Day 4: Putney Bridge - a river runs through it and so do four men and a boat…

So, it's all done. 140 miles, 45 locks and some unexpected hills all led to one final, familiar stretch of the Thames. The four of us finished, with remarkable synchronisation, at 7:45pm under Putney Bridge, which was bathed in the late evening sunshine. Glorious.

What was not so glorious was the final day's running and rowing. We'd started out on Friday with Lance Armstrong's famous quote - "pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever" - ringing in our ears. As we made our way along the Thames from Staines to Putney on Monday, pain began to feel very permanent for all of us. However, what's good enough for a 7 times Tour de France winner is good enough for four men and their boat and quitting was never an option.

The river tried, particularly on the 5-mile stretch between Molesey and Teddington, to get the better of us, but Old Father Thames hadn't bargained on the spirit of the meRANder crew - epitomised by Ben's "I'll get there if I have to bloody-well crawl" stoicism on the penultimate leg.

The main highlight of the day was obvious (the finish of course, not leaving Staines behind us) but there were many others too. Mr W continued to extract more money from unsuspecting strangers than Bob Geldof on speed. Hattie brought Simon and Matt sandwiches which, to two shattered guys, tasted like a Gordon Ramsay prepared feast. Kath and Mrs W remained as cheerful and wonderfully supportive as ever - where do they get their energy from? - and Qin continued to practice for a future career in motivational speaking - "Where's the honesty Qin?".

Arriving into Putney to see so many familiar faces was fantastic and we can only apologise for the payback you got for your support when the rowers, runners and their cox decided to strip off and jump into the Thames. Just to clarify for those who weren't there, Mr W was at the helm for the final stretch, not one of our lovely ladies. Shame.

After that, there was much beer and laughter and the traditional Garnett speech - it wouldn't be a night out in Putney without one. We finished the evening with a well deserved curry, which was devoured in about 2.5 seconds flat!

All that's left to say is one final thank you to everyone who supported us, in whatever way, over the last 4 days and during the many months beforehand. None of this could have been done without you and so it is to you that we owe the unforgettable experience that was meRANder 2008.

Will we be back for meRANder 2009? Seems unlikely, but you never know...