An achy legs and tired day.

Oops I looked myself out of the house this morning - I must have been more tired than I thought, but I do have a good excuse.

Yesterday was the marathon  - Myself, Colin and friend Sarah got up to see the first 5o clock of the day, and it was really cold, there had been a good frost.  The car never registered above 2 degrees C on the drive from home in Derbyshire to Sleaford, it was so frosty they'd even had the gritters  out that night in Lincolnshire, brrrrr  (and according to the locals of Lincolnshire the gritters are nowhere to be seen when its been snowing!)

Myself and Colin were running the 26mile challenge, while Sarah more sensibly opted for the 13 mile walk, and while we were all freezing waiting for the start, we were really fortunate with the weather, as it quickly turned into a glorious sunny day.

The route is beautiful; it starts at Lincoln Castle, with a run down the aptly named Steep Hill, before heading along a riverside path, and crossing various fields, through picturesque villages, and beautiful woodlands, heading to the finish at Sleaford Hub.  It was hard going underfoot, while Lincoln might be dead flat, the terrain was really bumpy with lots of tree roots, holes, and divots, and rutted fields to negotiate - we even got mildly lost once.  

Sarah beat us back, but we did manage to pick off a few runners and walkers along the way. 
While tough to do, the beautiful and changing scenery made the challenge of 26 miles fly by.  If you're interested in doing a 13 or 26 mile run or walk, we couldn't recommend this highly enough, everyone we chatted to was really friendly, and the Marshall's who organised it were brilliant, and we got a great Tee Shirt too (not bad for a tenner!)www.spiresandsteeples.com/Challenge