Virgin London Marathon 2012

During the week leading up to the Virgin London Marathon, the weather forecasts were showing the Sunday to be a day of heavy rain and strong winds. These weren’t good signs from an early stage but determined that things would change, 4 harriers made the journey to the London.


On the Sunday morning, after expecting a cold wet day, the conditions were dry and much milder. While my dad (Scot Hill) and I were on our way to our allocated pen, we passed Mary Goldsmith to quickly wish her good luck and once we were in our pen, Graham Ramage joined us. So quickly we all gave each other pep talks, posed for official photos and before we knew it, were being guided towards the start line.

So the gun went off, and as the elite athletes ran off into the distance we were only able to jog at this point but soon crossed the start line in about 30 seconds. As the runners started to spread out, it gave a chance for myself, Scot and Graham to move up the field slowly. The three of us were aiming for similar times so we decided to stick together. We went through 1 mile in 8 minutes, which was good considering it took a while for us to get into a good stride. At this stage I was already enjoying the atmosphere, with lines of people on either side of the route shouting and cheering us on. At 3 mile, we were all starting to feel the heat, not expecting it to be as warm as it was. Thankfully a water station was due so we broke formation to collect water for ourselves and then reformed into our pack. The three of us worked together like this for most of the race. The crowds continued to grow but as we turned to go by the Cutty Sark, the sheer amount of support was amazing, which really lifted everyones spirits and the pace quickened.

A cheer of “C’mon Calderglen” from Benny Rooney was a great suprise around 10 miles (he then appeared at 2 other points along the course). And the support just grew from there as we crossed Tower Bridge. We all ran on the right hand side of the road, which prompted people shouting on the ‘bumblebees’, referring to our vests. The noise of the cheering was immense on the bridge. As we passed Denise Lewis, she personally cheered the three of us on and Graham got a high five from her. Coming off the bridge, we all tussled to get to the front of our small pack, so we would look better for nearby TV cameras. We all continued to run together and crossed halfway in 1:38:50.

As we all headed towards the Canary Wharf, the leader of the elite race passed us on the other side of the road, as he was approaching the end of his run. At mile 16, I was feeling good and was starting to think I could run faster. Sadly, after 17 mile Graham started to suffer from cramp and fell off the back of our pack. So my dad and I continued on and at 18 miles, with us both still feeling good we decided to try pick the pace up. Weaving in and out of runners ahead, I was enjoying being able to stride out but this increase in speed was about to have an impact on my legs. At 20 miles, my legs started to seize up and I could feel my dad was starting to suffer as well. Soon the pace was slowing back down and at 22 miles my dad stopped after his knee locked up.

So after running for so long in a pack, I was now running solo. Knowing I only had 4 miles to go, I tried to push on, but my legs continued to seize and soon it was getting hard to lift my legs. At 24 miles, I was starting to get blurred vision and found it hard to run in a straight line. I knew I wasn’t going to beat my target time, so I just wanted to finish. And I knew if I stopped to walk, I wouldn’t be able to start running again. So I pushed through to 25 miles and knowing that only 1 mile remained, I recovered and managed to cross the line in 3:21:21. After recieving the medal and collecting my kit bag, I rested and I saw my dad and Graham walk towards me. Graham had managed to recover from his earlier cramp to pass my dad, who had walked and jogged from 22 miles, in the last few miles of the race. Graham finished in 3:25:28 and Scot was exactly a minute behind in 3:26:28(Pb).

Mary found the race equally difficult as everyone else, not helped by a tumble at 6 miles, which left an injured knee and broken watch. She was running well going through half way at 2:03:11 but started to suffer later on and crossed the finish in 4:31:33.

It was a very tough race, and for my first marathon I am pleased that I ran a decent time. Nothing could have prepared me for the way I felt at 24 miles. But the support shown by crowds helped me get round. Well done to everyone for running their great times. And finally thanks to all the support along the way from Irene Hill, Nicola Reilly, Benny Rooney and Julie Beveridge.

Stephen Reilly