London Marathon
I was super excited to be given the chance to run London Marathon with the club place. This wasn’t my first marathon (during it, I did swear it would be my last), and I have been known to rock up and run a cheeky marathon without actually having trained for it. So when I was given the opportunity to run London, I did actually put together a training plan, on a colour coded spreadsheet and everything, in order to give it a real crack on the day. I’m pretty rubbish at both training for anything or following a plan, plus throw in a new puppy, two heatwaves and catching Covid to complicate things, but I reckon I get a few marks for effort.
Now, if you’re not familiar with London marathon, it’s truly massive. It’s hard to grasp when watching the bobbing heads on the BBC, as it’s not just the sheer amount of participants but the crowds too.
42,000 runners this year were split over 3 start areas before merging together a few miles down the course. Runners have to collect their number and plastic kit bag in the days leading up to the event, and this year travel plans were further complicated by rail strikes. All good fun.
David had been lucky enough to get a ballot place the previous year which he’d deferred, and we were both starting from the Blue start, as was Jayne who was also running from the Harriers. David was in wave 1 alongside Mo (rumour has it Mo pulled out as he was afraid of the competition), and I was due to start 40 minutes after in wave 9. I think there were 17 waves in our Blue start area. The waves were introduced last year and meant that the whole start area didn’t get too crowded and the whole process went off really smoothly, with just minutes from being called to the wave area to crossing the start line.
We were lucky enough to bump into an old running buddy too, who was in the same wave as me, so it was lovely to be able to run the first few miles together. Unfortunately, phone signal was shocking as the whole of London was trying to use their mobile at the same time, so messages between Jayne and I trying to meet up didn’t get delivered until halfway through the run.
The vibe in the start pen and the wave starting to move towards the start line was one of nervous excitement, and it was lovely to share the first few miles with my old running buddy.
The first 15 miles were amazing – I felt strong, the atmosphere was brilliant, the crowds were deafening … I loved it. The mayor of London waved at me at Cutty Sark and Tower Bridge was just fabulous.
Miles 15-18 were slower but still going to plan, so all good. Then my calves tightened up and the sun came out. It was so hot. I’m a winter baby, I don’t cope well with summer running! I felt sick, and spent the next couple of miles wondering if I was going to throw up. My calves were really hurting by now and I was struggling to pick my feet up. I stopped by a corner to try and work on loosening my calves for a minute, and happened to be next to a couple of spectators from Hereford – small world.
The calves didn’t loosen up but the sickness abated. The last 6 miles were really painful. Mentally, I wanted to push on, but my legs were having none of it. This race was without doubt the hardest physically that I have ever done. I crossed the line a few minutes after my A goal but I did knock a minute or so off my previous PB so I’ll take that.
David was waiting for me, and my friend had finished only a few minutes before so they were both there with a much needed sweaty hug. David not only smashed over 20 minutes off his PB, but he got a qualifying good for age time too! So proud!
Road running is brutal! I swore during those last 6 miles that I was never running another marathon ever again. By the time I was replacing lost calories with a large pizza later that evening, I decided I was only doing trail marathons from now on. Obviously I have since entered the ballot to run London again, as I have unfinished business.
If you haven’t ever run a marathon, don’t dismiss it and think you can’t. You can. It doesn’t matter what pace you run at, the distance is still the same. They aren’t easy, they aren’t supposed to be. You put your body through a lot, not just with training but in learning how to pace yourself and fuel correctly on the day. (If you ever need advice on any of those things, don’t ask me). Less than 1% of the population has ever run a marathon. How awesome is it to be part of that 1%? And where else other than London can you run alongside Rhinos, superhero’s, someone dressed as a helicopter and a man carrying a whirligig washing line on his back? At least I didn’t get beaten by Mr Potato Head this year.
