Day 4 - Trispen to Tregolls
Wet weather gear required today! Jacqui laid on a fab breakfast : grapefruit, cereal, full english washed down with plenty of fresh brew...delice! Had to wait a little while before getting ready as not good to go running on a full stomach! Everything was in waterproof packaging for the deluge that was expected today. Nick and Jacqui wouldn't accept any payment at all which was really, really kind of them - all going to my fundraising! They mentioned that they've had a few 'end to enders' staying including a guy with a horse....he apparantely took 12 weeks but couldn't ride the horse much as his gear was too heavy!
Nice downhill to start with then through sleepy little villages and alongside the main A30. I was hoping to find a little coffee shop or internet cafe in Indian Queens (looked quite big on the map) but the only place I found was an Esso garage which seemed to be the local hang-out...not much happens down here! It had been raining steadily for about an hour and the wind was slap bang in my face - not pleasant. Then, like an oasis, a fish and chip shop turned up and no ordinary chippie - this one had been placed in the top 10 last year for the UK best chippies! Very popular but I decided just to get a hot choc to warm myself up - hadn't realised how cold my hands were until I tried to undo the zip on my backpack! Good job I got inside as the rain started to hammer down. Got chatting to a couple of guys who were confused with my clothing attire! Once I'd warmed up, the rain had virtually stopped and I was out running again when a guy in a car shouted out 'did I know where you can buy flowers?'...did he really think that someone running with a backpack and a large volume of maps draped round their neck knew where to buy flowers??...I apologised that no I didn't! I climbed up to the ramparts of an old iron-age fort at Castle-an-Dinas and at that point the sun decided to show it's face. Ran round the ramparts and then out the other side, being careful not to fall down any of the old mine shafts apparantely dotted around the field! It was now starting to get a bit wet and muddy underfoot and by the time I reached the road, my feet were drenched. Up to Tregonetha (another Tre!) and missed the footpath I'd planned, but still, managed to take the next one and then double back along the road. Decided not to go down the next footpath as it led straight across a newly ploughed field and I had visions of my feet suddenly weighing an extra tonne! Not one village shop did I pass all day nor any pubs...arrived at my next B&B a couple of hours earlier than my previous days and there wasn't anyone in....Lester was out on the farm but they had the foresight to put their mobile numbers on the front door! I'm staying at another farmhouse tonight called Tregolls (and another Tre!) and just polished off a huge tea of chicken casserole, veg, strawberry pavlova, cheese and biccies....good job I'm running all the calories off each day! Marilyn has kindly let me use her office pc to update the blog whilst I still remember what I've done today! I'd bruised my back on the 2nd day with the tube from my camel back constantly banging against my spine : this made it a little bit painful yesterday but much better today once I found out what the culprit was! Managed to get up quite a sprint downhill!!
Today's facts and figures : 17.6 miles with a 'moving' time of 3.51 and a 'stopped' of 1.19
Keep the comments coming - I'm loving reading them all so thanks to everyone who has taken the time to leave one for me...

