So I don’t even know how to begin putting this news down in print, but, in simple terms, the best way to sum it up is in this phrase: ‘She said yes!!’. Now before anyone gets carried away with the permutations or connotations of that statement, we are talking marathons here, and specifically the TCS New York Marathon 2019!

As per two posts ago, I have had this burning (in fact it was in flames 100 feet high!!) desire to do the New York Marathon later this year. This in turn was prompted by me being inspired by a certain someone who has done a few marathons herself, and also my belief that I could perhaps do one too. So, having asked her if she would join me in New York in November, and you now knowing the answer to the question like I do, then it is on!!

So this is how it made me feel 🙂

So having got the nod :), I’ve been in touch with (the so far amazingly great) 209 Events, who hold an ITO (International Tour Operator) licence to get people into the run. The condition of this is that you buy (as a minimum) flights through them too. The actual entry for the run itself is a pretty hefty £420 per person, but at this point I’m really not focussed on the cost at all. This is after all a trip of a lifetime, an adventure perhaps to top them all, and that means I just want it to happen really badly.

209 Events are run by a guy called Mike Gratton, who it turns out won the London Marathon in 1983, in a then British record of 2 hours and 9 minutes. They’ve been really helpful, responsive and informative so far, and so they got my vote when it came to booking. So yesterday was a day of booking flights and hotels and getting entries done etc. The result of all that is that we are in! Whilst the 3rd November feels still a long way away (168 days away in fact :O) I know it will fly by. I intend to make the most of the whole thing from start to finish.

More to follow in due course, but I needed to record this for posterity and for all time, so I can remember this time and this day!!