THEY DID IT! (Never in doubt....)

Well folks, sorry its a little late in getting posted, but I am pleased to announce that all four of our Crazy Ladies are Bona Fide running heroines - they took on the streets of London, and won! Of course, it was never in doubt......

On Saturday evening, the four ladies, Keith and myself ventured into the city to check in at a Hotel near St Pancras, where there was a large pre-match pep talk for the runners, and a bus to take them to the start in the morning.

Apparently the pep talk was very good (me and Keith were "forced" to stay in the bar), with all sorts of helpful tips, and when the chap said "If you normally drink a bit at weekends, then you don't need to completely abstain tonight - in fact one or two glasses will probably help you sleep", the girls didn't need a second invitation.
So, yes I can confirm that this picture shows the girls with glasses of champagne in hand as an aperitif, and yes I can confirm that they also managed to sink a bottle of Rioja with their bowls of pasta that night!


However, the ladies did then go straight to bed after dinner to make sure they were fresh for their 7.15 am pick up! Cue alarms going off at 10 to 6 am so they could all get their porridge in before finally putting their official race numbers on. I somehow managed to stumble downstairs to get a pic of them just before they got on the bus. (I then went straight back to bed in a typically "supportive husband" fashion).




They managed to look excited rather than nervous in the picture, which is great, although why Liz decided to pose with a Lucozade bottle between her legs and why Lisa was doing an impression of a US long haul trucker is anyone's guess!

So, off they went, and then a little later, off Keith and I (foolishly) decided to walk from St Pancras to Tower Bridge in honour of the girls' efforts. A slight distance misjudgement almost made us miss the race.....

I'm sure the ladies will want to tell you themselves about how amazing the support was, but suffice to say, it was clear from all the texts and phone calls we were getting that LOTS of people coming down to support - JD, Nads, Ed, Louise, Suzanne, Paula, Bins, Becky and all the rugby gang, and Jim and Kim, who were all running around the South Bank and then into Docklands; the Dunns and the Stocks who were in the Docklands area (and strongly deny they were anything to do with the Gas Leak); Roughly 9 of Liz's family who were at the NAS headquarters at the Holiday Inn at mile 14/22; Sue's family who had come down especially, Lisa's family were on the course somewhere too - and its at this point that I realize that there were far too many people for me to remember being there, let alone remember where they were.

So a massive thank you to everyone who was there, and a massive sorry to everyone I forgot. For my part, Captain Lewis and myself met up with Rhino, Shirt, Trina, Andy Thomas and Clara, and Mama and Papa West, just as a bar right next to Tower Bridge was opening. Imagine that....


So, we went out on to the Bridge just before mile 13, searching through the crowds to find our brave girls, and thanks to our special early warning system we were able to gauge when they would come through. That early warning system was a frankly ludicrous phone call from Siani not even remotely out of breath, and telling me they had passed 11 miles!

I have to say that when the girls came past us on the bridge they all looked ridiculously comfortable for 12 miles, as shown here, where Liz and Sue even found time to have an impromptu sing/dance off to some S-Club 7, in front of the Tower of London!

Ready? All together now......2,3,4, "Reach! For the stars...climb every mountain high and..."


Again, I'm sure the girls will want to tell you their own feelings about the crowds and the local support on the day, but it sounds like the people running around Docklands did a truly wonderful job of cheering and keeping them going. It seems that through military planning and amazing coordination (or possibly through extreme enthusiasm and luck!) we managed to have supporters chanting their names every couple of miles. Absolutely brilliant.


When we saw them again on Tower Hill at 23 miles, I thought they all looked in pretty good shape - all still smiling, if not running quite as fast, and definitely coping with the hailstones much better than some of the supporters (ie Me!)


After that, it was a mad, and frankly unsuccessful dash to try and see them on Birdcage Walk going towards the finish - I'm afraid the crowds around St James Park took their toll. I'm sure it was the very same crowds, however, who helped carry the girls home those last few hundred yards.


