Event 1: Ho Ho Hoooooooh no!

Ok so it has begun! A bit late posting this but it has taken Tommy and I a while to get our rears in gear and then this thing called Christmas got in the way and all computers were turned off for 2 weeks!

We started our 30B430 quest in the first week of December, at Old Deer Park in Richmond, on a rather chilly Sunday morning. We were joined by 2 other intrepid explorers in Zoe and El Mattador (Matt to everyone else).

So excited at embarking on this fantastic journey, Tommy and I decided to have a few celebratory drinks the evening before. All night we marveled at our greatness, safe in the knowledge the event that lay ahead in the morning, a humble 5k run dressed as santa, would be a gentle start to a tough road ahead.

A very sore head met us both in the morning, and on rousing the young Mathew he pushed past me, into the bathroom, and emptied his stomach into the basin. Apparently his preparation had been worse than ours! Thankfully one person was sensible and Zoe turned up bright eyed and bushy tailed (damn you).

Arriving at the event feeling very cold and very sorry for ourselves, we were met by, well, nothing, but a field full of children's rugby matches! Peering around the park we could just about make out a handful (60 or so) people all in red. Not as popular as the website made out we think!

We picked up our Santa suits, did a very lethargic warm up with the masses, joined the 'joggers' group and then the gun went (well I guy shouted go!).

The three laps did not go well. Not only were we being watched by some 10 year olds, laughing at our stupidity, but a large chunk of the runners went out the blocks like Usain Bolt. Clearly they had a different preparation programme to us. Also the suits we had been given were clearly not made for running, they were made for sleigh riding. As a result the trousers repeatedly fell down to your knees, which you didn't notice as you couldn't feeling them through the tracksuit bottoms underneath. The beard was rather tricky to breathe through without constantly having a mouthful of hair. Tommy resorted to wearing his around his chin for most of the run, making him look slightly armish.

With the finish line in sight Tommy and I thought it would be a great idea to do a sprint finish! It wasn't. In fact it brought us both very close to being sick.

Desperately in need water we hoped they had some waiting. They were out. All they were offering us was a mince pie! A MINCE PIE! Who they hell wants a mince pie after a run?

Overall we certainly learnt our lesson on pre event preparation, and will not make the same mistake again. It would have been a lot more fun had we not been hanging so much, and it was certainly the most festive thing I have ever done. We also raised a very small amount for the Princess Alice Hospice which made it worth while.

Big thank you to Matt and Zoe for joining us.