After months of training in Richmond Park with my fellow runners Doug Davidson and Andrew Etherington the day of the London Marathon finally dawns.  Five thirty am Sunday 16th April; my alarm clock spurs me into action.  I get up and eat my usual breakfast of muesli and toast, swilled down with coffee and orange juice, but supplement it with two bananas and a pint of water.

After all, you need a few calories and a lot of fluid on board if you have to run 26.2 miles that day!  My wife, Jane, drives me down to the station.  I catch the 6.30 train to Waterloo and then join a host of fellow marathon runners jostling to get on the specially laid-on trains to Blackheath.  The 7.10am arrives - standing room only.  I am relieved to see many other runners of my age, or even older!  Marathon running is obviously a mid-life crisis activity.

Unnerving though to overhear a group of rugged northerners talking about sub three hour times.  Not much fat on any of them I observe - and every one of them munching a banana.

We leave the train at Blackheath station and walk up the hill to the heath itself.  A glorious spring morning, everything is organised with military precision.  I put my post-ordeal clothes into a numbered bag which goes on a specified lorry.  I may collect it on Horseguards Parade (if I'm still alive!).

Between 7.30 and 8.30 the compound fills up with more and more fellow victims, - at last the order comes to move to the start positions.  How on earth can so many runners leave in an organised manner?  But it happens and after a slow walking start we are off - only 26 miles to go.

With 72 pubs open on the route, many with live music, and crowds lining the streets almost all the way, the atmosphere is very special, although for the first few miles I'm regretting that second banana!  I find myself running alongside a man dressed as Batman.  Together we overtake four runners decked out as a giant birthday cake!

The first 13 miles to Tower Bridge are real fun and as I cross I feel confident that I can finish.  At that point, if we were to turn left down the Embankment to Parliament Square, it would be a doddle.  But we turn right and head out to Canary Wharf.

On this section the route is two-way and we are faced with the rather demoralising sight of the hotshot runners racing back from Docklands at an incredible pace.  I grit my teeth and press on.  I know my family will be waiting for me at mile 17 and I'm already 20 minutes behind my target time.

The Docklands stretch is the toughest and my legs are beginning to protest severely, but my feet don't feel too bad.  The cobbles around the Tower of London don't help but it's a great feeling going under Tower Bridge for the second time (22 miles), and seeing Big Ben in the distance.  It looks a very long way off though!

The last four miles are completed in something of a haze - lots of runners by the wayside with blisters, cramp or blood pouring from their nipples (the constant rubbing of the shirt traumatises them).  At last, the finish line - 4 hours and 24 minutes. Aaargh, my legs!  Somebody gives me a medal and (oh no!) a banana.

Bodies everywhere - St. John's ambulance ladies offering to massage my legs.  My main concern is whether my two fellow runners Doug and Andrew - both of whom have undergone surgery for prostate cancer recently - have also completed the course in less than 4 hrs 30 minutes.  I call Jane on her mobile.  Great news - both are home (and dry!).

I limp painfully to the lorry, collect my dry clothes, and change thankfully, removing my shoes with difficulty as leg stiffness settles in.

Then out for a slap-up Sunday lunch with our 3 sets of families.  Celebrations, and not a few beers.  Together we have raised over £92,000 for The Prostate Research Campaign - the cheque will be presented at the annual luncheon at the Hilton on October 18th.

Next year's target is sub 4 hours for all three of us.  Anybody want to join us raising more money for the cause in 2001?  Volunteers please get in touch.  Application forms will be available from sports shops from this September.

Get your running shoes on!