So, how did they get on? Brilliantly, actually. The girls all had to battle through the heavy crowds near the start, but got into their rhythm beautifully, and came home in pairs - Liz and Sue got home in 4hrs 45 mins, with Lisa and Sian (who were still recovering from their knee and hip problems) coming in soon after at 4hrs 54 mins.


So thats slower than Gordon Ramsay, but quicker than the Masai Warriors! Faster, and clearly more glamorous than the Page 3 girl who ran, and who looked understandably miserable limping through the hail at mile 23. And, of the running Wombles, I believe Orinoco overtook the girls, but they still managed to come in ahead of Great Uncle Bulgaria!


Special mention at this point should go out to the Ladies' friend and running mentor Liz, who managed to get round in a frankly insane 3hrs 6 mins. My legs hurt just imagining it!



We managed to meet the girls in the public area on Horseguards Parade soon after the finish - it was amazing to see them so buoyant and jubilant after such an effort, and I think everybody there was just bursting with pride and admiration as they proudly displayed their medals.


What a an effort, and what a day. The atmosphere was just incredible all around London, and the runners were just amazing, the girls, the elite athletes and all the people dressed up in heavy, uncomfortable or just plain embarrassing costumes to try and raise money. It was easy to see why this has become the biggest single fundraising event in the World.

And for us, of cours, the fun wasn't over yet, as we all headed back to St Albans for a post Marathon knees up. That is, however, another story....

Saracens - A pre-Marathon Interlude

Just a quick post (before we talk about the BIG day), to let you all know about a very pleasant interlude we took at Vicarage Road last week, managing to combine a day at the rugby with a bit of fundraising as well!

Witness this motley crew, as they lurk around the entrance to the ground - a positively villanous collection of St Albans ne'er do wells. AND at least three of them are Welsh....oh, and another one was Nick Turner.

The day started extremely well, with a fine breakfast Chez Lewis consisting of tea and Sue's finest Scottish Square Sausage Rolls - A truly rare delicacy perfect for Sunday mornings. The more hungover the better.

Shirt came up trumps by transporting us over to Watford in the Tabard Bus - massive thanks for that fella - and I managed to provide some fine Single Malt to fill up the crew's hip flasks - this was of course entirely necessary on medical grounds given the snow that was covering the ground that morning!

So, off we went to the game for an afternoon of fun and rugby. We managed to turn up on time, which is more than Ospreys did!

Shirt even displayed further creative skills by taking some action shots - even getting the very moment here when Jackson slotted another penalty for Sarries. Although given the size of this picture, perhaps we should run a spot the ball competition....

It was a fine win for Saracens in the end, and a difficult time for Messrs Lewis, Evans and, er, West (my brother, not me). It only got worse as Cardiff lost to Toulouse as we were tucking into Sunday roast at the Farriers Arms. Thank God the Cardiff football team won for some Welsh redemption!

So why post these details? Well firstly, cos it was lots of fun, secondly, because Shirt sent me lots of photos, and thirdly because despite it being a very gentle and impromptu fundraiser, we still managed to stick the best part of £200 in the ladies' charity funds....

Well done one and all! Roll on Munster in the semi final.....

A note of thanks from Siani D....

Despite my high risk training strategy of trips to the knee surgeon, physiotherapists, osteopath, and asthma nurse resulting in an 'alternative training' strategy of no running, the occasional drink (!), much limping and tears of frustration..... bizarrely enough I find myself about to embark on one of the biggest physical, mental and emotional challenges of my life.......sharing a pre-marathon hotel room with La Mase! Yikes - no pressure there then!

I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported me on the way - and of course to the fan club who are travelling into London tomorrow to see the sights....(that's us Crazy Ladies running - not the tourist attractions, naturally). Your emails, texts, messages of support/wonderment/derision/laughter/congratulations/offers of sponsorship have all been truly amazing - and have really confirmed what great friends you all really are.

Enough emotion....you'll all be pleased to know that tonight I persuaded the rest of the girls to finally join me on the last leg of MY pre-marathon training plan.....champagne followed by a rather juicy rioja to accompany double chocolate fudge cake and a divine cheese plate....say no more! Looking forward to strolling tomorrow and a snifter of port on the way round, for pain relief of course, and to catch up with you all at the end - as I have always said - death or glory!! XX

NO MORE SLEEPS!!!!

