The Lochaber marathon, well in few words - a lonely running experience, me, a hot road, gentle breeze, the white top of the Ben and my 8 minutes per mile timer beep........  what a race! I had it all planned, run at a pace for all 26 miles and finish around 3h 30, that was my ultimate ultimate goal!

I started running feeling ready and on a mission, my first 6 miles where gone in 45 minutes, then the battle to the first half - I got to the 13 miles turn in 1h 50m, I was about 5 minutes behind. Meanwhile, Pat, John and Storm would stop every 3-4 miles to keep me going : John would pass me some drinks and ask me stupid questions like : "how do I feel, or how good the weather was? Then if I would attempt to answer he would tell me "if you can still talk then f....mooooove! Meanwhile from the abuse inflicted from my lover, I would pass to the encouragements and cheers by my friend Pat, who I would find comfortably sitting in his deck chair with a cup of tea!

Got to the 20 miles mark at 3h05, six miles left and no chance to finish around 3h30. However determination did not leave me yet, infact extra support from heaven in the guise of Steve & Kirsty appearing in a silvery flashy car (that shows I was still conscious) shouting how wonderful I was doing. At this piont in a desperate bid to get me under the 3.50 mark, John nearly shouted he would marry me if ... (he confessed afterwards) instead he limited himself to blow me a kiss. At last, at 3.52 and a p.b. of 25 minutes, it was my turn to have a shot of the deck chair and a well deserved cup of tea before the mad dash for the last ferry.

Great running experience, unique support ( I recommend those two!) and a fantastic setting in the light of the Ben.

Well done to Kate who was first lady in 3h03, and Richard, who I met for the first time and who said to me before the start "I'll catch you later" and I said: " that sounds promising, will I be finishing before you?" Richard achieved his goal of under four hours, but I don't think he really meant to catch me up, but he did!