Waddle like a Penguin, Walk Tall like an Olympian

So the big day arrived.... 9 months or so after musing the ideas of doing the Great North Run in memory of my uncle-in-law Martin Tyler, the day arrived.

06:00 - alarm went off a bit too early but we were staying about 30 miles from Newcastle and with expected crowds of 250,000 we thought it best to get up and at em early on.

07:00 - Holiday cottage packed away, kids fed, runner full of porridge and a banana

07:40 - Driving along the route of the run, it's eerily quiet, all the banners are up, all the mile markers are in the central reserve.  The excitement begins to build

07:50 - Ticket bought for the 4 mile trip from Heworth to Newcastle

08:05 - Decide to follow everyone else assuming that they are heading for the start.... a good call as they are

08:25 - Loitering about mingling with other runners, chatting to people, listening to the compare on the tannoy.  I really need the loo (again...)

09:00 - Baggage put onto the bus, the holding areas are getting busy and the toilet queues are building.

09:45 - one last loo stop before entering the starting pen.  Not been able to meet up with any of my other friends / relations who were running but never mind, the banter and joking in the holding pen is great.

10:05 - Wheelchair elite get their send off

10:25 - Ladies elite Start

10:40 - Our start and the red arrows.

11:15 - i run passed Ellie Simmonds and Mo Farah on the way to the end

Plenty of banter, high fiving, Fridge Man, jelly babies, music, cheering, did i mention the rain, ooh and water being given out by Dame Tanni Grey Thompson, a few aches, the last 2 miles are hurting, there's my family 200m from the end.....

13:14 - 13.1 miles down i cross the finish line seconds before the Red Arrows display team kick off

A very respectable 1 hour 59 minutes and 21 seconds, a personal best (well it was my first, so it was always going to be so!)

This was a great day but sad at the same time.  So many people were running in memory of loved ones, doing something helps keep their memory alive.
Thanks for reading, check out my previous blogs for a bit more history and if you want to sponsor me for the Great south Run ...... Just_Click_Here

A Huge thanks to the crew who supported me!  You guys rock :-)

Less than 2 week to go.... Should I hurt this much?

Hi there. Thanks for stopping by. This is the blog of Adrian Wightman who is currently in training for the Great north Run and the Great South Run to raise desparately needed funding for research into Encephalitis http://www.encephalitis.info/.

I’m hoping to run the 13.1miles of the Great North Run (16th Sept) in around 2 hours and the Great South Run (28th Oct) in around 1 hour 30 minutes.  i will be running in memory of my wife's uncle Martin Tyler who sadly died of a rare form of Encephalitis in December 2011.

In at least half of the cases of encephalitis, they do not know the cause; and accurate information on both the causes and the true incidence of encephalitis in the UK is not available and is urgently needed.

Martin had Voltage Gated Potassium Channel (VGKC) Antibodies Encephalitis, originally it was diagnosed as dementia in November 2010, as the early symptoms of this form of Encephalitis are very similar to types of dementia, however the presentation of dementia wasn’t standard and following further tests in March 2011 the diagnosis was changed to VGKC.

The Acute Neurology Unit (ANU) at Salford Royal Hospital tried many different treatments, unfortunately they were not successful. All we can hope is that the doctors have learnt more about this terrible disease through treating Martin.

If you would like to support me in this endeavour by sponsoring me, my just giving site is located ..... http://www.justgiving.com/adrian-wightman

I am "renting" spare space on my running T Shirt to try and get some corporate sponsorship. for £50 you could have your company logo professionally printed on my shirt. Many Thanks to Viz Biz Design, Wakefield for helping me with this (check out their site http://www.vizbizdesign.co.uk/ ) Email me wightmania@fsmail.net or tweet me https://twitter.com/wightmania if you are interested on being #ontheTee.



Thanks Adrian

http://www.encephalitis.info/