Day 2 - Penzance to Helston
After a slap up breakfast I headed off down to the seafront. It had rained in the night but I was greeted with a lovely blue sky. Stopped off at Tesco to fill up on Lucozade for the day's journey and then set off in earnest. Although the tide was out, I just had to take a trip out to St Michael's Mount so hopped on board one of the shuttle ferrys then climbed the (very) steep cobbled hill up to the top. I've never actually been inside the building and it was quite impressive with fantastic views out over the bay from the back. I met an elderly couple on my way down - both were suffering from cancer and they wished me well on my endeavours. I then picked up a baguette for lunch and hit the coastal path proper (took me a little while to find the way down to the cliff but got there in the end!). Up and down, up and down I went and after a while found it was quicker to walk the ups! Each headland I went round gave a brand new view of what I still had to cover : I found some really quant derelict cottages with a whole load of pulleys and winches down to the beach and lots of 'chys' : not really sure what they were for but they were large square buildings with a huge chimney! Stopped for a cornish icecream on Praa Sands and soaked up a few rays! I'd been running for quite a few hours by the time I reached Porthleven and then saw a sign back to Penzance just 12 miles!! Still that was the easy road route, not the scenic clifftop one I traversed! Then more ups and downs to Helston - a couple of really really old cars passed me, one looking exceedingly like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! Helston itself was a steep one roaded town and they were in the middle of putting up the bunting for a floral festival next week. I was staying at The Wheal Dream pub about a mile out of Helston (up hill!). To be honest, it was a bit like the slaughted lamb pub in An American Werewolf in London! Everyone (the barman and 2 locals) looked at me very strangely when I came in dressed in my running clobber with leggings rolled over my knees (well, it had been sunny and warm!). The barman (Dave) had been expecting me hours ago and promptly asked me where my bike was!!? He was a bit shell-shocked when I said I was running! Still, I had a room all to myself so no snoring from others to keep me awake tonight! Took me a while to work out how to lock the door (handle had to be raised) and get the shower to work (pulley to get the hot water!) but apart from that, I was sorted...kettle on then! After a lovely shower, went for something to eat and 'scoffed' a huge roast beef and all the trimmings downed with a pint of lager shandy...yum! I was the only one in the restaurant but there were about 20 people next door waiting for an exciting folk guitar rendition...they were nice enough to let me pass my box round and I raised £26.24 with Dave rounding up to £30. In bed by 8.30! I know how to party!!

Total mileage today : 22.9 miles having 'moved' for 4h 53m and 'stopped' for 2h 44m. Total ascent 2,775' and max elevation 465'
Day 3 - Helston to Trispen (north of Truro)
Woke to rain but this soon cleared. Wasn't expecting a continental breakfast (where's all my energy going to come from!?). Headed off uphill (again!) on the main road but before long was jogging along peaceful country lanes with just sheep and cows for company. Somehow joined the wrong footpath and got a tad lost - asked for directions from a driver but he had no idea as he was on holiday! So, studied the map, retraced my steps and voila...sorted! Paths were a little muddy but negotiable. Came across a derelict engine house that looked very much like the 'chys' from yesterday! Back on the road and through a village called Carnekie...where is everybody? This is like the village of the dead - not a single person in sight, not even a car passing by!? Up another bridleway and stopped on top of a wall to phone John who reckons that all I do is walk and eat ice-cream! Lost the footpath again (they're not very well signposted here in Cornwall!) so just ran straight across the farmer's fields to the lane at the bottom, then got 'attacked' by the farm dogs for trespassing! (should improve their signposts then!). Then a lovely downhill track and across a meadow. Stopped for lunch in another 'slaughtered lamb' pub...what is it with everyone down here...do they not see many single white females dressed in running gear?? Had a fantastic view of a viaduct just before crossing the river then as I approached Playing Place a guy who had cycled LEJOG pressed £2 into my hand - made me very happy! I'm now in Truro library, increasing my internet cafe skills. Underneath a huge viaduct to join 'Quiet Lane' which took me all the way down to a small meandering stream through the village of Idless then through a lovely wood to Trispen. Stayed the night at a great farmhouse called Trevispian Vean (learning a bit of Cornish language - a chy is a wheal or engine house from the days of the tin and copper mining, Tre means farmhouse or homestead and Pen means headland!). This place was fantastic - owned by Nick and Jacqui who couldn't have been more accommodating. I was planning on going back into the village to the pub for a meal but they offered a meal of pheasant pie...how could I refuse!?

Total mileage for the day : 23.6 with a 'moving' time of 4.58 and 'stopped' of 2.30. In bed again by 8.30!

Let the adventure begin!

Very early start yesterday as John drove me to Salisbury station at 5.15 : bit of an emotional goodbye...for once I'm very pleased they invented mobile phones as at least we can stay in touch each day. Wave105 were airing my departure every half hour in the news! Train down to Newton Abbott and then changed to what was more akin to a shuttle train all the way to Penzance : loads of different travellers from shoppers, stunt bike riders and surfers. Sarah, Kevin, Will, Eddie and Max had gone down to Penzance Friday afternoon and it was really nice to see friendly faces when I disembarked. Lovely weather and set off straight for Lands End. I needed to register my attempt at the Lands End Hotel and add my comments into the 'endtoend' book. Then got my first stamp for my 'passport' which read 'challenge accepted' and had my obligatory photo taken at the signpost.

