Sunday 11th June 2006, Edinburgh marathon takes place. I awake with a headache and feeling slightly ill; probably a little dehydration and a lot of nerves because I know I haven't done the proper training for running a marathon (a couple of half marathons and one long run in the previous 4 months is not the recommended preparation).

I grab a cup of tea and make a bagel with banana for breakfast. Unfortunately, my stomach won't allow me to eat more than one bite of the bagel so I make do with the cup of tea for breakfast. My girlfriend drives me into Edinburgh and we park on George Street, then walk down to the start of the race on Princes Street. On the drive through I have to ask my girlfriend to stop talking because my head is hurting so much. When we get to the start there's a wonderful festive atmosphere in the city centre. We see the elite runners that will run around 2hrs 10mins completing their warm ups (warm ups that would constitute a full workout for us mere mortals).

Looking around we see lots of happy faces and a few very nervous ones that look like they’re in over their heads (this instantly makes me feel a little better knowing I'm not the only one). The time to start is rapidly approaching so the runners gather in their time pens. Ever the optimist, I go into 2.30-3.30 pen. The runners waiting in the mile long queues for the toilets start to look really worried. You can see their faces contort in a mixture of missing the start of the race panic and exploding bladder sensation. I need the toilet myself but my headache is masking that sensation well enough for me not too bother going.

'The sun is shining, the weather is sweet'. Well it would be if you were sitting in a beer garden with a cold one but not so sweet if you're about to run 26.2 miles. The temperature is rising and the sun is beating down. I'm already regretting having shaved my head the night before. Mr Ron Hill takes over the microphone and counts down to start the race... and… we're off.

I run along Princes Street and up Lothian Road with no shin splints appearing which was quite a relief because I hadn't done any of the stretching routines I had talked about doing in the run up to the race (for me, not enough stretching = pain while running). The first five miles go by pretty quickly and without too much incident but by mile six the usual pain in my hip flexors appears. This was the very reason I'd promised myself I was going to do lots of stretching in the weeks approaching the run. But I never and the pain was here with twenty miles to go. The next 3 hours was pretty much hell. I’m presuming my headache was mostly nerves because it didn’t bother me too much once all the other pains kicked in. Throughout the run I constantly reprimanded myself for not preparing the way I know I should have. Amidst my thoughts of frustration, anger and self pity I try to convince myself that I should be enjoying the run, but these thoughts are quickly overwhelmed and I’m back in the land of pain.

Quite a few runners overtake me, but in the latter stages, I manage to overtake some of them. Saying that, most of the ones I pass have sun stroke and have collapsed or are about to collapse with heat exhaustion. Mile 24 and the guy running in front of me staggers to the left before his legs buckle. I manage to catch him and help him to sit down on the kerb. He looks at me and with the ‘thousand yard stare’. He doesn't have a clue where he is. Luckily a marshal is nearby and I shout for assistance before I continue with my own personal struggle into the penultimate mile.

Really in need of a drink now but all the water stations are behind me. Just want this to be over, energy levels are really low, wishing I had managed to eat something for breakfast in the morning. I see a guy at the side of the road handing out jelly sweets. I remember people saying that this was commonplace in distance events and they made a difference to energy levels when ones body is this depleted. So I gratefully take the jelly baby and start chomping. Unfortunately, the lack of saliva in my mouth made it really quite difficult to swallow and as it got stuck in my throat, for a split second I thought I was going to choke (mental note - don't try and eat anything when the inside of your mouth feels like sandpaper and you don't have a drink to wash it down). Death by jelly baby 1/2 mile from finish line; what a headline that would have been.

The cheers from the crowd down the home straight helped me lean forward a little which increased my momentum towards the finish line. Only problem was I couldn't really control any of the muscles in my legs so stopping was a bit of a problem. Having finally stopped, getting started again to walk over to the goodies section was even more of an issue. I crossed the line with the clock showing 3 hours, 35 minutes. After the race I went home had an ice bath which helped a little. For the next few days I staggered about wincing in pain laughing at myself every time I would go off on a tangent and bang into a wall or a piece of furniture. Balance itself is relatively difficult without muscle control in your legs, and climbing a set of stairs is unbelievably challenging. The only good thing is; you know the pain will ease up soon.

If you are thinking about entering a marathon this year, my advice (learnt the hard way) is:

• Find an appropriate running routine and stick to it.
• Build up slowly and put the miles in.
• Make sure you follow a stretching programme for improved flexibility.
• Build up your carbohydrate reserve on the days prior to the race.
• Stay as hydrated as possible (AND)
• Enjoy the great event.

Best of luck to you all!