Despicable Theft of Poppypug's Medal

So today I ran the Manchester 10K - After the horrific attack last Monday I thought it would be a subdued affair - it wasn't - it was respectful, positive and life affirming - a gesture of solidarity and unity.

I also got to meet the iconic, amazing and incredible Poppypug once again. She is just the most lovely person you could hope to meet. She had just completed her HM before I was due to start the 10K - I thought I could save myself a lot of bother by stealing her medal - claiming it was mine and lazing away the afternoon - it was not to be - charity workers rushed to her aid and I was told to go get my own medal - so I did with a time of 58.30 so I'm pretty chuffed as to be honest I was a bit nervous and thought I would do terribly badly. I nearly had to stop though - I'm not terribly used to running events and tried drinking a bottle of water which had been passed to me - it's difficult to drink when you're bouncing up and down so I tried squirting it - first time I missed and got myself in the eye - second time I kinda squirted too much and it went down the wrong way - I thought I was going to choke and nearly had to stop but all was well after much coughing and spluttering - how undignified! I want to thank Poppy and Aliboo for their messages of support also - they came at just the right time

Now Today - is exactly one year since I snapped my leg in a motorcycle accident I feel very lucky to be here and also very proud to have run in Manchester. They had a minutes silence for the victims of the atrocity during which I asked myself why I was there…

I Run...

To win,

And to learn to live with losing,

I run for my body,

I run for my mind,

I run to be strong,

I run to be calm,

I run for the challenge,

I run to be free,

I run because I can...

and nothing and nobody is going to stop me...

Run On