Added: 21-09-2010
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Bupa Great North Run and rivalry has been in the office air for months as both Matt and Will decided to compete in the half marathon again!
Last year Will completed the half marathon in just over two hours whilst Matt completed the Great Cumbrian half marathon in just under a couple of days! This time though, it was war as both were aiming to complete the Great North Run in under one hour 40 minutes!!!
They have both been training hard since last year in a bid to out-do each other, and hold the office bragging rights for at least another year (something Matt places huge importance on)! It hasn’t just been hard work for them though - the rest of the office has had to endure endless talk about strange iPhone apps, gruelling training schedules and even diet plans!
The morning of the 19th of September soon came around (a bit too quickly maybe for some), and up they got on a gloomy Sunday to join the other 54,000 runners and Ant and Dec at the starting line to run the 13.1 miles to South Shields.
Both lads set off at a brisk pace, dodging some of the many characters (there was a group of men in Morphsuits and one fella wearing nothing but a Borat mankini - good luck to him I say!), but as the miles racked up, it was Will who was feeling the better, and eventually he caught and passed Matt (I think this was just about at the 0.5 mile mark).
Will raced to the line and set a very good time of one hour, 37 minutes and 49 seconds meaning not only did he finish in 1812th place, but he also beat X Factor winner Joe McElderry to the finish line! Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Matt, who trailed in (tail between his legs) for a finishing time of one hour, 45 minutes and 41 seconds, leaving him in 4239th place (and well behind 400 ladies).
Everyone at LNOF is extremely proud of Matt and Will’s achievement and between them they managed to raise over £1000 for Cancer Research and Cystic Fibrosis.
Well done to both of you!
If you would like to donate, please click on the links below:
Will Johnson
Matt Mavir