flm2005

It was a fantastic day when I left home at 0745: clear skies, slight chill and warming sun. Armed with a very heavy rucksack and KK's placards, I headed down for Mudchute. The tube and DLR were packed with runners clutching FLM kit bags. Some were wearing worryingly new trainers. One group of supporters discovered they were on the wrong train...but quickly decided to make the best of it and head for Cutty Sark.

I was delighted to see supporters already setting up at Mudchute. No one else had nicked the zebra crossing, so we quickly started to put up our signs. LP and Alex did brilliantly to fix a placard to a lamp post.

LP and Alex in action: and some good stilt work in the background

It was great to see BB - and soon Moomoo appeared too.

Moomoo, LP, Alex, BB

We decided where to site all the team placards, and I fixed my banner, made out of an old sheet, right next to the crossing.

Team 3 banners with all our runners' names

It was grand to see Helen again: as ever, she was fully kitted out for every eventuality. She'd promised balloon pumps, but she also had balloons in RW colours, and a nifty trick for fixing them to string. Not for nothing is she married to a magician.

LP and Helegant on balloon duty

This meant we could dispense with my balloons: I got them in Tesco and the packaging said they were 'animal shapes'. More like single-celled creatures, if you ask me. I told LP they were amoebas, but LP pointed out, reasonably, that amoebas were animals too.

Supporters were arriving thick and fast: fab to see Ginger Loon at the team 7 railings.

Laminating Loon and balloon

While I was busy digging stuff out of my sack and setting out our stand, just up the road Mr CdK was decorating his set of railings.

Mr CdK and team 4

Next up were the Slugs...

Ima Slug and Mr Ima Slug with one of KK's placards

Who needs an ID card when you have a hat?

By now it was getting really hot, and fleeces and jackets were shed. We were nearly ready, and we started comparing notes about when Paula would arrive. RichK turned up to set up team 6's stand. And Jay and the small Nrg-b's added to team 3's support team. And then little steph...great! All our team in place, with JJ to join us once he'd marshalled at the start.

RichK with superb sign

Josie Jump arrived, complete with essentials for her team. She and heebiejeebie paused for a pic.

Top team 2 support

And at team 7: Meldy, Loon, Haggis

Josie Jump showed off the perfect t-shirt that Evil Pixie had lifted from expo for her: anyone who's supported with Josie knows that she has the best shouting voice on the forum.

Made for each other!

The next point of debate was: did Paula have male pacemakers this time? None of us knew. But the helicopters were getting closer. And none of us had remembered to bring a radio...Then a figure in a yellow t-shirt strode over - Ashley! I haven't seen him since last year, when he was running FLM. He and Christopher immediately began to set up a wonderful team 10 stand.

Ashley and Christopher hard at work with the Slugs looking on

Back at my base, I had all my team's bags laid out. Later, the junior Nrg-bs would help me get them all in order.

The beer is for Carl, honest

RichK and heebiejeebie

BB copes with exploding orange juice

With Paula almost upon us, Legless arrived. He'd had the brilliant idea of fixing '800m til RW' signs up...he and his lads raced off to attach them to lamp posts down the route.

Legless with excellant signage: Haggis and PezzA behind

The helicopters were buzzing overhead, and three police officers sped past on push bikes. We gave them a cheer, and they waved happily. A minute later and the first truck appeared, with Jimmy Saville waving to everyone. We waved back and gave him a cheer. Then another truck, the motorbikes and Paula! It was around 1029 and she was here and gone, in a blue blur. I tried to take a photo, but she was much too quick. We waited and waited, expecting to see Okayo or Ndereba...but there was no one. Another minute, then two, then three...and Dita went past. Where were the Africans? Most strange. Finally they came through, over three minutes behind Paula. The radio question became critical. Then another huge cheer as Sonia O'Sullivan went past.

Then we had a pause before the next group of elites came through.

BB and Stickless on station

It seemed we had our very own marshal, who was nicely bossing people trying to cross the road.

Geoff, our zebra crossing marshall

Even better, a tall figure loomed into view. It was JJ, who'd run over from Greenwich, where he'd been marshalling the start. Being JJ, he'd blagged a 'course' badge, which gave him unfettered access to loom London.

JJ: marshall at large

We were also joined by Chris, tinygirl's Mr, who turned out to be a superb supporter. By now it was getting close to 1100, and we were expecting Ratcatcher and Monique. I'd been told by Ratcatcher that if she was ahead of Monique, we had to slow her down. She sailed past at 1055, getting a huge cheer from the forumites.

But where was Monique? By 1115, we were getting really worried. Had we missed her? Was she injured? The answer turned up, wrapped in an FLM blanket. Poor Monique had, and I quote, a 'f**king foot', so she pulled out. But it was wonderful to have her supporting with us for a while.

Monique and Chris, with my team times on the railing

By this time, Daniel of RW had joined us, and struggled nobly with all the forum names.

