LITTLE MISS GIGGLES AND HER FIRST EXPERIENCE AT THE GREAT NORTH RUN!
This was the first time I'd been to the Great North Run and I was really looking forward to it. I've run the Flora London Marathon a few times with my friends - Little Miss Sunshine, Little Miss Naughty, Mr Bump, Mr Happy and, especially, Mr Tickle. He's my best friend and he is really experienced at this kind of thing. I always feel protected when I run with him - it must be those long arms. The crowd love him and it's not just the kids - the ladies love him and are always asking for a tickle. Sometimes, I feel a bit sad though because they don't shout out my name that much. People don't know me so well and that's why I've travelled to Newcastle - to raise my profile a bit!
We were really lucky on race day as the sun was shining and although it was a bit hot, it was a huge improvement on the day before when it had rained all day. The man who was going to help me was moaning to his mates that it was too hot but I had a word we him and he shut up pretty soon. At 10.40am we were off. 47,000 people heading from Newcastle to South Shields more than 13 miles away!
I had decided to run with Paula Radcliffe, but it took me 20 minutes to get over the start line and, by then, she was past the four mile mark. It might be difficult for me to catch her.
The crowds were amazing and although they kept calling me a Mr Man I was happy that they were supporting me.
We went over the Tyne Bridge at the two mile mark which was a real highlight for all of us. There were four of my friends running - Mr Happy, Mr Bump, Little Miss Sunshine and, of course, the man in orange - Mr Tickle. His arms were working overtime, tickling anybody he could get his hands on. He was running a bit slowly and I got bored waiting for him and decided to go off on my own.
At 5 miles, with crowds lining the course, I sprinted past Little Miss Sunshine to great applause and headed after the other two boys who I knew were a bit ahead by now.
Between 6 and 11 miles the course was a bit dull but the crowd were fantastic. I was feeling good now and although I was a bit hot I overtook hundreds of people. I'm a bit wider than your average runner and I kept bumping into people. When they turned around to see who was knocking into them they got a real fright!
At about 11 miles I could see the coast - only a couple of miles to go. The man carrying me told me he had a sore head from I where I'd been knocking into him, but I knew he could run faster and he did - but only after we had a motivational chat!
Soon, we ran down a big hill and then had a mile along the sea front. The crowds were huge and were shouting out my name. Some of them got it right, but most of them didn't. I didn't mind though and milked the adulation. The finish was packed with people but soon I met my mate Dale from CHILDREN with LEUKAEMIA and he helped me get myself together as I'd got a bit emotional by then. I waited for the rest of the gang and we celebrated with some carrot cake and admired our medals!
What a day. The organisation was great, there were loads of water stops and the crowds supported me the whole way. Where can I go next?