The last few months have been quite an adventure -I would like to think that I have learnt to drink less gin, not live like a student and stay out of trouble but alas not and all my claims of going on the wagon from mid February were as everyone expected a complete joke! Wine and cheese is good for you and that's that! This time tomorrow we will be very drunk, relieving the race and what brought us here and i am sure we will be quite gutted that its over.....yeah right!!

As we sat in the hotel bar tonight pondering on our reasons for running I got a call from Matt to tell me that my total was now up to £4950, significantly more than I ever thought I would raise. Looking at the recent entries I find one from Ann's family and also from Trina, both of whom were a major factor in me deciding to run for Breakthrough Breast Cancer and therefore a reminder of what its all about. I do hope that Ann is up there having a bloody good chuckle tomorrow morning as i stagger through the streets of London although I hope her time keeping doesnt rub off as i want to finish before Wednesday! I will do Ann and Miss Trina proud in the bar tomorrow night....cheers ladies :)

Thanks to everyone who has sponsored and supported me. To Jamie and Keith the best fundraisers in the world and of course to my running/fashion buddies who have got me to the start line. To them I promise that I will not call the boredom card too early!!! Sweep stake on the first bowel movement anyone???

Mase xx

Spring Fashions in London!

Well, in the final run up to the big day, I thought I'd take this opportunity to show you all what the trendsetters are stepping out in this Spring!

April is a time when all designers are thinking about how to make the most of the gradually improving weather, in terms of their latest leisure wear lines.....

Or, in other words, since lots of you have expressed an interest in making your way into the Big Smoke to support the Crazy Ladies on their Sunday Fun Run, we decided it would be a good idea to get the girls to show off their respective running gear, so that everyone has a chance of spotting them in the crowds!

So lets start with Lisa and Siani, running for Breakthrough Breast Cancer Awareness. Based upon the Stade Francais RFC kit, we have bright pink vests, modelled beautifully by the ladies here. The colour is designed not only to be highly visible, but also to tone perfectly with sweaty red faces circa the 18 mile mark. Its bright, its bold, and it shouts "look at me! I'm a runner, AND I'm glamorous!"

Top marks to both ladies for their posing skills. A future series of Britains Next Top Model surely beckons both of them....

So, next up, what is the chic Scot around town wearing for this years Marathon? Well somehow, Sue has managed to get a very Scottish white and blue into her uniform for the Herts Community Foundation. The clean crisp white of the vest is surely the best way to show off a Celtic tan, with the light blue piping just enough to add a certain je ne sais quoi to the whole ensemble.

Again, please note the extremely sultry catalogue pose from our model here, complete with highly suspicious looking jar of vaseline in one hand......

Last but by no means least, lets see how the hip young things running for the National Autistic Society are dressing this year. Mint Green seems to be the colour in vogue for the NAS, clearly designed to stand out from the crowd, but also to present an exceptionally cool image. I'm sure Liz will be feeling cool calm and collected throughout the race with the aid of this gear.

Once again, our amateur model has risen to the occasion with her posing skills, with a beautiful smile, and a helpful, double handed reminder of what her name is!

So, ladies and gents, with this bit of high fashion editorial, hopefully everyone who is brave enough to come in to London and cheer our ladies on will know what to look for! I will try and send out some more e-mail confirmations of where to go on the big day, and it would be fab to see some of you down there.

On a personal note, can I just say how much I am enjoying these last couple of weeks of training, mainly because pasta and pizza are favourites of mine, and they currently form about 75% of mine and Liz's diets! Awesome. I may need to start hitting the road myself soon though.....

Take care one and all.

JW

The Ladies Get Emotional!

This afternoon Sue, Lisa and myself went to ExCel in Docklands to pick up our race numbers and timing chips.

All was calm until I entered the building when I began to shake uncontrollably (Sue was obviously feeling it too as she headed straight for the loo). I have never been so nervous in all my life, in one single moment the saying "we are running the marathon" turned from a dream into a reality.

