Check back soon
Once posts are published, you’ll see them here.
As anyone who's ever run a marathon before will tell you, it is the culmination of many months of training, sweat and effort. Such are the demands on the body, the fact you get to the start line alone is something of an achievement.
In 2016, a group of us made the short trip from BN1 to London - 2018 it was just me! The curse of the injury struck a number of the group - not that I was in particularly good shape after a 3-4 week period injured, at the time when the mileage increased.
Marathon weekend for me started at Preston Park parkrun which 6 days earlier had hosted the start of the Brighton Marathon and 10km races. It was the parkrun's 5th birthday and a lovely way to start the weekend. A nice gentle 33 minute run kept the legs ticking over, and after a quick coffee it was time to head to London and the Expo.
A trip on the Tube and DLR saw me arrive and it was obvious that it was a very busy time. Remarkably though, my queue was the shortest and a very short time after presenting my email plus scary driving licence, 50373 was in my possession! Off to get my timing chip, and there was a familiar face from Arena 80 AC, fellow coach Jane!
Inside the event there was all the noise, excitement and stands selling everything from drinks bottles to ultra marathons. I was delighted to see old friends Tom and Pip Wake in the queues. When we met working overseas years ago, the thought of us running marathons would have been hilarious! Another former overseas colleague, Eric Keeler was there too, literally flying the flag for Spinal Research, ahead of a mammoth challenge this summer If I'm lucky, I aim to join Eric at some stage.
Getting out of the expo was much trickier than I could have imagined as it seemed several events closed at the same time meaning the concourses were blocked with no directions from the stewards at all. Rising temperatures led to rising tempers but after a good fifteen minutes, I was relieved to be back on the DLR heading to Bermondsey - base camp for the night.
After settling into my new abode, I started to get hungry so went walkabout. The main road outside the flat would be miles 11-12 on the marathon route so I knew I was heading to Tower Bridge. I can be superstitious at times, particularly where running is concerned. I never like to see the finishers' medal until I've finished, nor do I like seeing mile markers for distances I haven't yet covered (out and back races are a curse if you look across the road at the wrong time!) Thus I was a tiny bit peeved when I walked round the corner and there was the 12 mile marker! Just before I started to off on one, I noticed it was actually a nice photo with The Shard in the background!
Food was consumed at Strada by The Thames which (superstitious again!) was the same place I'd eaten with friends back in 2016. It really was a glorious evening in London and strangely I was able to unwind and almost forget the 26.2 mile challenge that awaited me in the morning. Now that's another chapter entirely.....