idea how my body was going to cope with this for although I'd done a 12 mile jog with Dave 4 weeks ago I'd injured my back the following day and I was still not clear of the tonsillitis that I'd had for a couple of weeks, so was therefore hoping I had some residual fitness from the months of training I'd done previously.

The run down towards the Tyne Bridge was very atmospheric with chants echoing from the underpass walls and crowds cheering us on from every overpass. It came as rather a pleasant surprise as we passed the 1 mile marker, not too bad so far, perhaps I might make it after all! It was a bit of a shock to emerge into brilliant sunshine as we approached the bridge and I gave myself the excuse of admiring the view as I slowed to a walk for a while but I soon felt a little irked by the number of people streaming past me and speeded up again. Whenever I started to flag I looked around at some of the people running along with me and reminded myself that this was probably just as hard for them. The camaraderie was infectious, I engaged in lots of good humoured banter about my butterfly wings, though was often mistaken for a fairy (prompting some interesting propositions!) and I didn't have much breath going spare to explain that the Lupus logo is a butterfly!

As I jogged along the Felling Bypass, reflecting that as I grew up near here I'd never dreamed that I'd one day run along it, I began to worry that the second mile seemed interminable, so was amazed when we passed the 4 mile mark (no wonder my orienteering is so bad!). Crowds lining the route were cheering us on, we applauded several bands serenading us along the route, and I had to wave to many children who shouted 'Hello fairy'!! The first drinks point at 6 miles was a very welcome sight, the sun was still shining and I was seriously hot by now but looking at my watch I was amazed by how well I was doing, mostly running with occasional walks uphill , and nearly halfway there!

At around 8 miles we began the uphill slog from the John Dobson roundabout and my legs decided to call it quits. I could still hobble but running even a few steps was agony, my knees had become inflamed (a common occurance with Lupus) as I'd feared, but I was doing so well I couldn't stop now. I downed anti-inflammatories, a  painkiller, some glucose and some water and carried on hobbling as fast as I could up the hill. (Good job I wasn't drug-tested!) It got easier again after a while and I bantered with some of the crowd  on the way into Marsden then we crested a rise and there was the sea ahead of us! A huge grin nearly split my face at that point and when I looked at my watch I couldn't believe it, I'd only been going for nearly 2 and a half hours and I was nearly there! But no-one was expecting me for over an hour yet, there'd be no family at the finish to cheer me in or take a photo to prove I'd done it! I got out the mobile I was carrying for this very purpose and rang Dave who I knew must have finished about an hour ago, but could only get through to his messaging service and so left a garbled message to get to the finish fast. I kept redialing as I jogged all the way along the sea-front, but to no avail and suddenly realised I was being funnelled into the finish. I looked up at the banner time above me, 2.51 (I later discounted the 6 mins it had taken me to cross the start line), good grief, if I'd not had my training so badly interrupted I'd only have been hoping to do 3 hours! Euphoria carried me on down the funnel system to collect my 'goodies' bag (some disappointment that there were no small T-shirts left, the medium is like a dress on me!) and then totter back to the van to surprise everyone (they had, unfortunately, gone off looking for me by now), but it was great to see their looks of amazement when we did meet up.

Dave had a good run too, his target had been 90 mins but he just went over with 91, he'll have to make sure he gets more sleep during the previous week to beat it next year! Will I be running again next year? Try and stop me, it ranks among the most exhilarating experiences of my life and the memories of my first ever road race will warm me and keep me going through the bad spells for a long time to come.

Joan Chapman, 55 Elmete Drive, Roundhay, Leeds LS8 2LA   0113 26559176