Iron Man

Yesterday I received a phone call from Jonny who was looking for sponsors for the Iron Man he is doing on Sunday August 8th in Nottingham. The charity he has chosen to support is Overseas Anaesthesia Fund - Ruth's idea - and you can contribute by visiting the JustGiving website. Quite an undertaking when you think about it and even when you don't think about it - stepping into the unknown. Years ago, while I was at college, Emile Zatopek, Olympic gold medal winner in 5000m, 10000m and marathon (I think it was the first marathon he had ever run), all at the same games, said that if you wanted to run then you should run a mile, but if you wanted a new experience in life then you should run a marathon. On this scale, an Iron Man should take you into a different plane. He's done plenty of training, hopefully not too much, but it is still probably going to be the hardest thing he has ever done. Becky and James, Mum and I are going down to watch and offer encouragement. It is, however, a difficult event to spectate. In the 12-14 hours he hopes to complete it in, we might get to see him half a dozen times, if we stay to the end, as he passes by about every two hours.