A big Harriers contingent travelled south this year for the annual Flora London Marathon.The travelling support was particularly strong, with team Davidson covering the 13/22 mile pitch (Tower Bride/Tower Hill) and the Raes staking out Parliament Square at 25 miles.
Pic - Team ATHelite share their 'space blanket' with one of London's homeless
Top dog on the course was Ian Hughes (2:56) - other than a sighting of a 'mystery man in a Harriers vest' going through 13 miles by Kirsty, we did not manage to link up with Ian as he had to run through the finish and all the way back to Stantead to catch a late afternoon flight home.
Colin Freeman ran strongly - I spotted the Harriers vest as the Green and Blue routes converged at about 2 miles and we ran close until about 6 miles - despite being hampered by some 'Emmerdale' B-list celebrity in a tarzan oufit for a large part of the course, he was unlucky not to break the 3hr mark (3:02)
Genevieve Freeman was also close to her target of 4hrs (4:03). The stalking of Ronan Keating en route probably used up more energy than expected, but an excellent first marathon marker laid down none the less.
Ian Rae ran in disguise (Cancer Research vest) but I managed to bump into him at the Green start pen prior to the start, before we both disappeared into the masses. His 3:14 gets him a 'good for age' entry next year again.
My own race got off to a slow start (7:35 first mile behind the Masai Tribe) but got back on track through the half way mark. But from then on I was always under pressure and by 20 miles I was looking at the wrong side of 3hrs - a final 1 mile and 365 yards in 7 mins dead was too little too late. My 3:06 keeps me in the marathon 'nearly men' category for another year.
All in all though, a fantastic experience - the support and cheering from the crowds has to be experienced from inside the barriers to be believed - going over Tower Bridge was particularly memorable (as was dropping 'Scooby-Doo' around the Canary Wharf section).
Thank you again to all who have made donations to my Cancer Research UK online fund raising - more than £850 raised to date plus another £250 pledge from my work.
Hoping to be back for a short run and some stretching later this week.
Regards....
Kenny
1 comment:
Well done Kenny on the race summary & well done everyone on a good race.
After a slow start I managed to hit 6.45's pretty much through till 20 miles. I did run with the 'A List' celebrity,'Emmerdales Bob Hope'!! & his pacer for 12 miles then picked up the Runners World 3 hour pacer who then dropped his entire pack! Very busy & a bit slow & hazardous through the water stops.
A couple of slower miles when they should have been faster saw the 2.59.59 target slip, very slightly disappointed but still over the moon at the 3.02.
Colin
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