Four years ago, Neville Harris ran in the Windsor half-marathon on behalf of MDC. This year, after receiving an invite from his old friend Ed Warner (Chairman of UK Athletics) he decided to run for MDC again in the Great North Run.

"There is a sense of real achievement both physically and financially."

There is something about doing a sponsored run that inspires you. Firstly, it gets you through the uncomfortable training sessions when you really don’t want to do them. Secondly, it ensures you look after yourself in the run-up to the race – you just can’t NOT run. Finally, however you do, there is a sense of real achievement both physically and financially. Sometimes you even get a nice surprise!

Neville and Paula GNR 2007Through Ed, I had a “VIP” invitation which meant I spent Saturday evening rubbing shoulders with
two of the UK’s best-ever athletes, Steve Cram and Jonathan Edwards, at a private dinner – which MDC’s President Sue Barker also attended (sorry Sue - I should have said hello!) And even though I was craving a glass or two of red wine after a few days off I didn’t succumb to temptation! But the real treat came on Sunday.

Now, 35,000 people compete in the Great North Run and I was due to go off in Group E as I had estimated a time of 105 minutes. However, on the opposite site of the road from where the serious racers (like Paula Radcliffe) started was an area reserved for guests and VIPs (Steve McClaren, James Cracknell, Carol Vorderman for example) which was right on the start line. What a complete result! No argy-bargy or walking to the start but straight off - a fantastic treat!

For three miles, this of course meant that people were streaming past me and as I messed up my stopwatch I had no idea how fast I was running until mile 4. As it turned out, it was faster than planned but I just kept going on a beautiful sunny and cool day, supported by thousands of roadside spectators. As I got to the top of the hill after 11.5 miles and finally saw the sea I felt great – sort of! A surge downhill then a straight last mile and I crossed in 1:40:50 – where did that come from?

I changed into my new MDC T-shirt before lunch in a nice big tent and managed to grab Paula Radcliffe for the photo – even though she finished second she was all smiles and I was still too tired to smile! After a restorative glass or two of red wine over lunch (even athletes drink) I was determined to make it down to the MDC area in the Charity Village and there were loads of you! What a fantastic turnout! My only regret was not having one of the splendid leg massages on offer because I had one in London the next day and it was truly agonizing – clearly thumbs can be used as instruments of torture!

Now….what’s my next race?