I decided way back in 1999 that if I was going to do a marathon, I wanted to do the London Marathon. My illustrious career as a Sunday League football player was coming to an end and it was clear that Arsenal had missed their chance to snatch me up

sustained while running in the icy weather in January.As 9.45am approached I felt excited but surprisingly level-headed as I knew I'd done everything I could to prepare. There I was, standing at the start of the Virgin London Marathon! It was on my list

of 4:30. I was using my Garmin to pace myself and that had me bang on 2:15 at the halfway mark although the official half marathon split was 2:16.58. I did start to tire a little around the halfway point and I think may have taken a sneaky little walk