Hi,

I am over the moon to have received the latest addition of O2 magazine; Brazil’s top running Magazine. Out this month it features a four-page spread dedicated to 10 Million Metres and where I discuss running, living with Parkinson’s, and The Cure Parkinson’s trust. Even Tom Isaacs gets a mention too!

My Thanks to Cesar and the O2 crew for their support of 10MillionMetres.

Hi all

It’s been a crazy week since returning back to the UK from completing the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon.

I love Dubai. It’s as simple as that. The place, the people, and the atmosphere are fantastic. Okay, the driving experience is something to be believed but apart from that it was an amazing trip which, for me, both professionally and personally was a learning curve and truly beneficial.

The race itself is flat, long and is just one road in and out of Dubai. Now this may not seem challenging but believe you me, is mentally tiring as arduous as any city marathon you like to think of. Certainly the humidity got to several competitors who were suffering quite badly with the effects. I can only say that my experience in the desert and running marathons and Ultra marathons make me careful to take on sufficient water. The estimated time of 4.5 hours was bang on, except there was a slight delay due to a good-looking television reporter and her fantastic crew, who delayed both myself and Bryan Garrett and the 1,000,000 metre mark to record passing that milestone for TV. In the end, I reached the finish line in 4 hours 52 min. A fantastic race and one which I would happily do again!

A full write up of the race and the Thames Trot will be available in next months Running Fitness as I have a new monthly column starting!!!

All photos can be seen on my facebook page at facebook.com/10MillionMetres

I’d like to take an opportunity to thank several people and organisations for their help and support (continued or otherwise) in achieving 1,000,000 metre milestone and realising a fantastic opportunity of competing in the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon. They are as follows:

1.       Bryan, Becky, Ned and Ruby Garrett for their hospitality, kindness, support and organisational skills; without which the Dubai experience would not have been the success that it was.

2.       My sponsors, (see sponsors page for more details). Orca, Buff, CompresSport, Scott Health and Safety, Samsun Engineering and in particular, the DeVere Group

3.       The organisers of the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, including Mr Alan Ewens and the Standard Chartered to Buy Marathon media team.

4.       The media including Dubai One and the cast and crew of the Studio One programme; including Sarah who went above and beyond the call of duty in trying to organise lifts home!

5.       Becky Hurd for photos.

However, I returned home with an infected toe which has taken the past week to heal using, what I can only class has horse tranquilliser size antibiotics. I was asked, after showing the antibiotics to a friend whether I should be taking them with a glass of water or on my own somewhere!

If you get a chance this week, to catch up on last Friday’s Anne Diamond show on BBC radio Berkshire, I’m told it’s well worth a listen at two hours and 3 min into the programme! Anne was kind enough to invite me on her show to discuss my 10 Million Metres campaign and Parkinson’s.  You can find the show, for this week only, on the listen again section of the BBC radio Berkshire website. Hope you enjoy listening to it.

I’m currently finalising plans and logistics for the 50 mile Thames Trot for next weekend. It should be an interesting course, and with a cut-off time-limit of 11 hours, it should be a challenge. I hope that if you were walking along the Thames next Saturday and you see runners passing you by, please shout encouragement. It will certainly be welcome!!

Thinking about running the Thames Trot next weekend brings to mind my Sunday schedule. As I am now aware that sore stiff legs will make it a challenge to get Stamford Bridge to see Chelsea play Liverpool the next day. But make it I will! So, if you’re down that way and you see a man walking with a spectacular pimp walk, that man will be me!

Keep moving!

hi,

I wanted to leave a note of thanks to everyone who has donated to the 10 Million Metre cause so far. The total stands at over £15,000 at present. This is an amazing total and one which could not be foreseen by me at least a year ago! I am really gobsmacked. Thank you so much for your kind donations and your words of support.

Donating is easy via Justgiving (and stops me becoming a trustee for the money, as every single penny of your donations will go direct to the charity!!! Brilliant!!!