I went up to my registration area and was greeted by a couple of really cheery people who gave me some positive words of encouragement and told me that the hard work was done and now all I had to do was enjoy it (neither had ever run the marathon). I was a little disappointed not to have be registering with the elite runners, but I have been led to believe that the numbers start at 38000 so my 38235 must mean I am special!!!

Once registered we were guided towards a wall covered in messages, a lady approached with pen and paper and asked us to write down our reasons for running the marathon. Without thinking I wrote "I got drunk at my own wedding and agreed to run the marathon" - quite true although there is also the issue of raising lots of money for The National Autistic Society - a charity close to my heart. Lisa and Sue took more time over their messages and as soon as I read them I was in tears - yes, the emotions had started to take hold.

I felt compelled to read a few more message on the wall but soon found it all too emotional. So many people running for so many worthy charities, all with their own stories and motivations. I realised then how proud I was to be part of this wonderful event and very privileged to be sharing the experience with some good friends (Yes, I was in floods of tears - both then and now)!

I looked at Sue, my crying buddy and sure enough she hadn't let me down - she too was in tears. Lisa helped us through this moment by suggesting that we did some retail therapy - so off we trotted to buy the customary T-Shirt and some "gel" packs.

This whole journey has been a very emotional experience for me and it is now only 4 bedtimes until the day is upon us. Lets hope I can hold it together long enough to get across the finish line without losing to much vital water though tears!!

Hope to see lots of you on the day, either along the marathon route or joining us for a celebratory beer later at The Beehive. Thanks again to all of you for support up until now.

Liz x

7 More Sleeps to go

Well that is assuming we manage to sleep for the next 7 nights !!!

Who would have thought it eh - one week to go and we will actually be running the London Marathon - that sunny day, wine and a general conversation when the plan was orignially hatched now seem such a long time ago. The first route that we trained on - twice round a 1.5 mile circuit from the gym to where we are now, hopefully ready to tackle the 26.2miles that London will present us with next sunday. I don't think I actually believed we would get this far and I am now so excited about next week but also very nervous as well.

We will try and keep you up to speed, no pun intended, on how things go this week in the run up or run down !

Obviously we are now at the "tapering" stage, where we should be cutting down on our milage and the speed we run at. Unfortunately on our last long run yesterday, planned for circa 5 / 6 miles, I managed to take Liz, Lisa and myself on a really lovely scenic run through beautiful Hertfordshire countryside. It was a long time, circa 6 years, since I had done this route and underestimated quite how long it was - so returned to chez Lewis 1 hour 45 minutes after we left -oops , that was not the plan. The three of us were all feeling quite lethargic yesterday with heavy legs so think rest is now needed. Lisa has had her hip "put back in" this week, so she was really feeling the pain from that - not helped by the rather chilly nip in the air on the day we also decided to try out our running vests with no other long sleeved tops underneath them - glad we tried it yesterday and think they may be going back on for next week. I also dispensed with my trusty woolly tights that I run in under my shorts - not comfortable at all so they will be back in place for next week along with my just about holding together cashmere socks - no blisters for me to date so far with that combo so plan to stick with what has worked so far. No one will ever mistake me for a serious, proper runner as no aerodynamic, go faster leggings for me !

Back to the important stuff, the remaining training plan for this week is two x 3 mile runs on tuesday and thursday and that is it.

Focus should now be on rest and balanced nutrition - haven't got the food part off to a flying start this week though. 18 of us gathered at the Lewis household this morning for brekkie of rolls on sausage before we all piled over to Watford for the Saracens vs Ospreys game - if anyone has ever grilled square sausage and has seen the amount of fat that comes off of them then you know this is not the healthiest breakfast possible - Glasgow is not coronary heart disease city of Europe for no reason you know. It does make a great breakfast sandwich though!

