Sunday 13 June 2010 marked the 5th annual Laguna Phuket International Marathon and it is a day I certainly will not forget in a hurry, the day I completed my very first half marathon!

Firstly I would like to congratulate Laguna Phuket for hosting such an amazing event; their hospitality was second to none and the race organisation was impeccable so a big ‘hats off’ to Roman Floesser and the Laguna team, their hard work really paid off.

Jackie and I were up very early on race day as the half marathon began at 6am. While the timing may have been a tad unsociable I am thankful it wasn’t any later as there was some serious heat around the course. We met so many wonderful people along the way and, although we did not run the course together, neither of us was short of company or conversation. It’s such a different world in the ‘land of runners’.

I had anticipated I would finish it in about 2 hours 30 minutes so it was quite overwhelming when I crossed the finish line in just 2 hours 10 minutes and the cheers and applause from the crowd was just awesome!

I really wanted to share the experience with Jackie and be there when she crossed the finishing line so I turned around to meet her and it was wonderful to see her running the final 1000m heading for the finish line with a big smile on her face!

Jackie finished in an impressive 2hours 50 minutes. It was a very proud moment for both of us. To top it off we spent two nights relaxing and recuperating in a stunning pool villa at The Banyan Tree, also a great way to celebrate my 42nd birthday with a big slice of chocolate cake… just one, don’t worry readers!

So what does the future hold for me? Well somewhat worryingly I now have the bug for taking part in such events and have signed myself up for a full marathon before the end of the year. Oh and I’ll be taking part in the Laguna Phuket Triathlon and Laguna Half Ironman (which are just a week apart!) in November. In for a baht, in for a baht…

I also have some exciting opportunities in the pipeline, having met with some TV producers interested in following my journey of madness and some potential sponsorship along the way. In fact since my participation in The Biggest Loser Asia, this really has been a whirlwind year for me and not for a minute will I take it for granted. I’m heading up to Bangkok next week to help support those auditioning for season two of the show, it is quite nerve racking so hopefully I can help put them at ease.

To help others lose weight and get their lives back on track, I have set up The Unique Weight Loss Experience in Phuket whereby I pass on the tools and the knowledge from my own experience in order to help others achieve their own weight loss goals. I give my clients 100% focus and support by eating and exercising right alongside them. Our most recent success story was a young man who lost 18.5kgs in just one month!

He worked hard to achieve that and was an inspiration in his own right. He went home a very happy man. If you are interested to learn more about this just log on to www.tuwle.com

It has been fun sharing this journey with you and perhaps I will see some of you crossing the finish line in the not too distant future!