Sunday was the 35th London Marathon, I’ve trained for months over the winter but with 4 weeks to go I picked up an injury and made the difficult decision to pull out. However, even though I couldn’t experience running it, I wanted to experience the atmosphere and the fun of it all.
It was a horrible morning, drizzly and cold – perfect for running. I made my way to Charlton, which is about 5 miles in but unfortunately, I just missed the elite women runners. It was another 30-40 minutes until the elite men and the rest of the runners but I stuck around, in what seemed a lot colder than it should be considering it was nearly May, now I was even more envious of the runners.
After the first group of East African runners went past, the first of my local club runners came through, Tom Collins. He looked very intense and focused but running very well. Shortly after, Mark ran past, he looked completely different, relaxed and cruising and I even got a thumbs up. Then the masses piled past, I just caught at the last minute, Claire, another club runner and as usual, smiling.
I next moved on to The Isle of Dogs which was about mile 17. Again, I missed the women elite runners but I was just in time for the elite men. This time there were slightly less in the lead group but still running at as if they had just started. Next through from the people I knew was Tom, still looking focused and still running well. Shortly after was Mark, running at a phenomenal pace and again, looking relaxed and in control. Then, looking like she had run a hundred miles in a roasting hot desert, which of course is her usual running style, was our national treasure, Paula Radcliffe.
I next met up with a few friends, via the pub and managed to shout a ‘GO Claire’ when Claire ran past, still looking happy and no sign that she has just run 16 miles.
By now, I was frozen and tempted to take my coat off and join in with the runners. I stayed with the Rebel Runners for a little but was itching to get home and watch the highlights.
By the end, the majority of runners looked broken, some coming past were 4-5 hours in and still had 9 miles to go. On reflection, I’m really not sure I could do the marathon in my target time of 3:59:59 and if I did ever get close to that, I’m sure I’d look and feel just as broken as the worst of them. It really does look tough. Which shows just how amazing the runners are at the club. Tom and Mark finished with great times, 2:31 and 2:39. And Claire was just as fantastic at 3:43. I am in complete awe of all three, so those three are my marathon heroes for 2015.
Next year, maybe I could nominate myself?