Many thanks to Liz for sorting out all of the tickets for this game and to Shirty for borrowing the Tabard minibus to transport everyone over - also to Jamie for supplying the whisky / whisky mac for the hipflasks and to Keith for co-ordinating today and keeping everyone topped up with tea / coffee over breakfast. This "event" was done as a bit of a fundraiser for our charities but I think everyone will agree that it was a great morning /afternoon. Ok the Welsh supporters may not have been too happy with the final result but it was a good game and well done to Saracens for their 1st semi final place in the Heinekin cup and their first sellout game. Also well done to both teams for turning out some fine looking lads and for putting an Argintina rugby team beside us - happy days all round !!

The boys had a great journey back over to St Albans and went off for a sunday roast and to watch the second quarter final - Lisa, Liz, Nicky and I had decided to go by car, rather than in the minibus and took at least 40 minutes to get out of the car park watching some fantastic examples of carpark rage going on during this time. Hint for the future, if Lisa Mason gives you THAT stare, don't even think about trying to pull out in front of her cos it is sooo not happening....

We have had some piccies taken of us in our running vests and these will be posting up on the blog over the coming week so you will know what to look out for if you are going to be down in London next Sunday.

As I said at the start of today's post, who would have thought it???

Well, here we are, we have all achieved the fundraising targets for our charities and all we need to do now is get out there and run next sunday..........

At the risk of getting caught up in another one of my oscar speeches, I would just like to say that I genuinely do not believe that we would have got to where we are in our training preparations without the incredible support we have had.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE TO GET US TO WHERE WE ARE NOW AND FOR YOUR ON-GOING SUPPORT THAT WILL HELP TAKE US ROUND THE COURSE NEXT SUNDAY.

Lots of Love, the Crazy Ladeez xx

20 Miles - Easy now....

First of all, I should apologise for not having updated for a while - its been a busy couple of weeks....

However, I would now like everyone to know how close the ladies now are to achieving Marathon perfection! Sunday 16th March saw 3 of our 4 plucky girls (Sian is still recovering from injury at this point) attempt the biggest challenge of their training regime so far - a full 20 mile run organised by the Gade Valley Harriers in Hemel Hempstead.......

Its the same course as the 17 mile run they did a few weeks back - only a bit longer, obviously - and all the runners needed to do was turn up, pay a fiver, and line up with the other runners. They even provide you with tea and cake at the end of the run - as so glamourously demonstrated by Lisa in this picture!

I have to say, the weather on the day was absolutely atrocious, and probably added another 4 or 5 miles to the course....the poor runners had to try and dodge huge puddles all the way along the towpath part of the course, with the wind adding to the very real danger of falling into the canal!

They had to wade through waist deep mud across the fields (NB may be an exaggeration), and all in the face of driving rain.....

Still, they ploughed on like the brave soldiers they are, and all came home together somewhere around the 3 hours 40 minute mark. Fine work indeed. I should probably put out a special word for the supporters as well - particularly Liz's mum and dad, who with perfect timing, managed to pop up at three different points around the course.

Myself and Keith just about made it to the finish to cheer the girls home in a blanket sprint finish (sort of). Sorry for pointing this out, but I actually only just made it, having stepped off a plane from Jamaica earlier that morning! (I know, I'm sorry). Actually, the biting wind was a good thing for me, as it whistled around my trousers and helped to sooth my atrociously sunburnt legs......

I will not confirm or deny the rumours that the only reason the girls are smiling in this picture is that there was half a bottle of rum spread between their cups of tea. Still there is certainly some confidence showing in their faces....

The girls were so happy with their run, they then proceeded straight to the Spotted Bull for a Sunday Roast (very good), and at least 6 bottles of red! Obviously much refuelling was required - a lot of calories had been burnt.

Not long now till the big one, and hopefully all four of our girls will be smiling at the end of it......

See you all soon.

Jamie

Charity Pub Quiz! Come and join us.....

Ladies and gents, just a very quick entry today to say a quick good luck to the girls this weekend as they go for their biggest challenge yet - which is a 20 Mile training run around Hemel.

But also, it is an opportunity to tell everyone to come and see us for our Charity Pub Quiz! Details as follows......

