Flora London Marathon

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Three reports from Peter Brooks, Carole McGinn & Alan Smith:

… first from Peter:

Wow, that was a hot one (I’m beginning to sound just like Shaun!), the weather forecast all week had shown light showers on Saturday and heavy rain on Sunday, how wrong can they be? We flew down to London on the Thursday before the marathon and there was hardly a drop of rain all the time we were down there.

The expo at London is much better organised than that of Berlin, which took me totally by surprise, I managed to get my number and through the expo comfortably within 15 minutes on the Friday. On the day of the race, all runners were given free transport on the underground and South East trains all day which was a great help.

I got to the start in plenty of time and, after joining the longest and slowest loo queue I have ever seen got into my start pen with about 10 minutes to spare. The race started and it took me about 11 minutes to get over the start line (quite happy with that considering how many runners there were) and a few hundred metres in I heard a delicate voice call me. I turned round and saw Jean Gillespie behind and we ran together for a few miles until I needed to make an emergency stop, I didn’t see her again after that.

The race goes past quite a few London landmarks – Cutty Sark, the O2 arena, Canary Wharf, Tower Bridge, Katie Price, Peter Andre and the Houses of Parliament. I saw quite a few of them.

I managed to run up until the 16 mile point when I realised that I was not going to get all the way round non stop and decided to run/walk the last ten miles to make sure that I got to the end. By mile 20, I was running a mile, walking a mile but I was happy with that as it meant that I finished by running from Parliament Square to the finish.

All in all a very well organised race, but I have learned that it’s not really a good idea to run a marathon when you have shin splints as it hurts. A lot.

… next from Carole:

After completing the Great North Run in October 2008 I hoped one day to complete the London Marathon. I joined Striders thinking it would help improve my running and as I had been unsuccessful in the FLM Ballot decided I had nothing to lose with the club draw.

I was excited and nervous to get a place and began my training in January. I started to do too much running and got an injury in my leg. Not to be beaten I visited Physios, Chiropractor and finally a Physio at Univ Hospital who advised he could help me. As a result I was a little behind schedule with my training and had completed 16 miles in 3 hours before tapering in March.

The Marathon experience was brilliant. Very well organised, from registration which I did on the Saturday to instructions for getting to Black Heath which was my starting point. On Sunday morning I took the tube to Charing Cross and then a train and I arrived at Black Heath about 8.30 and had a wander around, put my kitbag on the correct lorry to be taken to the finish and then sat down on the grass and chatted to a lady who had come from Holland. Her tip for the next day was to do plenty of walking as recovery.

I was in the last group and I crossed the start line about 10.00am. I had decided that my main goal was to enjoy my first marathon and had read that if anything was to go wrong it would be because I had misjudged the pace so I decided to start slow and just run round taking everything in.

Right from the start people were cheering and encouraging the runners and this atmosphere really kept everyone going. I passed the Maritime Museum at Greenwich which is approximately 6 miles into the course and was doing 12 minute miles. I knew I wanted to reach 13 miles and still feel like I could run that distance again so I felt that pace was reasonable. Music along the course was varied and inspired me to ‘keep on running’. The weather was beautiful and very warm. Water stations were every mile and I got a small bottle of water at each one and ran all the way clutching my water and sipping very often as the last thing I wanted was to be dehydrated

Crossing Tower Bridge I could not resist waving at the cameras as it felt like a special moment!! At around mile 13 as I ran along the course the fast runners on the other side of the road had already reached mile 22 which was impressive. They were running at speed and at that point I realised my run was for enjoyment – a completely different level of running.

After mile 16 I was fairly cautious as had not run further in training. I still felt OK but could remember Steve Cram’s voice from watching the Marathon on TV where he says people get tired at the Isle of Dogs and Canary Wharf so I continued with my steady pace. By mile 18 I was running 13 minute miles but still felt in control. I was taking a gel every hour and also the odd jelly bean or sweet offered by the crowd. Mile 20 is a turning point as you realise you only have 10K to go and you are on the countdown. From Mile 22 you begin to see landmarks such as the Tower of London, then along the Embankment towards the House of Parliament at Westminster I knew I was nearly there and started to realise this was something I could achieve. The final run to the finish along bird cage walk towards Buckingham Palace is very special and a fitting place to finish such a fantastic run.

I was thrilled to finish just inside the 5 and a half hours. I collected my bag and made my way to the meet your relative’s area and then had a slow walk back to the Hotel for a very relaxing bath.

By the next day I had decided I would like to do another marathon so not quite sure where that will be.

… and finally from Alan:

I had hoped that this year it would be different from two years ago. Earlier in the week I was in London on business and picked up my Marathon number on the Wednesday before the race. This at least was one job done in advance as usually I picked the number up the day before. I stayed at my son’s on the Saturday night and caught the 7.30am train from Earlsfield to Waterloo and then followed the crowds to Waterloo East station, to get the train to Blackheath. I had to stand all the way from Waterloo East, closely squashed in with other runners. I was at the Blue Start and kept a lookout for other striders, particularly Peter Brooks who was also at the Blue Start, but I did not see him or any other striders at any time. The only “personality” I saw was Gordon Ramsay, whom I saw at the end of the race and who finished before me.

