Countless runners across the UK will have met, or will know of, Mick Curry, who can be seen most weekends pushing son Phil in his wheelchair around 10k's, ½ marathons and marathons and all sorts of distances in between . .

All the travelling required to get from one race to another doesn't come cheap, and in 2009 Mick's friends in the Fetch Everyone online community staged a ½ marathon to help Mick with the petrol money . .

Last autumn, with petrol prices continuing to soar, the notion of a second Friends of MicknPhil ½ Marathon was put forward. After a lot of hard work and organisation by several inspired people, it took place last Sunday at sunny Draycote Water Park, where almost 200 runners completed 2¾ laps of the reservoir . .

The race was chip times and the collection point was this gazebo beside the reservoir . . and the start of the race was a little way along the perimeter road . .

 . . the race started at 10 o'clock under a clear blue sky and it didn't take long for the runners to pass me by and get under way . .

 . . here's a 3 minute video of the runners passing me as I took their photographs . .

 . . I walked around the course, following the runners as they looped around the water . . and it wasn't long before the leaders caught me up on their second lap . . from then on I just kept taking photosgraphs, either of the runners, or if there was a gap, of anything esle that caught my eye . .

 . . it took me around 2 hours to complete my lap and almost as soon as I arrived at the finish I found Mick and Phil . . as you can see Mick can't resist gurning whenever he sees me . .

The event couldn't have taken place without the help of many people and several organisations . . many of the volunteers will be found amongst these pages . . but thanks in particular must go to Race Directors Tess and Noel . .

 . . Lord Fetch came along to hand out the bling . .

 . . and one particularly notable event on the day was Vicky's run, dressed as a nurse . . in 1.53.53 which it's believed is a World Record for a woman in a ½ marathon in fancy dress. Of course many runners are raising money for charity, as Vicky is . . but not many will achieve a world record whilst doing so . .

 . . use the buttons to the left (you'll need to scroll up a bit now) or at the foot of the page, to find photos from before the race, of the start, taken during the race and a few at the finish. You can even buy some of them if you like!!

 . . below are a few of the abstract things I noticed during the day . .