Will gave me a 26 second countdown (unsure why it was that long but everyone joined in for the last 10!) and then I was off - I continued to wave back at them for quite a while as I was running up and down the coastal path towards Sennen Cove. Loads of surfers in the sea and the view from the top of the sandy hill (which I ran up all the way I'm proud to say!) was stunning. Overall my route was quite well marked and easy to follow : I only went wrong once and that was because there was a temporary footpath change on the coastal path but I easily found my way back. I did fall over once but luckily this was in a field full of long grass and I simply couldn't see where I was putting my feet so didn't see the huge boulder that tripped me up..still, it was a soft landing and hopefully that's got all the falling over with! It seemed that round every corner there was something amazing, from a simple field of young cows that were peering with curiosity over a dry stone wall and made such a cute photo, to the ancient settlement of Cune Euny, stone wells in the middle of nowhere and a tree covered with hundreds of colourful ribbons (couldn't work out if this was a memorial or some sort of witchcraft!!?).
Little bit of roadwork at the end before crossing several fields to Penzance Youth Hostel for my first nights stay.
Now for the facts and figures for the first day : total mileage was 10.2 miles with 'moving time' of 2h01m and 'stopped' time (well, I did say I was there to see the sights as well as run!) of 42m36s. Total ascent was 1,323ft and maximum elevation was 593ft.
Kevin and Sarah picked me up in the evening and we went off for a meal and drink at a really nice family pub in Penzance to celebrate completing my first day! Kevin even arranged it so that the landlady kindly did a quick 'whipround' in the pub and collected a further £23.22 for my fundraising - all in coins unfortunately so I've asked Kevin if he would mind dropping that back home for me! Too much extra weight to carry!
Rained in the night but sun is already out so looking good for my 2nd day over the coastal path towards Helston. I'm loving it!!

I've been on the telly....I've been on the telly!! Went up to Paul's house this morning and met with the guys from Meridian. They then filmed me running up and down the roads and meeting with Paul and his family. Also had an interview for a mid-day slot but we had to do two takes as someone started up a brick grinder in a neighbouring house just before I was about to speak....maybe a candidate for outtake TV!!? Lots of general questions with Paul and his family (which after a while became general waffle as we'd run out of things to talk about!!) then I had another interview on my own and finally left the TV crew to interview Paul and get some film of him in his home environment. Very exciting!
Last day at work today and they called me up in front of the whole department to wish me good luck - don't like that at all and very embarrassing!!
Seen the results of the interview tonight and they're really good - I look quite the athlete sprinting down the road! Quite a few people have already commented that they've seen me so hope it gets Paul the publicity he deserves.
Sarah has already left for Penzance and this time tomorrow I'll have started my journey and completed the first leg. Her family are meeting me when the train arrives at Penzance and taking me down to Lands End (I think it's to make sure I actually start my challenge!).
So....all packed and ready for action! Bring it on!!

I'm gonna be on the telly....I'm gonna be on the telly....!! Meridian contacted me a couple of days ago and want to hear my story so the plan is that I run up and down the road for the camera and then do an interview on what I'm doing and why and suchlike, then they'll interview Paul and his mum and why having support from people like me is so important to maintain and improve his quality of life. Still waiting for BBC Solent to arrange a possible interview and only 2 1/2 days to go now!!
Had a bit of a scare the last day or so as I've not been able to obtain confirmation that my map packs have all arrived - 7 sent but I'd only been able to get confirmation from 4 of the accommodations that they'd arrived! I know one had been returned to the sorting office as unfortunately no-one had been around to sign for the package but joy.....it's been redelivered and I've spoken to the youth hostel who've confirmed receipt! Just one left now to confirm receipt and that's one less worry!

