Bob Hayward & Nick Baldock have now run 12 consecutive marathons out of the 34 it will take to get to John O’Groats from Lands End. This is all in aid of Podge the 13 year old boy who was so badly burnt in an attack last May.

Bob and Nick go to bed tonight under a very dramatic Wolverhampton sky, dark ominous clouds illuminated by the flash of static electricity from Nick shorts worn in error by Bob. Ian’s loving hand washed these very shorts only yesterday in a yellow bowl and matching yellow marigolds and now they lay discarded between the motor home and the Little Chef at Ivetsey Bank on the A5 near Wolverhampton.

As you can tell, euphoria has returned to the camp. After much therapy both runners are feeling less discomfort in their aching limbs as they cut a path through the Midlands. The patchwork quilt farmland of Somerset and Gloucestershire make way for the parklands and golf courses of the Midlands. Gone the dark stains from the industrial revolution when the phrase “The Black Country” was born, replaced by quaint, even pretty, residential areas, shopping malls and leisure facilities.

Sandra and her three children came to spend the day with them today. Well, I say spend the day with them, not quite, as they were on the road before she met Ian and the motor home at Hartlebury (not quite James and the giant peach — but close). In fact, from the time she arrived until 1.30pm they spent at most 30 minutes together. Then “Uncle Ian” cooked burgers and chips in limiting conditions. Not only was the result a child’s culinary delight it also increased the respect they have for their friend Tony who is serving his clients well, hour by hour, day by day, with little more space or equipment.

It was great to see Sandra, who kindly went shopping for them in search of inch wide Zinc Oxide tape and Friars Balsam — two of the remedies suggested by Stuart Nottingham along with foam wedges for their shoes. How hard can it be to acquire 1 inch wide Zinc Oxide? Four pharmacies — four...and then what did they get, yes, 1/2 inch wide tape!...What is the world coming too?

Today’s pace was one of the fastest and they completed the full marathon just before 1.30pm — unfortunately not before the heavens opened, soaked?, they thought Bob’s hair would never dry. Bob’s not saying that the incentive of seeing Sandra at the breaks increased Nick's strides per minute, let alone his heart rate, Nick’s not saying that the thought of the sweets and chocolates did a similar job for Bob but...even though the hills had returned (remember Always Another Hill) their respective appetites spurred them on.

Lynn Henry, their massage therapist, brought more than a portable table today, she also brought an electric vibrating massage tool. It looks like an extra large electric sander that “Handy Andy” would use on Changing Rooms and boy did it hit the spot! Thank you Lynn, can they play with it again tomorrow?

Tomorrow — talking of tomorrow, just when the people of Bristol thought it was safe, they make a return to that generous city to collect donations from the crowds at Asthenia Gate for the City — Southampton match, Go City Go! Unless of course you are a Southampton fan who wishes to make a donation and then of course it’s Go Dell Boy’s Go!