So what are you waiting for? Donate today and support a worthwhile cause secure in the knowledge that the money will go to where it is intended.

Go for it!!! Donations can be made via the Justgiving tabs on this site or by going to www.justgiving.com/alex-flynn

Thank you!!!

Hi All,

Please email me and let me know what you think. alex@alexflynn.co.uk

Whilst driving round the back lanes, lost in the countryside the other night and trying to search for the appropriate house in the dark I had a flashback. This flashback took me to the first time that I entered a 10K and, coincidentally enough, it was the very same race that I’m about do this weekend.

Revisiting my first 10k and, of course, a route that has not changed in years. However, a route that still provides a challenge to the unprepared or unseasoned runner. The first time, that I undertook the run I was completely unprepared. Having absolutely no training behind me I put on my shoes and ran to the start line from the car of my, then, girlfriend. I recall, that the day was freezing and there was ice and hard ground. Perfect. I ran the race and, in typical first-time style, I got to the crossroads, turned right to tackle the 3K Hill and was fooled by the more level turn halfway up the hill. lulled into a false state of confidence, I thought I’d made it! However, coming round the corner I realised very quickly that there was still more to come. Looking back, my legs hurt. My chest hurt due to the effort of running up the hill and I wanted to stop. But I kept going and, crossing the line, I got my first 10k medal. That rocked!

The next time I ran 10k (in the same race) I was about 3K into the race when my third metatarsal snapped! Wow, let me tell you that certainly hurt! Of course, I carried on and finished the race in 50 mins. I would have smiled at the time but the foot was bothering me a bit.

The next time, that I ran the 10k (same race) was when I was training for my first Marathon des Sables in 2009. At that time, I ran a bit further. In fact, all the way from Henley to Woodcote and started the race (unofficially as I hadn’t entered). So I ran past the runners queueing at the start line, smiling and saying a cheery good morning. I then ran the whole of the 10k and as I got to the finish line I began to walk and take on board a carb gel. Immediately to my right, the wife of a competitor still out on the course, chided me. She asked me if 10k was too tough. I responded that I was merely taking on board a gel before running back to Henry and completing my 26 miles training run. Good fun!

In a few days I’m about to go back and do that very same 10k again. I’m really looking forward to it as I’m certain that there will be people and faces that I know. I’m sure that as I run the course, I will be thinking of the memories that I have shared above and even more about the memories to come as I continue my 10 Million Metres challenge.

If you have memories of races that mean something to you please feel free to share them too at www.facebook.com/10MillionMetres.

In the meantime, keep moving.

Hi all,

The new film is out! It is been a while in the making and I was deliberating as to when I should show it. It’s kind of personal and I think that it gets across the message perfectly well. A huge debt of thanks to both Phil and Phil for being fantastic filmmakers and making me feel incredibly relaxed. Not to put too fine a point on it, I was incredibly nervous and asked to ad-lib the content of my speech whilst the cameras were rolling. Quite nerve wracking really but a hell of a lot of fun. Would I do it again? Will I do it again? If I got the chance I certainly would!

I’m hoping that Phil and Phil will join me on my crazy adventure which is 10 Million Metres and hopefully document my attempt to make change happen. Doing this film has really motivated me. I mean, putting down words on a blog is one thing but realising the vision in film where you declare your intentions to the entire world is something completely different. I feel energised, determined, and really focused. I hope that the film inspires you and motivates you to make change happen too.

As I’m waiting for the film to update on the Vimeo servers for my video wall, I thought that I ought to load it onto YouTube. The link can be found immediately below. I would love to know your comments.

In the meantime, it’s an early start in the morning as the Dubai Marathon gets ever nearer. I’m really getting quite excited now!

Keep moving

Hi,

just a quick heads up to let you know that my new short film by Phil and Phil will be available both on YouTube and on the video-wall page of this website on Tuesday, 4 January 2011. I hope you like it and I look forward to all constructive feedback. Until then, keep moving!

Alex