What a day I had on Sunday! It's hard to describe it all, if you've never been to London to watch the Marathon then I urge you to go! Better still, join in and raise some money for charity.
My wife, Hilary, came with me to keep me company for the weekend. We went into London on Saturday morning, checked into our hotel and then made our way over to the Excel Exhibition Centre to register for the race. The atmosphere was already running high and the good weather just enhanced the party mood.
On Saturday evening we joined the rest of the Macmillan Fund Raising Team at their pasta party. It was a great time to meet and chat with other Macmillan runners, swap notes and share our anxieties.
The London Marathon starts early on Sunday, 9:45 for the main race, this means getting up at 6:00 eating what you can for breakfast, put on your running kit and get on the Underground to get to the start. I ran from the Blue Start which was a good one mile walk from Greenwich DLR station, made for a nice relaxing warmup though.
Once at the Blue Start it was time for the last minute preparations... like queueing for 30 minutes to use the loo! It's at this point that you hand over your kit bag to get it transported by truck to the finish.
Finally it was time to start. What a huge start it is too! It took me a good 6 minutes just to get to the actual startline, it's here that the ChampionChip that you attach to your laces begins recording your actual running time.
The first mile was slow going, you're just falling over people left, right and centre, it pays to look where you're going! It's not a good place to end your marathon because you trip over a kerb trying to pass someone.
The next 12 miles (or so) went well, I knew that I was well on my way to a sub four hour finish, the running was easy, there was plenty left in the tank.
Around about this point though I began to realise that something was going a bit wrong! I began to feel quite nauseous... I ignored it for a while, it just happens sometimes when you're running... but it got worse and worse... eventually I was walking and running at intervals and feeling more and more sick... finally at 21 miles I had to stop running and just walk, I stuck with it all the way to the end and ran the last 200 metres. I didn't realise until later but I'd just covered the last 13 miles suffering from sunstroke, it was the hardest 13 miles I've ever done!!
Final time, 5.5 hours, 2 hrs for the first half and 3.5 hrs for the second. I finished though, I have my official finishers medal. I ran this one for my Dad, it was hard losing him and regardless of how hard it was to finish this marathon, it was still easier by comparison. I know he was there with me all the way, someone kept me going!
I'm going back next year to give it a good hiding :o)
See you there,
Chris.
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