Crazy Ladies Go Running Present

The Great Big Charity Pub Quiz

Thursday 20th March

The White Lion, St Albans

8.30pm Start

Prizes! Spot Prizes! Charity Raffle!

£4 per person, teams of 4 or 5!

So come on down for some great causes and have a bit of a giggle, and maybe win some prizes.....as always ALL the proceeds will go towards the ladies 3 charities - Breakthrough Breast Cancer, The National Autistic Society, and The Herts Community Foundation.

Hopefully see you there. In the meantime, good luck to the ladies this weekend.

JW

Born to Run continued.....

Following the ladies' fantastic run in Hemel last weekend, the Associated Press of Hertfordshire have been searching for suitable photographic eveidence of their latest achievement in preparation for April 13th. Well finally, the wait is over, and we have the first exclusive pictures of the event.

Captured by Marathon fundraiser and consumate mobile phone photographer Keith Lewis, this image captures the essence of the girls' marathon effort.

Notice Sue grinning as she finishes a nice warm cup of tea, whilst the lyrics to "Born to Run" continue to roll around in her head. Liz looks ecstatic as she realizes that they've made it round in under 3 hours and she is actually still alive! Lisa on the other hand, made the mistake of running this race WITHOUT a hangover, and is clearly paying for it after the finish.

Definately a fantastic run from all concerned, and a great performance from the supporters too - Keith, myself, and Sian all continued to applaud the runners coming across the finish line despite the biting cold making our hands sore.....

Whilst we are digging out the photos by the way, I thought it would be good to share a more informal image of the ladies during a training "rest" period.

I believe the night in question was a Fundraising planning night, and it was clearly decided that a medicinal glass of wine would help the thought process...

Once again this fine photo was taken by Mr Lewis, and the slightly dazed grins are due to the fact that the girls had just realized that they only had seven weeks to go!

By the way, to the more observant of you who may be looking at the bottles on the table - I can confirm that there IS a bottle of Jose Cuervo in front of Mrs Lewis, and yes she did put the Eagles on the stereo as an accompaniement!

Next up for the four sporting beauties is the gruelling 20 mile warm up race once again around the Hemel course. With the prospect of more tea and cake at the end, I'm sure it will be another breeze for them, and let's face it - if you can run 20 miles, you're in good shape for the big one.

Please visit again to see how they are getting on, and to find out what other fun filled fundraising stuff is going on (full details of the Charity Pub Quiz - watch this space). In the meantime, good luck girls, and take care one and all.

Born to Run.......

This Bruce track has now become a firm favourite with me having dragged me through the closing stages of the Watford half marathon and then along the towpath to the finish of the Hemel 17 miler last sunday.

What an amazing sense of achievement finishing that one was for us - Not sure we knew what to expect on the day but it really didn't help me before the start when people were saying things like "this is so much more hilly than hemel" - where I had wheezed and puffed my way round or "I think this is harder than London itself" - very motivational - NOT !!

As always the first mile felt like four and whilst the route was beautiful, I did consider letting myself be knocked into the canal so I wouldn't have to run another 16 miles - lazy as always!

We broke the route into four 4 /5 mile training runs as thought that psychologically this might help a bit and also made the decision to power walk up any big hills to make sure we had enough left in us to complete the course- with the first 4 miles under our belt we headed off for the 9 mile water station, our next "marker" - I don't believe for a minute it was a reflection of the speed we were running at but by the time we got to it, they had run out of water - huge blow knowing that the next water station was at 13 miles - But, the lovely organisers got more water, drove after us and got us rehydrated at mile 10 and off we went again with a spring in our step - mile 13 came round very pleasantly and then we were into new territory, over 13 miles - there was a jelly baby stop at mile 14, great in theory but made my mouth very dry so I was bitching about that for the last 3 miles - funnily enough this also co-incided with when Liz decided it was time for some music - mmmm, writing this, I wonder if there was any correlation??
Mile 15 arrived, still good and then mile 16 - this is feeling really good and we are going to do this - then the lst half mile and my legs were just so bored and tight by then - just about every 4th step of the way I was saying to Liz "are we nearly there yet , please promise me it is just round the next corner",poor Liz, I am sure she will run faster on her own next time - anyway, that is when Mr Springstein came into his own at full volume and over the line we came to be greeted by Keith, Jamie, Siani and Lizzie (who had finished her run in 2hrs and 6 minutes - now that girl was born to run!!) - I should have mentioned earlier that Sian has had to step back her training just now as she has got some knee / hip problems going on but hopefully when she gets back from her holiday in March, the quack will have her back in her Asics before she knows it. We know how frustrated she is at not being out on the course with us, but huge respect for being there to meet us at the end.

