Olympic torch chase

Day 193 Wednesday 11th July 14 miles : miles to date 1268.1

Today's little jaunt led to my Ernie Wise legs featuring on BBC news, along with the much nicer pins of my new found running chums Adrian Smith and Belinda Bradberry. The former had very kindly invited me to join them on part of the Edurancelife Real Relay, which is described on their website as;-

'' an exciting attempt to follow the entire route of the official Olympic Torch around the British Isles in one continuous non-stop journey, running every step of the way. Starting out from Land’s End at midnight on Monday 28 May, ten days behind the official Olympic Torch, the Real Relay will involve hundreds of runners from across the British Isles running through the day and night on an 8000 mile mission to reach London in time for the Olympic Games opening ceremony''

 Our leg started at just before 10am on the river in Bedford, where only days before the Olympic torch had been carried down the street which was packed with spectators. There were slightly fewer today ie none. On way to the start, I had walked passed one of the official torch runners who was still in his full white and gold torch running gear with his torch which they are allowed to keep. I decided not to ask him if he had been home in the last few days or had he missed the day and hadn't realised and was too late? A hidden photographer then gave a clue as to what he was doing. I was tempted to invite him down to our relay run but thought better of it.

  The lads on the earlier leg were ahead of schedule, which was no surprise as I know one of them is a sub three hour marathoner. I reassured Belinda and Adrian that I was very happy to make sure we took the full allotted time and wasn't looking to break any records. They ignored me and set off down the embankment like a couple of whippets. Within seconds we were in a torrential downpour and by the main bridge were totally sodden. Never the less, Belinda and I stoically kept our sunglasses on and tried to dodge the lamp posts as we couldn't see a thing. Yeah, but we looked cool. Or idiots in that downpour, not sure which?

 The route took us out of Bedford and eventually over to Henlow. Having gone through Cotton End we knew that the main road without any pavements was far to fast and dangerous, so we ever so slightly diverted and ran up my old mucker the John Bunyan trail, which runs parallel with the road and quite close to it without the traffic issues save the odd tractor. Having never met Belinda before, I took the opportunity to tell her about my blog and the preponderance of No.2 related stories, at which point an unexpected and unplanned little trump slipped out. It wasn't deliberate and I can but take it from the man upstairs that it was a sign that No.2 related stories must continue.

 We rejoined the road before Deadmans Cross and stayed on it, despite the safety of Rowney Warren woods to our right. Heck, is there any more fun to be had than running directly towards articulated lorries, on the side of a road with no pavement in the rain, carrying a relay torch and flag? No, I don't think so either but please don't try this at home folks, we are professionals.

 We entered Shefford, which I had last run through at 4.04am on Saturday the 26th May or thereabouts and then carried on to the handover in Henlow. The crowds still weren't out and we resigned ourselves to the lost fame and fortune, until Belinda mentioned we were going to be filmed by the BBC for the 6.30 London news. In truth, she had mentioned it at the start and I spent the entire run worrying about whether my hair was a mess. I needn't have bothered, as having watched the footage on the TV, I just look bald anyway. Belinda on the other hand, looked great with no Panda eyes (its a girl thing apparently connected to something called mascara or marscarponi or something) as did Adrian. The camera chap had us running up and down Henlow high street with the ''torch'' to get the right shoots. Given we had run fourteen miles and had been waiting for them to arrive for twenty minutes, the old bones didn't thank me for the extra effort. Infamy at last. Infamy, infamy, they've all got in for me. Frankie Howard circa 1974.

 Belinda gave a flawless interview at the end where Adrian and I weren't name checked and thanked for our support,sniff. The run wasn't of course about any of us as individuals and totally about be part of an amazing achievement that will end before the Olympic games start, despite setting off after the torch relay began. To be a small part of such a big endeavour was great, as were my great new running chums who simply melted away the miles. Tons of thanks to both for allowing me to come along and apologies again for waffling the entire way. As any reader of my blog can see, I'm very good at that...

 Right, I'm off to join Equity and go acting. Tarra loveies

Handing over the next chap