Number 5: Write to 5 people I admire

A relatively easy challenge then but one that caused me to put quite a lot of thought into as well as a couple of tears. Without wanting to sound like Sid Vicious, I have never really had any famous heroes as I always quite arrogantly thought I would be as good as them if I had a bit more luck. The five people I chose to write to aren't massive celebrities, but they have all affected my life in a positive way and made me think" why am I such a moaning arsehole".
In no particular order the people I wrote to were:

Jane Tomlinson's family
Bald blogger Adrian Sudburys parents
My Dad
My mate Ben
My Friend Andrew Marsh's parents

If you haven't heard of Jane Tomlinson then check out this link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Tomlinson

Or read one of her books-The Luxury of time or You Cant Take it with You. I know for a fact if I got cancer I would sit in a chair crying for about two months and then hate the world. I very much doubt I would have the courage to leave a legacy with the time I had left. This is exactly what Jane and the next person I wrote to " Adrian Sudbury/bald blogger" achieved.

If you have a spare hour at all over the weekend then visit:

http://baldyblog.freshblogs.co.uk/bone-marrow-donation/

And read the archives of Adrian's blog before he died. I was feeling a bit whiny one day and read it and then cried for about half an hour. Heroes.

Number three on my list was my Dad which is probably a bit of a cliche but fuck it. I owe this man everything including about eight million quid which he has never made me feel bad for. Thanks Dai.

I don't want to bang on about my friend Ben because he is a private guy and wouldn't appreciate it, but he went through a lot last year and came out the other side having taken it all on the chin. Nice one Benno.

Last but certainly not least I wrote to my friend Marshies parents Julian and Carole. Marshy was killed a couple of years ago in a tragic accident at the age of just twenty four. The dignity and bravery that Julian, Carole and Andrew's sister  Claire have shown since this awful news has been immense.They really are three very special people. I know this wont help them at all but I just wanted to let me know I was thinking of them.

No big photo needed for this challenge but the most rewarding one I have completed so far.

Number 10: Run the 100m in less than 15 seconds.

One thing I learnt at Finsbury park athletics track yesterday morning was that 100m is a lot longer than it look on the telly, or in childhood memories. As I stretched out my pasty hamstrings and looked at the finishing line in the distance it began to seem less and less of a good idea. The plan had been to make a race of it and get five or six of us down there so that I could comfortably finish in the middle. As it turned out due to late weekend trips, distance from finsbury park and enthusiasm for the task it left just myself and my younger, fitter former international rugby playing brother to race it out. At least both our girlfriends were there to watch as well as our Dad. I face the risk of losing pride, the respect of my lady, the challenge and my fathers love all in one fifteen second swoop!

With timing being the main issue,the problem was having to give Georgina the responsibility for stopping the watch as I crossed the line. I know myself that stopwatches can play up, if she was to press the wrong button I could be left with the appalling dilemma of having to turn around and do the sprint again. This could NOT happen. So it was down to the kindness of Erran a sprinter who was training down at the track and agreed to jog(yes jog!) along beside us and press stop as soon as my feet touched the line. With all this arranged there was nothing left to do but assume starting positions, try not to look at my brothers superior leg muscles and just give it everything I had, once.

Seeing as this is my blog and none of you were there I could say that I swept past my brother and waited for him to trundle home. As the picture above shows although  that wasn't the case, I was not in any means disgraced and most importantly I crossed the line in the time shown below:

That's right, make way Usain! If the Olympic champion should somehow become five seconds slower and start hanging around finsbury park on a morning that I didn't have a hangover...............I reckon I'd have him!
Challenge completed and the knees held on magnificently!Pic below of the sprinters post race!

Thanks again to Tim Naylor for getting up on a Saturday and sprinting despite having a cup final to play later. oh yeah and also for easing off a bit at the end.Cheers bruv!

Biting off too much....

Ello, Just wanted to update in case it appeared I had given up on the whole thing and moved to a small cottage in dorset to see out my days. Had a big weekend planned on Saturday as I was due to be attempting my marathon. However two weeks ago disaster struck as I was slogging through the fifth mile of a training run and my knee completely gave up. It was a harsh reminder of two things:
1) I have shown scant respect for how hard it actually is to train for a marathon. I figured if pensioners can run them dressed as Polar Bears then I should be alright.I barely got past twelve miles without shattering my joints.
2) I am actually getting near the age when some people have to retire from football forever. I could push on and have a crack this weekend but would possibly have to add number 31 to my list as: Have corrective knee surgery.
So that means that knees allowing I'm due to be hitting finsbury park athletic track this saturday for my 100m sprint.Im looking to get in under fifteen seconds and was feeling quietly confident but would now except 14.99 seconds just to get it done. Got a few of the lads involved to push on the pace and possibly carry me the two miles home as my knee caps have slid off.
So hopefully after some rest and having bought a new pair of trainers( my old trainers were three years old and had no heels left. Apparently this is bad) I will live to see another long distance sprint.Will keep you posted on whether this happens in time to complete the challenge.If not suggestions accepted here for a replacement one!