Liz and I are becoming very emotional when we get to the end of each of these milestone training runs and I think Lisa is finding our behaviour very embarrassing, oh well, it can't be helped! I think it is fair to say that particular race was important to us to know if we were on track and I think we now feel that we are.

So what have we done following this run?? Well I think I have consumed my own body weight in food most days this week and I am really going to have to watch my portion control post April 13th or I am seriously going to be the size of a house!!!

We have done some lighter training sessions this week and this weekend we are all going to be in different parts of the country / world so no mega runs planned this weekend.

On the whole I would say that enthusiasm is still high - although we need to try and find a way of stoopping Lisa getting bored only 10 minutes into a run or it is going to be a very very long day in London - I think the girls are hoping that I will lose my voice and stop gabbling away the whole time - somethings you just can't help.

Right, going to love you and leave you for now as have a very different challenge to tackle today - myself and Jonathan, my 3 year old god son are off to London zoo for the day - I love him dearly but what do you think holds more challenge - 17 miles running or the two of us on train / tube and London zoo?? You decide ........ lots of love, Susan xxx

Halfway There - In Watford!

The training continues!


All four brave/crazy ladies (delete as appropriate) continued their punishing training routine last weekend by running the Watford Half Marathon on Sunday Morning.


What was publicized as a "gently undulating" course around the leafy Herts countryside was in reality a gruelling 13+ miles which was run over what seemed like the nastier parts of Snowdonia, into the face of howling winds to complete the misery!


A pretty extreme test of stamina and endurance - and that was just for the spectators.


Having said all of that, it has to be said that the ladies performed superbly on the day! Everyone made it round in one piece, in bang-on-target times of between 2:08 and 2:15. Another 13 miles on top of that should be no problem......


In fact here is a picture of Lisa and Liz, roughly half way round the course looking far too comfortable as they manage to both pose for the camera AND ruthlessly overtake a slightly more "senior" runner!


Massive thanks to everyone who came down to support on the day, and to cheer the girls home at the finish - Liz's Mum and Dad, Lisa's Mum, Dad and Sister, Matt (bravely delaying his journey back up North), Kim and Jim, the Dunns, and of course the hubbies, Keith and Jamie.


So pleased was everyone with this fine all round performance, that the ladies then took their fellas off for a fine slap up Sunday lunch where some of the good work was promptly undone by the cheeseboard and several bottles of red!


However, the relentless schedule continues, and the girls have been training as usual in the evenings this week and are aiming for a gentle (!) 12-14 miler on Saturday morning. Nice warm up before the drama of the second round of Six Nations matches unfolds....


More posts to follow as the quest continues, but in the meantime thanks again to one and all for your continued support of the Marathon Ladies!

Fred Hughes 10 Miler - the Aftermath!

Just thought everyone should see the aftermath of the ladies first big challenge! This is Lisa, Liz and Sue looking not-at-all-knackered after the Fred Hughes 10 mile race last weekend....

Everyone looks particularly sprightly I think you'll agree, and they all achieved their major objective - which was, of course, getting round the course in one piece!

In contrast, here is a picture of Siani looking not-at-all-knackered after taking a rest day, and going for a casual Sunday lunch with Shirt at the local Wetherspoons. (NB this might not be true, and the photo may not have actually been taken last Sunday).

Anyway, all the ladies are feeling good and up to the challenges ahead, so bring on the Watford half marathon next Sunday. Maybe see some of you there, but in the meantime take care one and all and thanks for your continuing support!

