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

Nick & Bob returned to Bristol City today, invited by City to attend the pre season friendly with Southampton and take a collection before and after the match. Assisted ably by Julie & Amanda Hayward, Lauren (Amanda’s friend), Brian Hislop, Martyn Daviss and Ian Collins, they passed amongst the fans of both clubs and collected close to 500. The weather was not as generous, it poured and everyone was soaked to the bone within minutes of arriving at the ground – and that was before they got out of the cars!

The match was entertaining and if Bristol had not had two goals disallowed they may have embarrassed Southampton who came away 2 – 1 winners.

In the morning Nick & Bob had put in a quick half marathon before the dash back to Bristol to keep the forward momentum. Ian the driver had is work cut out getting them to the ground with the M5 being blocked by heavy holiday traffic.

Balancing the two main objectives of the project, 1. Raising 250,000 & 2. Running from Lands End to John O’Groats. Normally these two are synergistic but occasionally the need to rest in the afternoon and get an early night in order to be able to do another marathon the next day conflicts with the need to attend fund raising events. They cope by realising that completing the run without raising any monies to support Podge would be a fruitless exercise, and with that clearly in their minds they accept the late night will just mean additional tiredness will accompany them the next day like a heavy weight tied to each leg. They moan about it in the evening and throughout the next day while they grit their teeth and finish the marathon as normal — well ok a bit slower than normal!