Virgin London Marathon

Overall I really enjoyed the London marathon experience, but it didn’t go as well as I’d hoped.

I felt really good and well prepared on race morning. The sun was shinning at Greenwich for the start and spirits were high. Conditions seemed ideal for me, but possibly a bit warm if you were expecting to be in the bottom half of the finishers. My only concern was that I'd applied enough sun tan lotion.The gun went off at 10am and 30 secs later I'd crossed the start line.

The race felt comfortable in the first six miles. I felt I was pacing it well, breathing wasn't heavy & I was ticking off the miles at a constant 2 hour 50 min finishing pace. However, just after mile six my hamstring tweaked. It was the same injury I got just after Christmas that took 3 weeks to get over and I thought it had healed. I had to shorten my stride to keep going, but I knew there was no way it would last another 20miles. I was still holding a decent pace shuffling along, but was just waiting for it to completely go. I got to 10 miles in 65 mins, the same time as I did in my only other marathon at Inverness and I still felt good apart from the hamstring.

Then, unfortunately, at mile 11 the inevitable happened and I’d a much bigger tweak which forced me to stop and walk. I tried to move to the side of the course, but was constantly getting bumped into by people who didn’t see me. The crowd also kept on shouting "keep going, don’t give up you can do it". So it was turning into a bit of a nightmare. I just wanted out of there, but wasn’t going to give up even if I’d to walk all the way to the finish. At that point I was thinking, I’m going to be out here for at least 5 - 6 hours. I then decided to try a bit of easy jogging just to get a bit of peace from the crowd. Thankfully I didn't seem to be making it worse and just kept it going. It felt like huge numbers were flying past me in big waves. The worst bit was when the fancy dress brigade started to pass. It was bad enough getting passed by a bride in a full length gown, I could swear it was Frances (a big congrats btw), but getting passed by someone dressed as the Gherkin building was really painful.

I had been jogging for about another eight miles when I was passed by a guy holding the 3 hour.15 min pace banner. Without realising, my pace had been picking up a bit. I thought that the guy wasn’t really going much faster than me. Suddenly I was thinking that if the hamstring doesn’t get worse I could still get the 3.20 qualifying time for next year. That really lifted my spirits and gave me something to focus on. I was now constantly checking the watch. I knew 8 min miling would just about do it, but as always you get a bit greedy and try to increase the pace slightly. Every time I did this my hamstring started to twinge and I’d have to ease off again. Once I was on the last half mile I was pretty sure I’d get under 3.20 and started to really enjoy it. I even could afford to waste a bit of time after spotting my sister and niece in the crowd. It was hugs all round before making my way down the Mall, which was was just amazing.

 

So looking forward to next year now, but feel like this year has been a missed opportunity for a decent time.

At my lowest point on the course at about mile twelve I was passed by Julie's sister Louise, who seemed to be running very well and offered me some much needed encouragement.

I didn't find Graham Ramage in the masses after the race, but heard he ran as hard as he could. Despite an unfortunate virus a few weeks before London, and not being able to get many miles in his legs leading up to the race, he was still well under 4 hours. I'm sure there's still another PB left in him.

A huge well done to Mandy. She worked her socks off in training and knew on the start line that she'd given herself the best possible chance to survive a marathon. Something that she felt could be beyond her when her entry was accepted. She was delighted with a time of 5.37, which included a ten minute queue for the toilet at halfway and a 10 minute hug from her support crew at mile 25. She said it was the hardest thing she has ever done and never again.....never say never.

I also wanted to mention a fantastic time of 2 hours 46 mins achieved by Gerry McParland at the Manchester marathon last week. a massive PB of 6 mins by a marathon veteren. Just shows what is possible even when you are as old as him.

Martin

Well done to all the marathoners and thanks to Martin for a great report.