11 Weeks to go - not that we are counting !

Well the weeks are now starting to tick past and the thought of what we have signed up for is really starting to hit home !

Liz, Lisa and I did the Fred Hughes 10 mile race last weekend as part of our training and next weekend the four of us are entered for the Watford Half Marathon. It is so helpful that everyone tells us that it is a really hilly course - thanks folks, very motivating !

When we set out on this journey Liz and I talked about how it should be fun and that we should listen to our bodies and do what they felt comfortable with - I think that was my way of dressing up that if I wanted to walk then I would !!

What is fab for me is that I am getting to spend a fair amount of time with some great friends supporting each other in our drive for a common goal. Am I enjoying it? There are some runs I have enjoyed loads and others I have loathed! To date the highs have certainly outweighed the lows and long may that continue.

We hope that you will enjoy sharing the next 11 weeks with us as we take you through the ups and downs as we progress towards April the 13th - you may at times be exposed to more information than you really want - we had actually considered calling this the bowel blog and if you do want to know why, ask Lisa.......

I have just realised that tomorrow is the best running day of the week hurrah - Monday and our well earned rest day.

We are all trying so hard to achieve this amazing goal and we really couldn't do it without your support so thank you very much. At this point, we shall throw out our first thanks name check to our fantastic fundraising team of John (Daddy) West , Jamie, Liz's hubbie, West and Keith, my lovely husband,Lewis.

The support we are getting means so much to the four of us so thank you and please keep that support coming - it really does help drive us on, especially the vocal support at the training runs / races - on this point, mega thanks to Jamie and to Liz's mum and dad for being there at mile 6.5 last week of the Fred Hughes run. I know it did spur us on - even if I did walk as soon as I thought I was out of their sight!

If you do fancy some fresh air next sunday, then do please come over to Watford and give us a shout. Otherwise, pop back here later next Sunday /Monday for an update of how we all got on.

Now, as a training athlete I need my well earned beauty sleep so I shall bid you all goodnight and look forward to catching up soon. Keep well and happy, love Susan xx

Our Just giving websites

If anyone does wish to contribute through justgiving to any of the girls, their websites are detailed below :-

http://www.justgiving.com/susanlewis1

http://www.justgiving.com/masegoesrunning

http://www.justgiving.com/lizisrunning

http://www.justgiving.com/siani-does-the-marathon

Marathon Charity 6 Nations Sweepstake

Hello all!
As many of you may already know, there are 4 lovely, courageous and slightly unhinged St Albans ladies who have entered the London Marathon this year on April 13th - Sue Mac/Lewis, Lisa Mason, Liz West (orLangston to those of you who haven't seen her for a while) and Sian Davies.
They are running for a trio of very worthy Charities -Breakthrough Breast Cancer, Herts Community Trust and The National Autistic Society.
The first fundraising event for the girls is our Great Big Charity 6Nations Sweepstake.
There will of course be BIG prizes to be won and our fund raising committee are working on these as we speak! Cost - £5.00 per person and the money raised will be split equally between the charities.
What you need to do:Reply to lilisusi@live.co.uk, talk to Keith, Jamie or one of the ladies involved. Then pay up some money and answer the following questions:
1/. In the 2008 Championship, who will come:1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th.
2/. Will the winners complete a Grand Slam (Y/N)?
3/. What will the winners points difference be?
NB as a hint last years results were as follows -
1st France
2nd Ireland
3rd England
4th Italy
5th Wales
6th Scotland
No Grand Slam
France Points Diff + 69

First game is 2nd Feb, so hurry up and get involved!
Any questions, send us a reply, or again, speak to one of the girls....

Good luck

France England tickets charity auction

We have available a pair of tickets to the France England match in Paris on the 23 February 2008.
Obviously you will need to bid as much as possible in order to win.
The auction starts now and will finish at midnight 3 February 2008.
Just e-mail your bid to lilisusi@live.co.uk.
The highest bid will be posted every evening.
The winning bid will be announced on Monday 4 February 2008 and will be contacted by e-mail.

Good luck and start bidding