Run Day 3 - Faversham to Dover

A Great Team Effort

A leisurely drive back to The Ship Inn at Faversham this morning with Dan being interviewed by Angela Lodge of BBC Essex on the way. Waiting for us at the starting line was Sam, Big Guns, Pezza, Guinness and Ken, assorted flatmates and football team pals who were planning to run a support relay. Little did they know that Dan had other plans – he wanted them all to run the full marathon distance!

TheY flew off at the gun like limping ostriches and Sandra and I drove into Faversham, past the famous Shepherd Neame Brewery to find a bank and caught up with the pack, just as they joined the road for Boughton under Bean and the hill to Dunkirk. As usual, Dan and Rob found the climb easy but Big Guns was already beginning to show signs of sleeping on the job and dropped behind with Rob keeping him company.

Sandra and Sam went ahead to meet us at Bridge and I joined Stephen in the support car to guide the runners around Canterbury. The ring road was busy and we turned back onto the Dover road and headed towards Bridge. A minor detour took us onto the slip road for the A2 but we quickly came off and headed down the hill, through Bridge and up to Higham Park where the motor home was waiting. Unfortunately, Adam (Guinness) was not there with the footballers mini-bus and he only caught up with us at Womenswold, another 4 miles further on. In the meantime, the main pack walking for 5 minutes every hour, collected more drink and went ‘off piste’, following the North Downs Way as it ran parallel to the A2.

However, when we met them again near Aylesham, they’d had enough of the footpaths and wanted the underfoot certainty of tarmac and we picked up the country lanes that meandered south-east towards Dover and the sea. Adam joined the runners and I took over in the mini-bus. After a few wrong turns we found ourselves on the Whitwell Road and Rob and Ken charged ahead to finish well in just over 4 hours 30 minutes with the others with Big Chris and his companion, Dan, at the rear in 4 hours 40 minutes.

A stretch and drink and we all piled into the minibus for the short drive to Tesco Extra, Dover, where Kirsty Day had prepared refreshments for the team and Sandra, Valerie (Rob’s mum), Sam and Brian from the Ashford Branch of LRF were collecting donations.

The verdict from Dan and Rob – ‘a better day than yesterday. It was good to listen to other people moaning and help them through, rather than thinking about our own aches and pains’. A brilliant team effort and wonderful support for the guys on the crucial third day.

Worryingly, Rob’s right ankle is swollen and very red – reminiscent of the cellulitis I developed last year – and we’re off to A&E to get it checked out. Tonight we’re back at the Dover East with Carol Roper and her team, where we started off from such a long time ago. Tomorrow, the channel – a ferry this time – and the first marathon in France.