Red pen 8min pacer - Thank You!

David Brooks 9

I spoke briefly to him right at start where he was an oasis of calm. He said to remember that if you have a bad mile, you can recover and then advised that he would do 1st half in 1:44 and second in 1:46. I said that I would be heading off a tad quicker and he may pick me up at 21 miles.

Sure enough that is exactly what happened and his presence really was very much appreciated; a few words of encouragement here and there were ideal and then suddenly we were going down the hill to Blackfriars Bridge and I overheard him telling another couple of runners that if they were still feeling 'ok' at this point, they would make 3:30. It was only at this point that I thought that I could do 3:30.

Again, a few words of encouragement along Embankment and I was able to grind it out for the last wee stretch with the threat of cramp ever present! Made it with 30s to spare

Thank you very much for your pacing.