 then breakfast for the supporters, well wishers, workers, newspaper peeps and Sir John Madejski, the guest of honour. Then at 9 am off I go. Waiting to see who turns up to do the first mile or two with me. I know Charles and Truffle are going to tag along. Then it's 11 days of self examination. 'You'll be fine' I keep hearing. I just need to find a quiet hour somehow to convince myself.

All of a sudden I feel very lonely. An alien emotion to me. I wonder what other new emotions I will experience between here and my beloved Chablis?

Time will out.

Wish me luck

John xx

5 Days to Go.........

Saturday 2nd April 2011


10,066,170 training metres run

£10,720 in the charity pot

5 weeks without Chablis or Pringles

Resting pulse 38

5 more sleeps
5 more runs
1 more chiropractic
1 more massage and
111 hours of stress and fretting to doomsday....

Much of the past 2 weeks (when not working that is) has been spent plotting the route and planning the stops. Which proved a much more challenging task than expected. Accommodation along the rural stretches in France is thin on the ground to say the least. Three days at home were spent alternately poring over French walking maps and trawling the French accommodation web sites. A comprimise has now been reached which will hopefully satisfy the largely conflicting requirements of a scenic but reasonably direct route and some comfortable beds at the end of each day.

Logistical support is now all in place. John & Jamie - 2 local running friends - are doing the first two days on bikes. Charles's godfather Uncle Paul is meeting me on the North Downs during the third day then Julia will (hopefully) be catching up with me the evening of the fourth day in Dover. Then just the two of us meandering through France. The one with the brains by car - the idiot on foot.

I completed my last long training run 2 weeks ago - 60km on a beautiful crisp Saturday morning. The first half very comfortably along the river to Henley where I enjoyed a tuna sandwich and a bottle of water before making the same mistake I have made before and heading away into the hills without any means of rehydrating. It was another 28km before I finally staggered into a pub in Great Haseley at which point I discovered - rather embarrasingly - that I couldn't actually speak. Ordering two pints of orange and lemonade by means of mime is not as easy as you might think.

In my defence this time I didn't realise either that Oxfordshire would be this hilly or that there would be no means of obtaining liquid. Maybe I just didn't give it enough forethought because in hindsight the map was quite explicit. Lots of tiny contours crammed together; CHILTERN HILLS in huge capital letters across the map and no sign of any villages through which to pass. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and all that. I'll have support with fluids en route to France so dehydration is hopefully one problem for which I will have made adequate contingency.

Last week saw my last 'medium' run - my regular 20km monday morning run along the Trent in Nottingham. Comfortable enough if you discount the dogs. Chased by two and then phsyically attacked by the third.

'He's just playing' his mistress said.

'Madam. He's bitten my hand and my leg and has just shredded my brand new running strides. If I hadn't kicked him in the nuts he would have shredded me as well. That is not playing that is attempted murder'.

I paraphrase of course but I don't exaggerate.

The eposide did make me consider what might happen if a similar event took place in rural France so we are trying to track down dog deterring sprays. Huge thanks to Sally & Alan Dickinson of Von Wolf Kennels for donating the spray that may turn out to be a lifesaver!!

Good friend Wendy (who along with Julia, Uncle Paul & his partner Jo, Charles and myself completes the rather ad hoc organsing committee), has taken it upon herself to drum up some publicity. Not without a certain amount of success. The Henley Standard ran a quarter page as did the Nottingham Evening Post. Sir John Madejski is coming down on Thursday to start the escapade (on condition we provide him with a klaxon) and hopefully the local press and radio will be covering proceedings.

As I type this the aforementioned Wendy is in ToysRus with a tin bucket and picture board collecting from unsuspecting shoppers.

All of which is helping push us to the brink of the £11,000 fund raising target. Hopefully the charities will consider this a worthwhile contribution. I certainly consider it sufficient to eliminate failure as a possible outcome.

Time will tell.......