Personal best - that's what the clock says

I completed Sussex Beacon half marathon on Sunday - with no end of performance stats to expose the part-time runner.

Runners' bibs had a chip inside that triggered the timer as they went through the start and they were tagged by the timer at the finish for their time; others checked their times for each mile their watches (well, some did). Best of all, cutting edge runners had a chip in their trainers that provided real time data wirelessly to their i-pod.

Had I connected my i-pod, it might have provided these real time updates:

Through the start - 5,000 runners, families and photographers everywhere - very sunny after a freezing night

1 mile - moving up nicely, though overtaken by a basketball player with ball (get me) and worryingly, Spiderman, Batman and Robin without real running shoes on

3 miles - too easy - the feared London Road hill was just a mild slope

4 miles past the Grand Hotel - scene of last night's fire and my interview with Red FM (Were there any flames? Well, no, actually); right hip starting to complain

5 miles - like the beach huts but there's a lot of wood washed up on this beach; more families, children wobbling alarmingly on new bikes very near the runners

6 miles - left knee now complaining

7 miles - on the promenade - dying for an ice cream; I'm catching the sun now -am I really this slow?

9 miles - I can see the finish line below, only one more long loop round the Brighton marina development and we're in

10.5 miles - that's a cliff - we have to run over the top - before we even get to the marina

11 miles - top of the cliff ... another photographer... raise knees and try not to look too washed out

12.5 miles - last water station; fantasising about ice cream now; slice of banana will have to do

Finish - manage token sprint but 2hrs 25mins? People do whole marathons in that time.

Monday: Amusing wait for time to be published online, and, of course, all those photographs