My marathon man

As I mentioned briefly in my 'Simply a Moment', on Sunday 17th March Ben ran the Reading Half Marathon. This was the second year for him and he was really hoping to beat his time from last year of 1 hour 21 minutes.

Well, for a start the weather was dreadful compared with last year! Last year it was sunny and fairly warm - this year it was tipping down with rain! Ben was running for Prostate Cancer and he had been sent a very useful plastic cape to wear before he set off.

As you may remember, I was not able to be in Reading with him as Penny and I had a prior engagement in Folkestone. Fortunately though, Hugh and Rachel (Ben's girlfriend) were there to cheer him on.

He did really well, finishing in 1 hour 23 minutes, just 2 minutes longer than last year, which considering the weather conditions was superb! The winner, a professional, also was 2 minutes slower than last year, so he was in good company!

It was raining so hard when he finished that Hugh was not able to take a photo of Ben at the Madjeski Stadium with his medal, but the rain had eased off by the time they returned to his flat, so here is my very tired and soggy son with his medal. We are really proud of him for running this again and also for raising nearly £200 for Prostate Cancer.