MAP London Marathon Story
26 April 2010
"Yesterday I ran 26.2 miles. It seems strange now that after all the build up it is all over. But the aching legs which quiver at the sight of staircases are a reminder of the events of the day before.
It was an early start. Waking at 6am for toast and bananas and then heading off to Blackheath for the start of the run. Grey and muggy skies welcomed me to a field of thousands of runners, as we awaited corralled into our pens the heavens opened to ensure that both roads and runners started wet.
And then we were off. I'd aimed to go for 8-minute miles and tried desperately to keep up with the pacemaker who was making that time. However the sheer weight of numbers in the early miles made it very difficult to get into any sense of rhythm and I wasted far too much energy running from side to side to get ahead of slower runners.
Right from the start I was amazed by the large crowd turnout. All along every road entire families had camped out for the day. Children handed out jelly babies while a section of the crowd dispensed vitally needed orange segments around Canary Wharf.
At mile three the two main starting columns merged into one as we passed through Woolwich. Despite the dense numbers the atmosphere amongst the runners was fantastic with people passing drinks across and encouraging those who were beginning to flag. Much of the first half of the Marathon was a bit of a blur - I think back and try to place were I ran past Japanese drummers, school bands, bagpipers, spectacular views through Greenwich. All of a sudden one sharp right turn later and I was running across Tower Bridge.
This halfway point was the most memorable with huge crowds and cameras pushing you on as you head towards the Isle of Dogs. It was here around seventeen miles that I began to really struggle with the heat. Anxious to avoid painful stitches whilst trying to feed an ever increasing thirst was tough, especially when my mind began to lock into trying to work out why each mile seemed to be getting longer.
Miles 18-19 were right through the skyscrapers of the city, running through corridors of darkness and light which was quite surreal. At this point in the race I started to notice runners who had started walking or limping along. St John's Ambulance crews seemed to have their hands full with people suffering from various levels of heat exhaustion. I relied on pouring lots of water on my head and taking advantage of the trackside showers dotted along the route.
From 22 miles on - after getting a boost from seeing my cheering family - I divided the last 4 miles into segments to distract from the cacophony of pain rattling around my body. The heat made things hard but I was determined not to stop at any point.
Then finally after short sprint I was across the finish line for a 3hours 57mins time. Barely a minute after I had received my medal and my legs decided that they had had enough and began to turn into painful concrete pillars. Needless to say the journey home was a struggle.
Looking back and beyond the actual pain of the run, I was amazed by the efforts of this 37,000 strong army of good that had decided to raise money for such a huge variety and range of causes. The passion and support from the crowds of London made me see the city of my birth in a new light and bring it closer to my heart.
Meanwhile my backup team of sponsors spurred me on the entire way. On the Friday before the run I had raised just over £3,000 and one day after the event I am pleased to say that when on and offline donation are tallied I've managed to raise over £10,000 for MAP! Thank you so much to those who supported me".
