London marathon report

[Fiona P]

I’ve been wavering about writing this but I’m working on the philosophy that the bad just make the good even better…!

I didn’t massively enjoy the hype leading up to London but that’s part & parcel of it & adds to the enormity of this immense occasion! I felt I’d prepared well & hoped I was on for sub-3 hrs following on from 3:05 in Hastings last Dec (& an all-important Hove Park pb the week before!).

Good weather made for a nice couple of hours Blackheath (though perhaps didn’t help later on). I was in a new start of about 1000 runners, including a few of the Brighton crowd. Several from the club were volunteering & having familiar faces around made for a relaxed start. My only worry was which socks to wear - my hole-ridden Hastings socks or newer ones. I was laughed at about this & told to take it more seriously. Perhaps my sock choice (the, so-far, ‘lucky’ holey ones) was my downfall! To my disappointment there were no P-mates at this start. After being given a leaflet at the Expo, along with the comment “in case you don’t already know, here’s instructions on how to wee”, I was looking forward to putting my new-found knowledge to the test!

After a social hour or so in the sunshine, debating sock choice & queuing for the portaloo (p-mate would have negated that!) we were released to queue up at the front of the red start.

Re-tied my laces about a million times & began with Mark & Shaun (the starter’s gun was so non-descript I barely realised we were off). The first mile was a bit fast but nothing stupid. I settled into my pace, ran as I’d intended & was enjoying it.

The first people I saw in the crowd were Matt, Mike & Simon at 9M which was great & I was feeling pretty good – like Hastings the support was brilliant. At 10M my legs weren’t quite as bouncy anymore but I wasn’t worried. Mark went passed me at halfway & we had a brief chat – he felt great & looked like he was going strong. It was good to go through halfway in 1.27 but I was tiring and starting to have some fairly negative thoughts, though still believed I could hang on for sub-3. At 16M I was – worryingly – really pretty hammered but was still on course. At 18M things start getting a bit hazy. I must’ve really started slowing around now and was aware of being overtaken, including an Arena girl. She was very encouraging but I was too out of it to respond (on a separate note, they did fantastically well!).

Then I was on the grass verge, being propped up by 2 officials (Sheila & Dave). They were great & knocked some life back into me. I was gutted and thought my run was over. Blood started pooling in my feet so I lay down with my legs up, prompting a boy of about 6 to try pulling me up which amused me no end. I revived with rest & water & was allowed to continue as long as I checked in with the next St John’s station (I can’t praise the organisation enough, my number was radioed ahead etc). I was told I was at mile 21 (I’d had no idea - turned out to be 20.5 so it was quite depressing to eventually go through the 21M marker).

Stood up & had a bit of a wobble before rejoining the race. I was on a high, the crowd was fab & the fact I wouldn’t achieve my target really didn’t bother me, I was just intent on enjoying it. I couldn’t run to begin with & walking was a bit of an issue as I was wobbling about. I do feel a bit crap about this bit – I hope I didn’t disrupt too many people. With mind & body not in synchrony but the promise of the finish looming it was hard to keep my head straight. I saw a few friends in the crowd & had brief chats with them which helped me put my head back on. I was on an adrenaline rush & things were good!

Steve caught me up around this time, he was suffering from cramp. For totally selfish reasons seeing Steve was a huge relief. I was gutted he was having problems but it was great to have company & a familiar face. I remember Steve saying how glad he was we’d made it to this point but I couldn’t understand…I hadn’t realised the runners coming towards us were actually behind us & I was trying to see the turn ahead which was depressing! I’d now crashed from the adrenaline & was feeling properly rubbish. Steve & I ran-walked for about a mile while he stretched & I drank. That was tough, I thought it would be a case of run-walk to the finish but we got going & I think we ran the last few miles. I was a bit out of it but Steve was fantastic & we crossed the line together in 3.33.

It was great to see everyone at Horse Guards Parade but it was my brother that really made me laugh: “Fi, not only have you let yourself down; you’ve let your friends down, you’ve let your running club down but most of all, you’ve let ME down”. He then dragged me away and I threw up what felt like 20 litres of lucozade (bizarrely that has since motivated him to take up running again). Sam magically appeared 2 nanoseconds after I finished & thrust a sheet of 5k splits into my hand. What a joy they were to read!

It was still a awesome day (honestly); London is such an inspiring event. Mark did brilliantly, as did several from the Marina group. I’d been warned to avoid alcohol but I did enjoy a few beers with everyone that night. As to the question of what happened (for the record I’d like to quash any rumour that Keith Duffy had anything to do with me keeling over), I’ve chalked it up to a bad day. If you’re gonna have a bad one, I recommend London – but make sure you do it properly! The drawback being it is a difficult one to forget. Thanks all for the support on the way & at the finish. Well done to the runners!