Party weekend!
Rushed off my feet from Friday night onwards. Went over to visit Paul and his family on Friday night and was overwhelmed at his positive attitude - he's a really happy guy and enjoys going out with his dog Button (who was trying to embarrass everyone with her antics with a teddy....I'll leave the rest to your imagination!). He's really appreciative of all the efforts being made to raise funds towards a specialist spa bath and continues to check on my progress via this blog.
Picked up the last few raffle prize donations on Saturday morning and posted all my route maps....I've had to trust Royal Mail Special Delivery to get them all to their correct destination as without these arriving, I'm going to be stuck!
Saturday night and it's party night....what a fantastic event it was. Most tickets were pre-sold but many friends turned up at the door of Sarah's huge 4-storey mansion near the Adventure Park at Hurn...we should have thought about charging for guided tours as these were really, really popular! Food and drink were in plentiful supply with many bringing some sort of edible or drinkable donation! Almost £400 of raffle tickets were sold on the night, everyone hoping to win one of the 45 or so prizes that had kindly been donated by various local businesses and individuals - all the kids (and some of the adults!) were eying up the 4' supersoft black teddy that I'd picked up just that morning from Sydenhams builders merchants (unsure why a DIY chain had a teddy to donate but it was gratefully received anyway!). I'd also put together 11 lots for the auction ranging from horseracing and keep-fit packages through to golf sessions and football memorabillia. Steve did a fantastic job on the tannoy and really got everyone involved. There were quite a few bidding battles going on, especially for the Chelsea FC football and rounds of golf at Dudsbury (Sarah's youngest son Max is an avid Chelsea fan and had his eye on the signed ball all night (excuse the pun!) - short of being on his knees and begging, Kevin couldn't ignore his son's puppy-dog eyes for too long and eventually won the coverted prize!).
The music room proved extremely popular and the sounds of drums and guitars continued well into the early hours of the morning. Sarah and Kevin's eldest son Will was playing requests on his guitar and I have no idea how little Max and Eddie managed to fall asleep on the sofa in the room next door whilst all this was going on!!
A fantastic total of £1,088.20 was raised through admission, raffle, auction and the odd donation which has now boosted the current total through the £5,000 barrier. There is £2,479.37 in the pot for Paul with £1,600.01 online (the extra penny came from Lilian who wanted to see her name at the top of the donation list!) and £1,015.00 offline for Cancer Research, making a huge running total of £5,094.38.
Just one working week to go now!

Look who I met at the marthon!

Then looking very pleased with myself after it's all over

WOW!! feel like I'm in a whirlwind now and there's no way down! Meant to post a blog on Friday night but as usual, hadn't got anything packed for the London marathon weekend so you'll just have to read everything in the one blog!
Travelled up to Fareham Friday night so that Jason Beck could interview me for Wave105 - he decided to do this outside to create more 'realism' and I had to pretend it was the morning of the marathon! Met Andy Jackson who was just going out for a quick ciggie and then when the interview was over, Andy decided he wanted me in the studio for a live take as well!! Although I was only on air for just over 2 minutes it was fantastic! Kate Weston and Andy are a terrific double act and it was so funny...Andy kindly sent me on a copy of it so I'll try to work out if I can add this to the blog.
Saturday, travelled upto London with Sue Evans and best mate Tricia. We met up with Dory and Michelle at the hotel then went off to the marathon Expo to register and have see how much free stuff we could pick up! Had our last carbo pasta meal and early to bed although didn't get to sleep much - that's about 3 nights running now so getting a bit tired.
Sunday dawned a lovely blue sky - perfect and not too chilly. All went to plan with the trains to Maze Hill then walked to Blackheath where Dory and I wished Sue good luck and the two of us went into the 'good for age' green start. We already knew exactly where Tricia would be cheering us on and made a bee-line to the celebrity corner and had photos taken with Ronan Keating who was also kind enough to sign our numbers! Made our day - didn't matter what happened in the marathon now!
There was a huge downpour after I'd run around 11 miles so got a bit chilly and feet were soaking wet but stopped raining an hour or so later. For the first time I actually saw the lead men running down The Highway, at 21/22 miles when I was going through 13/14. When I ran back through the other side there were still thousands going through halfway.
Question of positive brain bullying going along Embankment - my initial target was a sub 3.45 so that I could get another 'good for age' but having trained on a sub 3.30, if I reached that....well that would be the holy grail. I was definitely going to get the initial target so part of me was saying to ease back so it didn't hurt so much but then I bullied myself into sticking to it and seeing what happened....so I did! I'm sure they move that finish line further down the Mall each time....crossed it in 3.29.03 on my watch but hands so cold I couldn't push the stop button! Official time (drum roll please) 3.28.56......huge pb by 15 minutes!! I was sooooo proud of myself. Then was a little bit ill....!!
Met up with Tricia at the Cancer Research hospitality - they really look after you there even carrying all your bags! Couple of teas and coffees later I felt much better and decided to go for a massage....who should then walk in and pop up on the table beside me?? Ronan Keating!! Had a good chat - he was hoping for a sub 4 for his first marathon and achieved 3.59 so was ecstatic...
What a day!!

