A very long warm up

then a 3:38 marathon!

On 6 November 2011 two men ran the New York City Marathon in 3:38 after running 42 miles everyday since the 11 August. Chris Finill and Steve Pope set of from San Francisco just less than three months ago. They ran to New York City and, after speculation as to whether or not they would get there in time, they were on the start line of the New York City Marathon when the gun went off. They got to the finish line 3 hours and 38 minutes later!

At the finish - Atlantic Ocean, Coney Island, 5th November 2011

They had to overcome a few hurdles along the way. Mostly from the weather. The first six weeeks saw them running every day in searing heat, then floods came and swept away a bridge that they needed to cross to keep them on schedule and this forced them to add an extra 45 miles to the journey. They made up for lost time and got back on track for New York only to be hit by blizzards and snow through the later stages. Sheer determination saw them push on and make Coney Island the day before the marathon.

The boys put a challenge out on their facebook page to see who could come closest with guessing their finishing time at New York. The guesses ranged from 2:03:37 (!) to 4:05:03. And the winner was.......Tim Grose from Power of 10, who is also the main man behind our handicap scoring system! He guessed 3:40. He seems to have a bit of a talent for knowing runners, their ability and their times!

Chris and Steve are raising money for Help For Heroes and have set themselves a target of £10,000 and have £3500 in the pot now. Click here to help them reach their target. After such a very long run and such a fast time in New York they have earned it!

Well done to Chris and Steve! Looking forward to catching up with you when you get home!