On the run
Back in April last year, we got up one weekend earlier than usual, ready to catch the train up to London. We weren’t alone, as thousands had the same idea. Why? Well, it was Sunday the 21st: the day of the London Marathon!
The morning after the night before; we were running low on the batteries of life. As the fresh air helped replenish our energy levels, our train buzzing with excitement also helped, as we readied to cheer on friends in amongst the 53,847 runners in the world’s most famous marathon.
A mara-fun
Up until now, my main experiences of the London Marathon were catching glimpses of it on TV, usually when the camera focussed in on that guy at the back in a deep-sea diving suit, or one of those heroes in a rhinoceros costume… however today I found them quickly changing!
As we navigated our way to Lime House, I was taken back by its electric atmosphere. The place was on top form, with everyone in brilliant spirits. Pubs, bars and shops were at capacity with the punters loving life! The atmosphere was infectious. We couldn’t help but smile as we swivelled through the crowds like some sort of computer game; trying our best not to bump into strangers or step on their toes. Crazy-busy was an understatement!
We looked left to right, scanning the streets for a decent spot to enjoy the race from. We landed on one of the corners, seemingly perfect to cheer on the thousands of runners that passed… and the dancing race stewards! We marvelled as they juggled dancing to a drag queen DJ, with manning their make shift level crossings. I think we’d found our spot!
Go go go
We spent a good hour in that spot, shouting out the thousands of different names we read on people’s shirts, hopefully giving them that little booster to keep them going. With our voices lost and supporter duties ticked, we eventually ended up meeting friends at a pub near the Thames, our second attempt after going to the wrong one initially!
Half of the punters glimmered in the sun, proudly boasting their runners medals as they sunk their well-deserved drinks. Hopefully any aches, pains and blisters began to magically disappear with every glug! Seeing their smiles and hearing their stories were enough to push me into registering for London 2025 that same afternoon, now I was in the hands of the marathon gods…
Computer says no
It’s no secret London is one of the hardest to get into (578k applied for 2024, and 53k ran: so roughly 1 in 10 are successful). I was in the lottery of the ballot, so no real surprise, when I got the email letting me know I hadn’t got in. It wasn’t all bad news though, as I had put a Brighton Marathon spot as my back up… with nine months to get race ready!
Brighton hello
Jumping in that time machine, we set the timers to April 2025, hitting 88mph and bringing us to now. Great Scott! The good thing is this isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve been a running man for ages, and ran the Brighton Marathon in 2017 (4h 51m) and 2021 (4h 17m). Since signing up for this weekend, I’ve clocked up a wee 446 miles, about 80 hours or running and more chaffing than I’d like to admit; basically running from Brighton to Scotland… “Mony a mickle maks a muckle aye” as the Scots may say!
With a makeshift plan of one big run a week, and some shorter runs and sprints peppered in-between, I had my sights set on a sub 4h. That was looking half do’able, until about a month ago when I went full Darren Anderton and done my back in at footy; knocking out a good month of training ahead of the big one. Typical!
They say your first marathon is about completing it, and the second is for the time, so I’d love my hattrick ball to just shave a minute or two off. That could still be possible, thanks to to Dr Soumen Basak, my Osteopath who managed to get me back on the road to recovery just in time for this weekend’s run. He got cracks out of places I didn’t know existed, which was good news for Foxtrot Oscar Cancer - my friend’s charity who I’m running for this year; helping raise funds for them to send cancer patients to sporting events. A great idea and welcome distraction who may be fighting this horrible disease right now. Stay strong!
If you fancy sponsoring us, I know FO Cancer will do great things with your donation, so dig deep and hit the button below! Oh and wish me luck for Sunday, I’ll probably be the one behind the Rhinoceros dressed in a deep-sea diving suit!
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