Ready for cheerleading

Thank you to all you lovely blippers who've been wishing me luck for tomorrow.

I feel very guilty at having to tell you this, but you need to cheer for Houblon tomorrow, as I've had to withdraw.

I'm now planning to go and meet the Shelter cheerleaders at Mile 12, hopefully in time to see the elites pass in a blur of amazing speed, and then to cheer Houblon (a couple of minutes after them...). Then I'll find somewhere to have a rest and then try to see him again at Mile 25, where there is another Shelter cheering point.

I'm thoroughly disappointed to have gone down with my first cold in ages, but I have now accepted that it is a cold and not just a taper sniffle. 15 mins is too far for me to walk today, so running is out of the question. It's very hard to treat the London Marathon just like any other race, but I've been running for long enough now to know that racing when ill is just plain stupid. And it is just another race, which I will be able to enter again next year.

So, go Houblon, enjoy the day :-)