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Looks horrific, first reports say that people have "lost legs". Right at the Finish Line. Can't imagine what it must have been like.

Hurrah! Finally back online, didn't get back til Wednesday evening and it's been hectic since then hence why I'm just posting now! Have attempted to catch up but there's 50+ pages since last Sunday.....!

What an amazing trip! I can't break it all down as it'll take forever and I'm sure I'd just be repeating what others have said over and over again. Highlights for me;

* The expo, I honestly must have eaten my weight in free PowerBars, sod paying £2 a pop, just nick all the samples!

* Breakfast run; a lovely morning and a nice little sightseeing trot.

* Raceday:

Had a tight calf pretty much from the off which gave me a bit of grief with my shins for the first 15K, but to be fair it probably did me a favour as it stopped me from going out too quick. I never really struggled too much and was seemingly fighting more of a mental battle than a physical one for the last 10K or so.

I loved all the stuff along the way and took a lot more in that I had in previous marathons and the 30Kish barrier seemed to come round pretty quickly. It was at that point that I knew, barring a major disaster, I could keep the pace to get in under my target 3:10. Tried a couple of times to push the pace but cramp was setting in which limited my movement somewhat.

The finish: WOW! The home-straight was proper 'never-forget' stuff, and was absolutely delighted in roll in at 3:05:50. I was meeting the girlfriend up near the Arc, took me a good 40 minutes to get there due to the sheer volume of people and the fact I was trying to take it all in!

The next few hours were spent sprawled on the grass drinking Heineken and eating those massive hot-dogs; ACE! We got back to the apartment, had a quick shower then got straight back out on the ale. Attempted to make it to Cochorans but to be honest I was lethered by 8pm and didn't have a clue where we were!

* The following day consisted of 16 HOURS at Disneyland, God I love that place!

Well done to everyone who took part, and a big thank you for all the support, advice and laughs on here, it's been a pleasure!

Final run on home soil done and dusted; 10K with 8x100m sprints. Really chuffed with the way my trainings gone this year, havent missed a single scheduled session and (TOUCH WOOD) have been dead lucky with injuries, nothing more than a few niggles. Have managed to push myself mileage wise and clocked up a 'Month Mileage PB' of 401K in February. Just hoping all the graft pays off come Sunday.

We leave tonight to stay at a mates in Manchester before flying first thing in the morning, so it'll be my last outing on here before the big day, so just want to say a big GOOD LUCK to everyone, been great reading folk's stories over the last few months and some of the advice has been invaluable.

Will try and make the meet-up at the Arc on Sunday morning but failing that I'll deffo be in the boozer in the evening. If there's any change of plans can someone text me (my numbers of the list) and keep me informed!

Cheers all. God speed.

Another day of rest in the bag, and my daughter agreed to the cinema this morning, so managed to sit on my arse for an additional two hours through 'Tinkerbell And The Secret Of The Wings'.

Last run on home soil tomorrow, a steady 10K, then onwards across the channel.

James B 73 wrote (see)

My car broke down on the motorway this morning. Thankfully this did not happen on friday morning.

Anyone flying from Manchester on friday morning?

Aye we are James, on the Air France flight at 8.40am, you on the same one?

And I've just downloaded the RATP app, ace! Hopefully I won't need those 100 print-outs now...!