VOTE Shady_Ady

Best achievement:

Walking Lands End to John o'Groats to raise money for Association for International Cancer Research (AICR). 14 weeks of mainly rain.....and when we got to the finish in John o'Groats we found the owner of the infamous sign had the flu and wasn't getting the sign out for the rest of the week. We both wanted to cry!

Start:

Finish:

Wow! Those are some great photos and amazing experiences you've had.  I don't know what else could possibly be on your list, but is there anything you still dream to do? (Besides win this competition and run a sub 3:30 marathon of course! )

I would love to do NY marathon and I know you've said before you've done that.  Any tips on that race in particular?

Hey! Believe me, there’s plenty more on my list (I hope that doesn’t sound too greedy!).

I’d love to get my wife into running (like I said previously in this thread, she had a bad experience at the Nottingham Half Marathon a few years ago and she hasn’t ran since really). She has started going the gym now with some of her friends at work, so you never know. Up until then, whenever I would do for my long runs at the weekend, she would bake a cake……..so I think we are both benefitting from her recent decision!

I did my first ultra this year, and that would be something I’d love to do more of in the future, especially Comrades Marathon and Marathon des Sable (although the last I heard, this had a 3 year waiting list!). I’d also like to do a marathon in each continent……4 down, 3 to go! It seems whenever I tick a marathon or race off my wish-list, I replace it with another, so it never gets smaller….much to my wife’s despair!

For crowds and atmosphere, I still think NY Marathon has been my favourite (even if the crowd thought I’d misspelled my name ‘Ady’ and called me ‘Andy’ all the time!). The only tips I have, is to maybe fly in on the Friday, so you only have a day or two before the actual marathon (and sightsee afterwards). You might feel a little more jet-lagged, but as I’d flown in quite a few days earlier, I’d already had my fair share of American sized meal portions. I’m sure this made no difference in reality, but I remember before the start of the race this was playing on my conscience.

Why New York? It’s a good job you weren’t tempted this year to run it  

Talking of favourite marathons, what are other people's favourites?

Do you think a smaller marathon offers the same reward for first timers as doing one of the big 5?

In the UK a few of my friends have done the the beachy head marathon in Eastbourne ( seven sisters) its apparently one to tick off your list!!!......hard but pretty....surely that makes all the difference when your vomiting...!!...

Hey Mel.........I've heard other's say that too. Scenery makes all the difference when you have vomit dribbling down your chin! It means you can look off into the distance like a model catalogue pose and look over the awkward stares from the spectators!

Hi Shady, I loved reading your summery of the last week or so, what a good idea

Your pictures again are amazing. I have a picture of me as a child at both LE and JOG but we drove to them a couple of years apart. I would love to do what youve done. I think you could write a book on your adventures. You know what you would have to call it though...."i run so I can eat" or something along those lines

I will have a look out for that book born to run. I recently read a book a colleague bought me "what I talk about when I talk about running" which was also a good read, the history of Athens marathon in it is interesting.

Ooh an ultra! Wow! Which one did you do?

Hi Ace............I hope you manage to follow your goals and make it to New York, but don't rush the dream ....there's plenty of good books/ training material out there for those training for their first marathon (you did say you were just getting into runnig didn't you?). Try the beginners forum here, or just do a google search for courch to marathon, or something similar.

My first ultra was an experience. It was only 50km (only he says!), so just scraping in to the ultra bracket. I started off strongly, but made a couple of disastrous decisions.....first I took advantage of the free gels on offer at the aid stations.......and secondly......I took even better advantage of the Percy Pigs on offer at the aid stations.

I'd never used either of these during a race before and I had horrible stomach cramps for about 10 miles of the race. I couldn't keep any fluids down and kept vomitting. It cleared up with 10k to go and this last 10k didn't seem half as bad as I was expecting it to........definitely lessons learnt! 

Hi Sarah, thanks for your post.........haha........I like the title of the book..

.......I actually started to write a book after my time in Kenya. I wrote about 6 chapters and sent it off to literary agents. I had one really positive response who asked how much of the book I'd wrote? I lied and said I'd wrote everything in draft (I hadn't wrote any more than I'd sent). Unfortunately he then asked for the next two chapters for the next morning. 

I spent all night writing two chapters of pure turd, and never heard from him again. There's a lesson to be learnt somewhere in there!

Good luck tomorrow (or Thursday!)

RRR....it was the 50km Royal Parks Ultra in October that I ran.

I do like the thought of one day running much further than this, but the idea of running 100 mile races like Western States just makes the mind boggle.

Hats off to any that do this and I bow at the feet to those that finish Badwater and Sparthalon (150miles in 36 hours). 

For anyone interested in seeing what the Spartathlon is like, you should check out Fruitarian's video of the event below. It. Is. Insane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbLt4DmKXeM 

It's one of those things I say I'll do if I win the lottery and quit my job.......but then there's also a long list of other things I'd also do.......It is hope that one day I'll finish it, but it's hard to fit it in with my running and work as well. It's definitely a love of mine that keeps me on the straight and narrow.

Into the last 4 hours of voting now........good luck to everybody invovled....it's been a pleasure......and the 5 that are picked will be worth their weight in gold in spreading the tips they learn.

It's the final countdown! Dum-dum-dum-dum ... dum-dum-dum-dum-dum!

BOOOOOOM.........2 hours to go......and I'm entering the home straight very much like my marathon finishes...........zig-zagging, stumbling, cramping up, desperately needing a toilet break and turning into an emotional wreck!

What I'd do for a banana now and a Powerade {other energy drinks can also be accommodated} now!

.....or to mention sitting down in a corner for an hour or wanting to hug the nearest person (that could end with a very stern discipline hearing where I work!)

All the very best Shady_Ady. I've really enjoyed your sense of humour! You and Malcs have both really made me LOL a lot!!!! Thanks for all your comments on my blog page! May the best man win and I'll support you all the way xox CarroT

Ady - I've avoided posting on your thread as we're in the same group and I didn't want anyone to read anything into it - yes, I am that paranoid. So with minutes to go until voting closes I think it's safe now.

Just wanted to say it's been an honour and a pleasure. I wish you all the best going forward and hope we can continue to converse on matters of the most trivial nature for a long time to come . Good luck fella!