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Marathon men (l to r): Steve Prescott, Terry O'Connor, Dave Lyon, Chris Joynt

I decided the best bet was to try and get in the slipstream of any good-looking girl. Luckily I found one in see-through shorts, so that kept me going. I did have to ease up and slow the pace when I caught a bunch of blokes dressed as Borat (believe me, those green leotards don't look pretty from behind), but that young lady certainly helped.

Terry O'Connor
Quotes of the week

To donate to the Steve Prescott Fund CLICK HERE.
To find out more about Steve Prescott and the Steve Prescott Foundation CLICK HERE

Well, I finished the London Marathon. It was bloody agony and absolutely knackering and a totally humbling experience, but I made it home in 4hrs 34mins.

The time was never an issue though, all I ever wanted to do was get round. And I wanted to get round without stopping - which I did. Steve Prescott, Dave Lyon and Chris Joynt all finished as well, which made it even sweeter.

It's hard to know where to start, other than to say the night before, I was a bag of nerves and didn't get a good night's sleep at all.

Once we got going though, I was absolutely flying! I reached the half-way stage in 2hrs 3mins, which I couldn't believe. But when we got to 19 miles Steve hit the wall. All he kept saying to me for a mile was 'I'm knackered, I'm done' and although being an ex-player used to blocking things out, he'd started to do my head in!

He actually stopped to stretch at the 21-mile mark and because I didn't want to stop, I left him behind. But I got about a mile down the road and thought I'd better go back for him, so there I was, doing the London Marathon, the wrong way!

You should have seen the look on people's faces as I past them going in the opposite direction! I reckon I must be the only person to have run the course the wrong way. Eventually we met in the middle and got going again and but when we got to 23 miles it was my turn to hit the wall.

People had warned me about it, but nothing prepares you for it. You don't exactly hallucinate, but your head goes all wobbly and although my legs kept going, my hips practically seized up. It was like I was running with me mum's plastic ones in!

See-through shorts

At that stage I decided the best bet was to try and get in the slipstream of any good-looking girl. Luckily I found one in see-through shorts, so that kept me going. I did have to ease up and slow me pace when I caught a bunch of blokes dressed as Borat (believe me, those green leotards don't look pretty from behind), but the young lady certainly helped.

As did the crowd. As a player I was used to blocking out the noise, but on Sunday they were - as people had said - a great help. I was surprised at how many rugby league people were there too. I got a bit of stick off a few St Helens fans along the way but one Leeds Rhinos fan must have run alongside me and Steve for about 400m telling us all about their season so far! That sort of thing helped, as did the shouts of "Come on Fat Boy!" - of which there were more than a few.

The other runners were also a handy distraction. For those first 21 miles, I was just looking at the others talking part, reading the messages on their tee-shirts and banners in memory of people, working out who or what they were running for and realising that there are people who have been through far greater hardships in life than having to jog 26 miles.

There were skinny people, fat people, blind people, people with false limbs, people in wheelchairs, all of them doing it for charity despite their own problems. They say everyone can run a marathon and that just proved it.

And if that wasn't enough, I had Steve Prescott alongside me. Words can't express what an inspiration he is. To have gone through everything he has in the last 20 months or so and to be doing this, put my own aches and pains into perspective. He and his family have gone through hell, yet here he was doing the London Marathon. He's already walked from Hull to every Super League ground ending up at Old Trafford for the Grand Final and before we'd even taken a step on Sunday, was planning his next fund-raiser.

I don't think I'll be going on it though. And I know I will NOT be running another full marathon. I would consider it if big Barrie McDermott agreed to drag his fat backside round for 26 miles, but that is such a safe bet, I know it's not going to happen!

It's hard to know what memories I have taken away from it as well. Running over Tower Bridge was great, but other than, not too many. I did see a few famous faces like Gordon Ramsay and Richard Webster, the former Wales flanker. I also saw Danny Orr's brother, who had run a marathon six days earlier with 20kilos on his back. Now I knew the Orr family were a little bit odd, but that just confirmed it!

Psychotic tendencies

I also overtook those Masai Warriors, even though they were cheating by wearing tyres on their feet. That was something I never thought I'd do in my life! What I did notice and will keep with me is the faces of the people that had packed in, at the side of the road. They just looked distraught, devastated and I knew I couldn't handle packing it in. Their faces and Steve Prescott were all I needed.

But did I enjoy it? In all honesty, no. Unless you have psychotic tendencies, the marathon is not fun - even with good-looking lasses in see-through shorts.

In fact, the last 800metres was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. All through I was focussed on the markers and I could relate the distances to my training runs which was a great help. But even though I knew 800m was two laps of the local school track and the finish line was in sight, I didn't think I was going to make it.

But I did. All I could think of when I crossed the line was "Thank God for that". Steve had actually overtaken me and finished a minute before, but that didn't matter. All I was interested in was the little bag full of chocolate, gluten and wine gums you get. I scoffed them down straight away, like a kid on Christmas Day. Of course, I felt sick as a dog half-an-hour later.

Chris Joynt and Dave Lyon started in a different place to us but finished as well, which was great. Now all we need to do is get the money in.

I am not sure how much we have raised for the Steve Prescott Foundation, but what I do know is who HASN'T donated. I have been on the website and the names Hemmings and Stephenson have not appeared yet, nor has the surname Smith, which is well-represented in the Sky Sports rugby league team.

All I will say to those people, is I know who you are and I know where you work...

To donate to the Steve Prescott Fund following the lads' efforts CLICK HERE.

To find out more about Steve Prescott and the Steve Prescott Fund CLICK HERE

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