Daniel ready to take pics of forumites; Helegant behind

Team 3 ready for action: Jay and the junior Nrg-bs, meerkat, Steph, Helen (pic by Daniel of RW)

it turned out that Mr Caramac had brought a radio, and he relayed the news that Paula had finished in 2:17. Fantastic!

Next up were Milko and Chaos: we spotted them both but they were going too strongly to stop...I hope they heard our cheers. The Nrg-b clan were on alert for their man and just after 1200, he was with us, looking fantastic after 17 miles. Hugs all round, and he took a gulp of energy drink.

Nrg-b takes a pic of us (pic by Chris)

And here's the pic he took! With Chris taking previous pic...(pic by Bharat)

Then another runner appeared and said, I'm Rachael. Raquel! I gave her a hug and handed over her jelly baby bag. She was looking good, but was in need of a leg rub. Josie and I got to work with some wonderful cold gel that Josie had brought. Some brisk massage and she was on her way. She sped off. Now we were expecting Swiss Bobby, and a few minutes later he arrived.

Swiss Bobby

Poor SB's feet were giving him hell, but after a few hugs he was on his way. Our next team member was Little (not so) Fat Welshman. Chris and tinygirl were staying in the same hotel, and Chris told me what a lovely person he was. JJ's marshalling came in handy when he grabbed Martin and bunged him in front of us.

Martin with his new expo hat

Martin said he was finding it hot, but he looked very strong. He took his energy gel, and after hugs, he was off. Chris and I wondered how 26 miles felt for him after his ultra runs. (He says: knackered!)

Next to arrive were dazza, Ripped Dap and Rabbit. Dazza and Ripped Dap found us, thank heavens, even though we've never met before. Sorry, guys, if I looked a bit blank at first!

Rabbit looked strong, even though she said it was too hot for her.

Rabbit and Helen's open arm (pic by Chris)

She stopped for a while, then moved on down the supporters for further acclaim.

Next came Frances, who also found us despite not having met us.

We were now on alert for Redhead...and then she was with us!

Redhead with JJ's steadying hand

Redhead talking tactics with JJ (pic by Chris)

She looked great, but didn't fancy choccy. So we plied her with jelly babies and hugs instead. Redhead: I'll post the choccy to you!

Next to appear was Fraggle, who who got a tremendous cheer from everyone. Her first marathon AND her birthday!

Birthday girl Fraggle (pic by Chris)

Then there was a brief lull, into which appeared Jon the minkey...

Jon in fine form

Where was tinygirl? She'd been texting Chris from a couple of miles away, and we all hoped she was okay.

Where is tinygirl? Josie Jump, JJ, meerkat, Chris, Steph, Helen (pic by Daniel of RW)

A nervous few minutes passed, but then she was with us. Hooray!

Daniel takes a snap as Steph greets Maz (tinygirl)

tinygirl gets a big hug from me (pic by Chris)

Looking damn fine after 17 miles (pic by Chris)

I think she was feeling the heat too - but after a few minutes she was off again. Chris and I consulted the tube map to plot his best route back to the finish to cheer Maz home. Then he headed off - one great supporter.

We were waiting for gritech, Cinders and Kit-e-Kat, and although we cheered every Supergirl we could see, we never saw Cinders. Cinders - so sorry, but our cheers were with you. Gritech appeared, and after a momentary confusion, we handed over his bag and gave him a hug. Kit-e-Kat was running very well, so stopped only briefly before joining the throng.

Kathy noshes her nana

Then Kathy arrived, looking good. She didn't fancy sweeties, but gratefully munched a banana. Then she was back into the race.

Steph and I scanned the road for Hannah and Sandra, but I fear we missed them. By now, the 6 hour peeps were going by, so we started to bag up sweets for them. And Gavo, who'd arrived earlier, came over to say hello and goodbye.

No nozzle Gavo on the crossing

We reckoned that all our runners were through by now, so we started to look after the tail enders. Some were running painfully, others looked good. Iain, Lorna, Helen, Steph, Josie, the junior Caramacs and others all held out malt loaf, nanas, jelly beans and drink. All of it was gratefully grabbed.

Helen, Steph, Iain, Josie, heebeejeebie, Lady Lucan

We cheered these runners as hard as we could, picking out all the names we could see. I mistakenly called a bulldog a badger. Iain said, come on Denis! to a woman who'd adopted a donkey of the same name. Ah well. One of the most astonishing sights was an RAF troupe who were drilling all the way round: they got a special cheer.

As the runners thinned out, it was lovely to catch up with other forumites...V-rap wandered over for a chat and hug.

V-rap and meerkat (pic by Daniel of RW)

The Caramacs: junior Caramacs were superb on sweetie duty

Sean of RW came over: he was heading back to RW Towers to start sorting all the pics he and Daniel had taken.

