But I Smile Anyway…

So, on Saturday the 22nd of September, my Tootie Frootie ladies and I shone!

We attempted the Cancer Research UK Shine Walk through London, a Half Marathon, to raise funds for further cancer-related research and to help sufferers and survivors.

Let’s be honest, I am not a preparer for these things… I went on a treadmill a few times and then my exercise bike, but nothing else…

I decided to dedicate this one to my sister-in-law’s mum (Mummo) and my Hubby’s uncle (Mammu) who are undergoing treatment at the moment.

Here we are, 7 eager walkers, loaded with our rucksacks and overnight luggage!

We arrived in London early and checked into our rather luxurious apartment for the night in Mayfair, no less! Shaw House, opposite the Bahamian Embassy with plaques for famous novelists and prime ministers of the past having lived there!

It was raining… and there was no avoiding that we were in for a wet evening, and possibly the whole night!

But at 5PM we set off on our adventure!

So, the atmosphere was pretty electric, even though it rained an awful lot at the beginning. We arrived a little earlier than expected and ate a fortifying burger and chips, then proceeded to find places to shelter until the actual start.

We even got some face painting done with UV crayons that required UV light for the full effects!

There was a large starting arena where the warm-ups, and excitement build up was taking place, before we were allowed to start.

The two hours were rather soggy, and we wondered whether we would be like drowned rats by the end, but thankfully the weather changed and it dried up.

There were several pit stops along the way, where various snacks were given out and water bottles, and there were plentiful Portaloos too. Thing is, no one wants to really use one, so we carried on along and found a Macdonalds! Though they were rather uncharitable, and one branch had totally shut it’s toilet area off, conveniently as the walkers were passing! We passed a smaller one, and waited half an hour to use their disabled loos as they had shut the main ones too! (Rather uncharitable, Maccy-D’s!)

But we were able to really appreciate the beautiful sites of London by night, passing St Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, The Globe Theatre, the London Eye, to name a few. Photo opportunities were plentiful too!

A few of us had really built up momentum, up until the toilet break fiasco, where that having to stop for a while meant our legs got a chance to start complaining… and that was 5 miles in, still 8 to go! I must admit to us popping a few ibuprofen pills to ward off the building aches! And we carried on, sometimes arms linked, sometimes separated, but we always got back together and continued through to the end.

It was great walking into the finish arena, as they personally announced every walker’s name, as they walked through, under the finish line, saying Thank You to each of us!

Medals got, official photos taken, it was fab!!! ( Though the watery hot choc was a bit of a disappointment! Still, can’t complain, it was free!)

Having started at 7.39pm, we finished at around 1.10am, (thought the Cancer Research message to me said 1.41am!) with one half an hour pitstop for toilet breaks, and really achy legs!

And here is my medal!

A quick cab ride home, where our cabbie was a trained London Tour guide, peppering our journey with lots of trivia about the sights we were passing, we arrived and toasted ourselves, in our pyjamas, the buzz not rubbing off for a while! Girlie talk meant sleep did not come until 5.30am, and we were awake before 9am.

Showers all round, then we ended up in Henry’s, Mayfair for a lovely celebratory lunch, before heading off home, achy, tired, and content!

And when I finally arrived home, the first thing I did was run a bath…

…before falling asleep for a couple of hours!

Oh, and you may wonder how we did with our fundraising… well, with Gift Aid added, we have raised over £2000!

And there may still be a few more donations to come. Even Cancer Research UK appreciated everything we did!

But there you go, my first official Half Marathon – done! And I feel fantastic! (Tired – but fantastic!)

Oh, and I took some pretty amazing photos of the sights we saw around the areas we walked, so a post will follow with those images soon!