Giants Head Marathon: 1 Naked Farmer, 27.5 miles & 1 Enormous Todger

1 giant air mattress. 1 tiny tent bedroom. 1 comfy person (me: on mattress). 1 squashed person (Liz: UNDER mattress).  

2 night time dark toilet trips required. Of course bladder didn’t make this known until was in pyjamas and tucked up warmly in sleeping bag.  2 wellies put on over PJ clad legs and 1 portaloo visited. 

1 dead GPS watch battery at start line = 1 sprint back to tent where other watch was retrieved from boot of the car ...

1 Proposal at start line. Not to any of us. Acceptances: also 1. 

3 happy girls running the hills: Me, Angela, Liz turned into 4 happy girls when we spotted Leila who I’d met at TP100.

1 Naked farmer in 1 tin bathtub ringing 1 bell. Who apparently got stung on his farmer bits (1) by a horse fly (1).

4 watermelons eaten. In slices. Each. Approximate. 

77 photos taken. Yes really. 

3 pints of cider = 1 early night.

2 refills of 2 litre water bladder in running pack. May be related to number of night wees.

1 massive chalk giant on hill. 1 massive club. 0 items of clothing on giant. 

10 hills. All MASSIVE.

1 Love Station ... 12 bottles of champers, multiple glasses of cider and 0 schnapps left by the time us dawdlers at the back got there.

1 race t-shirt with a picture of a naked giant and his massive club on the back. 1 husband asking “You didn’t wear that shirt in public did you?”

Cerne Abbas Giant (source)

1 enormous ice cream with 100s of 100s & 1000s sprinkled on top. And strawberry sauce.

1 hog roast eaten in 3 minutes.

1 barn dance.

27.5 extra value for money miles ... and 1 slightly over distance marathon.

6hrs 32 minutes ... Personal Worst Time = One of the MOST FUN MARATHONS!!

2016 race entry on Christmas list! 

9 Things I DIDN'T do at Stour Valley Marathon ...

• I DEFINITELY didn’t lose my race instructions within 3 minutes of receiving them. And only picking up the 1^st sheet of instructions, not the 2^nd. I don’t do things like this ... Lucky that.

• Did not get to keep my race number 85 as I’d entered the race 2 years on the trot.  Who likes things like that anyway?

• And I certainly didn’t get a very obvious tan line from my running watch which involved a white band but with tan lines in the strap holes. And a brown circle around each ankle from suntan where my socks didn’t quite meet my calf guards. I’m FAR too good with remembering sun cream for things like that. 

• Certainly DIDN’T catch up with old friends and make new friends on the way.

• Definitely didn’t stick to a strategy and finally realise that I don’t have to race every race.  Did not: Walk all the hills. Eat all the food. *Cough*

• Certainly didn’t receive a MASSIVE medal that I could use to beat Bling-Burglars to death with should they break into my house in the dead of night intent on stealing marathon medals.

• Did NOT get a massive plate of delicious food after the race that was included in the very reasonable (under £20!) race entry.

• Certainly didn’t immediately take shoes off after crossing the line, lie on the grass and cheer everyone in from a prone comfortable position next to the finishing line. And didn’t wait until the very end to cheer everyone in. (The people out there on the course the longest are the ones who are NAILS)

• And most certainly DID NOT go to the pub and dabble feet in the River Stour while drinking cider after all the finishers were in. Probably did not poison the fish in the river with my marathon toesies.

Lucky that ...