HE MADE it to the finish but Okehampton GP Nick Woodall found his second 26-mile marathon of the year tough going!
When Dr Woodall, who was raising money for the New Okehampton Hospital Appeal, caught a cold five days prior to the Dublin Marathon last week he knew it would reduce his stamina so deliberately ran slowly for the first half of the challenge.
?Unfortunately this was not enough because my legs started to get really tired at around 23 miles,? said the doctor. ?I kept running or what was more like slow jogging at times until the ?800 metres to go? mark at which point I made the foolish mistake of trying to speed up for a sprint finish.?
Although the sprint had worked for the London Marathon, Dr Woodall experienced his right leg going into full cramp so he couldn?t even walk.
He then spent the next five minutes sitting on the edge of the pavement with only 700 metres to go, ?punching and stretching? his right leg so as to persuade it to let him finish the marathon.
?Eventually I managed to walk to the finish ? the crowd was terrific, but the clock was showing four hours and one minute which was pretty disappointing for me,? he added.
The doctor, who has been a partner at Okehampton Medical Centre for almost a year, has raised at least £600 for the appeal and the money is still coming in.
?I am immensely grateful to everyone who sponsored me this time and for the London Marathon where I raised £800 for the new hospital appeal,? he said.
?It is an honour for me to serve such a generous community.?
He paid tribute to his wife Kerry who flew out to Dublin to support him although training partner Frodo, the cocker spaniel, had to stay at home.