Day 4 - Time to reflect

Matt Campbell's funeral was held today in his home town of Kendal. As you probably know he was a great supporter of the Brathay Trust and raising money for Brathay in memory of his father Martin "Camera Dude" Campbell who was official 10in10 photographer for almost ten years.

There was little sombre mood amongst the runners and supporters today, but many of us chose to recognise and celebrate Matt's life by dedicating our runs to him.

It was another absolutely stunning morning with virtually cloudless blue skies and ever-building warmth. I carried my camera for the first time to savour some of the special parts of the course and save them for posterity. It seemed a perfect day for reflection.

Steadily away over the first few miles, I was hoping the Hawkshead school children would be out in force again so I could snap them. Unfortunately, we set off a little earlier than usual this morning so I hit the village before they could appear at break time.

People have asked me "Don't you get bored running the same route every day?" If it were the Blackpool, Manchester or even London course I'd say yes. But there's something special about Windermere. Each day you notice something new...

The way the light passes through the trees; a lovely little stream off to the left; potbellied pigs in a field; a huge dead tree at the half-way point; bluebells and wild garlic; church bells in Bowness. I don't think you could ever tire of such an ever-changing and wonderfully scenic route.

As a result of me taking more time to appreciate the scenery, I reached half way in around 1h50m, but I also felt surprisingly good, thanks to the able hands of my trusty physio Joe. I pushed on going off how my body felt rather than my watch.

I caught up with Jonathan around 15 miles. He had a black armband on in memory of Matt with a beautiful multi-coloured feather tucked in it. Richard had stormed away at the start and I only spotted him again around 16 miles in. 

Around about here, as I paused for another picture across the turquoise lake, I noticed my club mate Matt Wilcock taking a photo of me in a lay-by. I'll never live that down I'm sure as he shouted something along the lines of "You're supposed to be running not taking pictures!" 

After that I maintained a decent pace and slowly closed the gap to Richard until I drew alongside him around 19 miles. He was out of water but with the next drop box at Bowness not far away he was happy to press on.

The support team had chalked a message on the pavement at 22.5 miles, right by the bus stop at White Cross Bay, dedicated to Matt with just 3.7 miles left. A lovely and poignant gesture.

Apart from another quick selfie at the top of Ice Cream Mountain, I had a solid run over the last six miles and crossed the line in 3:31:36 – a negative split of something like nine minutes (mainly due to the first half photo faffing of course).

Today was another amazing day around Windermere filled with thoughts of those lost and loved. Hopefully the pictures will help me bottle the feelings...