Day 1 - Westminster to Slough

On a normal day there's only one 4.45 in the day and it doesn't have a.m. after it!.  But today isn't a normal day.  Out of the house at 0530 - boy was it nippy around the knees at that time - and on the bus at 0630.  

We arrived in London just after 0930 the bus having crawled the last 10 miles, honestly we could have run faster.  Actually that's where this challenge started.  A couple of people on the bus from London to Cheltenham saying the could run faster than the bus out of London.  

A team photo in front of the Houses of Parliament and we were on our way.  

The W2C2 Team - Jez, Rachel, Scott and I along with Euan who joined us for today.  The rest of the team are raising funds for the mental health charity, MIND

By this time the weather had warmed up and it was pleasant running alongside the Thames in the sunshine, though the miles of tarmac and concrete paving were hard on the feet.

Pagoda at the Peace Park (sorry about the picture quality, taken on my phone)

Boat trip?  Maybe not today

Tweeting a progress report just before we left the Thames

Shortly before the half way point we met a couple of walkers heading into London.  We exchanged greetings and they asked us how far we were running.  Their reaction on being told 138 miles was "oh my giddy aunt, that's a long way"*

At the half way point we left the Thames and joined the Grand Union Canal.  At this point my phone decided it had had enough of Racedrone and unknown to me had shut it down, leaving it looking like I had been abandoned at Richmond.

Locks on the Grand Union Canal, the only point on the route where there is a noticeable ascent

It was at this point that the weather started to cloud over a little but it was still warm and dry.  It was only as we approached the turn onto the Slough branch that it started to rain.  

About 3 miles out of Slough we were met by Neil our support crew who had run out to meet us.  Not only that he'd checked us all into our hotel rooms first and carried our bags up to our rooms.  Now that's above and beyond what you expect from your support crew.

So I've now been revived by a hot shower and some food - just the start of replacing the estimated 3800 calories I've used today.  We're meeting shortly for dinner then it will be an early night in preparation for tomorrow's run.  


Total Distance:  28.44 miles
Elevation gained:  256 metres

*actually their reaction was to come out with an expletive that definitely isn't appropriate for a family friendly blog