So race report. Got there nice and early and found perfect parking by the finish. Then had LONG wait until the start but did lots of people watching :) Lots of good costumes for the fun run that started before us...the kids in particular looked amazing...various fairy outfits and a Nintendo Mario. Had to suffer listening to the OH SO JOLLY warm up DJ..not what you need at 9am on a Sunday morning!
Saw lots of super hard looking runners on the way to the start line...one chap running bare feet and with no top on (mild swooning) ..one woman looked like Lara Croft...just an amazing figure...all hard runners had Ironman tattoos on their legs.
I decided to start just behind the 2 hr 15 min marker and, despite the high turnout of runners, it wasn't too bad really congestion wise. Didn't have to do THAT much darting around people and was able to get going on my ideal pace very quickly. It felt like I was running SO slowly though...I put that down to the fact that last week I did a 10K which was faster but I was well behaved and restrained myself and it paid off as I kept to the same pace mostly all the way round (apart from the end few miles but at least I didn't stop like last time!)
The route was BORING (but flat)...through housing estates and a few parks which was prettier. Saying that though there was support the whole way round with lots of kids doing high fives and a lovely old couple who'd set out there own drinks table with squash :) The official drinks tables were FAB with bottles with sports tops...really well done (compared to last week...grumble grumble). The weather and wind were fine and I coped really well with no aching legs at all (all those runs to Cambridge paid off).
The end was crazy...got over the line and they are taking the chip off..then handing you medal...then a bag...then "what t-shirt do you want" etc etc...brain was spinning! Bag contents report: Mens Running magazine (!), various leaflets, drink, gel, t-shirt seems ok and medal nice and shiny.
Met up with friends and thats when the not so nice things happened! My tummy was feeling rubbish (like it always does at the end of a run) so I head to the toilet...I was feeling shivery but had a light running jacket on and thought that would be enough..thats a lessoned learnt!
Anyway, did lots of errr...well..number 2 's 
and thought that was it. Met up with others who were scoffing donuts but I couldn't face anything. Got driven home to friends house and had to run in as tummy was off again. I then realised that I was feeling sick but I thought surely I can't be as I haven't eaten (apart from 2 bites of banana)...WRONG...that came up pronto so I wrapped a towel around me and then friends got me a fleece and I started to feel alot better. Apparently I had gone VERY white with blue lips..must have been some sort of shock? Got taken home and had a bath immediately and have finally had some food and feel alright...SOOOO tired though! Not sure if all of the above was because I have a slight cold and felt the change in temperature too much after I stopped and didn't put a warm top on (slaps head).
Need to sort out my rubbish bottom and tummy generally...I took loads of jelly beans with me but can't face them when running faster than normal training run..they make me get cramp in my tummy...only had about 5 so can't imagine that helped my general situation. My Dad says maybe I should swap to cycling (he is bias)..I scoffed at that idea!..he then suggested that I might need some sort of isotonic drink on the way round...do you think my tummy could handle that??
Anyway...waffling on!! Am signing up to Cambridge Half on Wednesday when it opens. Really don't think I am ready for a marathon yet...need to make sure I can do a half without feeling dodgy first!
Saying all this...really pleased with my time! 5 mins 38 seconds off my previous PB (have looked it up and checked!). SMASHED!