Liverpool Half Marathon - Sunday 27th March 2011

Done!!  Finished in a time of 2 hours 40 minutes, which ain't bad for a gorilla!  There's a link to the video here 

It was a truly memorable day, but I'd like to share with you one particular story that I think is truly amazing:

I'll try to do this justice.

The last 'thousands of people' race I did was with my dad and sister, years ago, the 2002 London Marathon. Carla, my dad and I ran the whole distance together. Running a marathon is hard in itself, but it's even harder to stick together because you want to do things at your own pace. Even though it was over 9 years ago, I still remember

that things got quieter and quieter between us in the last 8 miles or so.  No matter how hard you train for a marathon, you have your own thought processes to go through in the last miles.  'Why on earth am I doing this?' is a classic.

I vividly remember that with about 7 miles to go, we were overtaken by a blind man and his guide (yes overtaken) . I didn't know it at the time but the brave gentleman was called James Hughes and his guide's name was John Courtney. I looked at my dad. We were both severely humbled and raw emotion surged through us. If a blind guy can do this quicker than us, then we should just keep on keeping on and try our best right until the end. I didn't know it at the time but the brave gentleman was called James Hughes and his guide's name was John Courtney.

On Sunday morning in Liverpool I was getting myself ready to set off for the start of the Half Marathon in my gorilla suit. It was 9 years since the London Marathon, my last run that I did where thousands were taking part.  It was ten minutes to go. I was anxious. Nerves were really settling in. I turned around to walk to the back of the pack....

There were James and John at the back of the crowd, ready to start the Liverpool Half Marathon.

I got talking to them. It turns out John is James's foster parent. James was a Barnardos child. He is blind and hasn't ever spoken. James was told when he was a child that he wouldn't be able to do anything. He has since ran 46 marathons and 75 half marathons.

John said he was about to pray and asked me if I'd join them. Of course I wanted to. John prayed (I'm not sure I'll be able to this prayer justice):

'The sky is blue. Lord, James has never been able to see anything or speak to anyone. Lord, he has to carry this burden everyday, and he carries it so well. Thank you Lord for a full purse. Thank you for the things that we have.'

John said it was a prayer that he wrote that he prays at the start of every race that they run.

Truly inspiring.