Races I have taken part in:

Best full marathon - (Leicester Marathon, November 2001) 107th (3:50:23)
Race notes: a hilly course and a cold, wet day made for tricky conditions. Good start to the race, from Mallory Park circuit. I ran the first seven miles quite slowly with Eve Taylor, who was running in her first half-marathon. Then I sped up in the middle section and hung on somehow at the end. The organisation was very good, but an isolated course meant that few people were out to cheer us on. I was delighted with my time.

Best half marathon - (Gaddesby Sunflower Half Marathon, June 2002) 30th (1:38:42)
I went off pretty fast, and just managed to keep it going. It was a hot day, and the course was hilly. Good support and race organisation made for an enjoyable race. I celebrated with a pint afterwards; probably not a very good idea!

Best 10K - (Victoria Park Races, Leicester, November 2001) 42nd (38:34)
The course was over several tortuous laps of the park. Only gentle hills to contend with and good support.

Other Marathons
Nottingham Marathon (September 2001) 353rd (3:55:18, timed by chip in my shoe)
The route had to be changed because of foot and mouth, which meant that instead of going through the beautiful scenery of Wootton Park, we followed a main road instead. Very good support from people along the fairly hilly course.

Nottingham Marathon (September 2002) (4:00:02) - Killer section around the National Watersports Centre - where a looped track meant that you could see people who were 4 miles ahead of you! Good fun again this year.

London Marathon (April 2001) 10854th (4:10:36)
My first ever marathon. A flat course, with the only difficulty being the enormous number of competitors. A cool day - good conditions for running. However, I really struggled towards the end of the race and despite a great atmosphere, I did not enjoy the race as much as I might have done.

Potteries Marathon, Stoke-On-Trent (June 2002) (4:00)
Very hilly race on a hot day. Brilliant support throughout the race - a fantastic atmosphere. Excellent race organisation. I set off too fast, miling at 7:30 pace and so struggled in the middle of the race. However, I managed to recover a little by 19 miles, and made up some time. A very friendly event - highly recommended.
Potteries Marathon (June 2003) (5:27)
Even hotter than last year, this time I elected to collect for charity along the course. Big thank you to the kind person in the card shop who let me change £20's worth of loose change into a note to make my bucket lighter, and to Santa Claus, obviously in training for the North Pole marathon. His wife was going round in a car emptying his bucket and she kindly emptied mine too. As a result of the generosity of the people of Stoke, I raised nearly £100 on the day.

Wolverhampton Marathon (September 2003) (4:19)
A flattish course, and good conditions for running because of the 9:30 start. I went off too fast though, running the first half in 1:45 and paid for this after the 18 mile mark, when my legs felt like lead.
Other half-marathons
2001 Adidas Breakfast Run, Kingston-Upon-Thames (13.5m) (March) 247th (1:42:43)
2002 Wycombe Half Marathon (July 14th) 413th (1:52:02) A fast course, but a very hot day. I was collecting for charity as I went around, so getting into a rhythm was difficult. I really enjoyed the race. It was very satisfying when people gave me their change. Good support in parts of the course. Excellent job done by the race organisers. I raised £48 for the NSPCC on the day. Thanks to Lee and Tracey for their support!
2003 Gaddesby Half Marathon (1:42:24) 4 minutes slower than last year - but I had done less training.
1996 Great Scottish Run (1:54)

Other 10Ks
2002 Waterworks Valley 10K, Jersey (August) 41:10 A really tough course - I was quite pleased with my time.