Sean of RW with JJ looming behind the belisha beacon

With runners coming through in dribs and drabs, we started to clear our stands and pack up. JJ headed off into town to find his daughter, who was running on a base of 50 miles...after a call from the Lucans, Moomoo and I retrieved some missing clothes and went off to the DLR. I could feel my face glowing red like a lobster after all the sun. A fantastic day: well done everyone, and special hugs to team 3 supporters and runners.

Go here to see Ashley's pics of supporters and runners, including a fab one of Paula

For news and pics of the meet at expo, go here

Enormous thanks to all our supporters and runners for this year:

Supporters floating between teams:

Jj, PezzA, Moomoo, Rach, Gavo

Caramac, Mystic Wind and junior Caramac plus the Spuds (team 1) supporting
Northern Snail
Baz
Sodahead
Wicked witch
Awww Spud
Suffolk Punch
An Accelerating Tractor Boy
Swanny
Jane E2 and Mr E2
Blackcat1
Diana B
Judderman
fifidella

Josie Jump, Miss P and heebiejeebie (team 2) supporting
Fraggle
Evil Pixie
Barnsleyrunner
Dave the Spartan
Fat Buddha
Matt the Brum
Ratbag and Mrs Ratbag
Blackers
Drew
Holly-go-lightly
Running Bear
Pizza Man
Scoops
Baking runner
Gail Force
World Champion

meerkat, Helegant, JJ, little steph the night owl and NrgB's family (team 3) supporting
Little (not so) Fat Welshman
Carl B
Redhead
Hkp
Chaos
Monique
Run Rabbit Run
SwissBobby
Cinders
Kit-e-Kat
Kathy
Shooky
Gritech
NrgB
tinygirl
Milko
Ratcatcher
Sandra
Frances
Raquel
Cubby
dazza b
Ripped Dap

Mr CdK and family, Berry, Jenny G’s husband, Mr Kerzo and honeychild (team 4) supporting
CdK
Jenny G
2002 A Trombone Oddity
Big Red Toe
Diana D
Easy tiger
Kath
Jenks
Kerzo
Batfink
Wabbit
katypie
Geoff M
Natalie
Paul Allard
Loo loo
Sue Westbrook
Michael Barry
jezza1
Keith
BoBo

BB, Adverse Camber and Stickless (team 5) supporting
BD
Wilkie
Acer
Big Ange
Fat but getting fit
Sproog
number 3
Sodding Hills
Bonington Gump
Delia
Sue and Steve Aspinall
Pompy Jon and his brother
hilly
Sammy Snail
Bay Runner
shroom
PottingShed
Stonking Bonkers
Danno
aiki
john maile
Kat
holly2
Devon Babe
Ian Phoenix

RichK, tiggerrunner and Wolfy (team 6) supporting
Trinity
Tea and Toast Man
Welsh Alex
Welsh Poppy
Doctor Sam
Essex
Wardi
Claire James
Liam O
Fifi
Crash Hamster and Mrs Crash Hamster
Woj
Chris C
Mick
JW in Bristle
Paul Wilder
tiny toes
Dawn
slow legs
Melanie F
Swayer
Alan M
dunnarunner
Rob22

V-rap, XFR Bear, Haggis, Ginger Loon and Meldy (team 7) supporting
Rach
Sezz
Beans52
Plodding Hippo
Hungry Hippo
Little Nemo
Trailing Tortoise
PieNapper
Venom
Ducati Man
Lucrece
Mister Average
Shuffler
Desert Man
Gar
Top Sec
Drummer Boy
BigPony
Dips
RFJ
Singing Angel
Snoop
Carole
rozee
Snoop
Carole
Rebecca
Karen96
Running Ria

Sam Panther, AJH, Mr AJH, Alex, Argos and LP (team 8) supporting
Alex Truesdale
Bling Bling
Premier Canary
Jiggi
Always Aching
Fake Swede
Stylish fella
K2
Dynamokev
George
Lisa Halsall
Marathon Maz
Run Down
Sharon Cook
Blisters
The Infernal Running Machine
Kev the Rev
loubeloo
Andy
Cartman
martin j
Lactic Legs
natnif
Catherine D
Rob W

The Lucan and the Legless clans aided and abetted by Dr Nic, Oxymoron, Ima Slug and Mr Ima Slug (team 9) supporting
Ange1cake
Wabo and mate Sue
Tetley
Ping Pong Boy
Lorraine Ball
Mike B
Podro
Nikster
Gwyn
Jelly Babe
Rio Fair
JasonL
Phill
Orient65
loopy loo
The Treadmill Trainer
Big Dave
Limper and Mr Limper
Debbs

Adele, Wendy, Ashley & Christopher, Jon and H (team 10) supporting
Barty
Tortoiseshelle
Skitty
Little Les
(NB JW in Bristle moved to team 6 for recognition purposes)
Bear B Hind
Dubai Dave
Harold hornet
Ed Hawkins
Hamertime
Tiredgirl and mate Liz
Mister W
Ronnie Wibbley
Puffy
Kevin H
hang
Streaky Bacon
mitten