I'm getting a bit emotional now...contacted the news agency and they really want to tell my story but after I've finished so that they can do the full 'end to end' diary complete with my photos and then sell it to the highest bidder! And then I got a call from the radio station asking if I could possibly call in to see them before London in order to do an interview.....plus I've been stopped so many times at work today following the article about me in the internal bulletin : everyone either thinks I'm inspirational or completely crazy! I'm taking the latter in a positive manner! Does all this publicity mean that I'm a celebrity?
Loads of 'hits' to my justgiving site so I just have to keep raising the target figure...only did that yesterday and I've nearly reached the new goal already....keep it coming
Weather for Sunday's marathon is currently 13 degrees with showers - be nice if they stayed away for the duration of the race so that there will be somewhere dry to curl up afterwards! Hope it changes over the next day or so but at least the temperature will be good for running.

WOW!! Exciting news - arrived home from work today to a letter from a news agency asking if I would be interested in being interviewed for an article for a women's magazine.....would I?? absolutely! Don't want to start getting too excited but it's a real break-through on the advertising front. Have to call them tomorrow to get the full scoop so hope it's not going to be red-herring. My 'adventure' is also being publicised at work on the internal web tomorrow so my face is everywhere at the moment. I feel like quite a celebrity!!

So what on earth has happened with the weather?! Last weekend's Bournemouth Bay was held in lovely spring sunshine yet awoke this morning to a snow blizzard! Running has now really tapered ready for next weekend's London marathon. Ran every day last week but the 13 on Sunday was my longest distance. Raced in the Poole Runners Ladies 5k on Tuesday night and despite being a little windy in places, ran really well finishing in 11th place in a time of 21:12 - thrilled to set a new club record and therefore a pb - strangely enough another one I bettered by just one second!
Collected another 4 raffle / auction prizes yesterday and I have to admit that it's been amazing as to just how many businesses and representatives have been willing to help me out (but also how many just don't bother to answer emails and letters!). It's looking as though I will be able to have at least 5 auction lots and more than 25 raffle prizes which is fantastic.
On the fundraising side of things, this is going brilliantly. One of my neighbours popped round yesterday to say that they'd had a whip-round at work and presented me with a cheque for £100 for Cancer Research - it really does amaze me how many people will put their hand in their pockets to help.
Current pledges are : Paul £1,144 and Cancer Research £778 offline and £1,105.01 online (thanks to Lilli who bucked the trend and included an additional penny in her donation!) totalling£1,883.01 and a fantastic £3,027.01 overall - it's certainly a great feeling to move over the £3,000 mark as it seems only a few weeks ago that I hadn't even made it to the first grand....roll on the next one!

Official results are out and yipee, 1:35:18 means I did improve my pb by a whole second! Received an email from Paul Cole, racehorse trainer, yesterday offering me a morning on the gallops as a prize for the auction so having already had the same offer (plus breakfast!) from Nicky Henderson I can put these together with the national hunt racing badges at Newbury and flat at Salisbury for a couple of really cracking auction prizes at the party on 19 April (I might even have to go in disguise to try to bid for them myself!).
My story was in the Echo yesterday and took up half a page! Two pictures and a really good write up. Also phone Meridian and South Today and sent of the required emails so hopefully they'll be interested in my upcoming adventure....