The morning started off sunny and quite warm for that time of the day. I “greased” up and put some sun lotion on. Two other runners asked to use the sun lotion as they had forgotten theirs. There were the usual queues for the loo, but not as bad as previous years. I had a drink of Lucozade Sport, did a few stretches, put my baggage on the baggage lorry and went to the start, which for me was in pen 4. It took about 1 minute 23 seconds to get to the start line, but that did not matter as we all had timing chips on our shoes. The first mile was as expected very crowded and very slow. There were a few road humps with people standing at the side of the road with warning signs. After 3 miles the runners from the three starts merged into one.

I was running for Macmillan Cancer Support and at various points along the route there were large groups of Macmillan supporters cheering, waving and encouraging me. On the night before the Marathon I went to the Macmillan Pasta Party with my son.

I was aiming to finish in just under 4 hours and at the half marathon stage my time was 1 hour 57 minutes, which although not particularly fast was on target if only I could keep up the same pace.

I seem to remember that there were four roadside showers. I went under three of them, but missed one as I was on the wrong side of the road and did not see it until too late. I had plenty to drink on the route, mainly water, but also Lucozade Sport.

At about the 13 mile mark, we passed some of the lead runners who were coming in the opposite direction, having already reached the 20 mile plus mark! I deliberately ran at a steady pace, making sure that I did not go too quickly, but at about 14 miles my quads started to hurt a bit, so I knew then that I was in for a hard run for the rest of the race.

I kept eating jelly beans and Kendal Mint Cake after about half way, but neither seemed to make any difference!

When I had been running for 3 hours 11 minutes ( yes, I deliberately looked at my watch to check the time) I got cramp in my right calf; this happened about another 3 times, getting worse each time and forcing me to eventually stop and walk until it went. I looked for the St John Ambulance personnel each time, but they were nowhere to be seen. The last time I had cramp was as I was running along The Embankment and had to stop. At that point I saw my son who took a few photographs of me (not difficult as I was running so slowly!)

At the start of the run I had a slight pain in my left knee, which gradually got worse, but after a while, I did not notice it as it was masked by the other pains in my legs!

At various points in the run I was overtaken by (to name but a few) a speed walker (who seemed to me to be going very fast) an Emu, Elvis, and also by a male runner dressed as a bride, who said that he was running so as not to be late for Church. At one point, I thought that the crowd were shouting “Come on Elvet”, but I then realised they were in fact shouting “Come on Elvis.”

I remember seeing the 21 mile marker, but did not see the 22 mile one and then lost count of how many miles I had done until I got to the 23 mile marker.

I managed to put a little bit of speed on as I came into The Mall, but by no means a sprint. I staggered over the line in 4 hours 28 minutes, to finish half an hour slower than I did two years ago, which was my slowest ever marathon (even slower than the Great Langdale Marathon). It was hot, but not too hot and not as hot as it was two years ago when apparently it was the hottest ever London Marathon. The sky clouded over after about 4 miles although the sun did come out again. I prefer the warm sunny weather to wet and cold. When you are running slowly, you soon start to cool down.

After the race I met up with my son and then went to the Macmillan Recovery Centre where I was given food, drink and a sports massage. I would thoroughly recommend running for Macmillan Cancer Support, for whom I have ran every London Marathon.

None of the problems I experienced in the Marathon were experienced during training (even when I went on a three and a half hour run). I had a fairly easy running week the week before. The only thing I can think of is that I had a gentle sports massage on the Friday before the run, so could that have caused the problems? I have never had a sports massage prior to a race before. The golden rule is not to do something different before a marathon and I broke that rule. Or was the problem caused by the pain in my knee, which I have subsequently found out from my doctor could be a possible cartilage problem and which now hurts every time I run.

However, I would do it again if I can get a place next year. After many tries I managed to enter the online ballot for the Virgin London Marathon 2010 by going on line in the early hours of the morning when I woke up and could not get back to sleep. I would like to do another marathon before next year but that depends on getting my knee sorted out. The atmosphere on the day was wonderful and the crowds were tremendous, calling out my name which I had on the front of my running vest. It is an experience not to be missed!

Results

Pos Name Club Cat Pos Time
1 WANJIRU, SAMUEL M 2:05:10
1* MIKITENKO, IRINA W 1 2:22.11
13,141 ROBSON, JOHN M45 1,419 4:11:16
17,575 SMITH, ALAN M60 227 4:28:13
18,214 THOMPSON, ANDREW M 7,959 4:30:38
25,193 EVANS, BARRIE M60 361 4:58:29
25,196 FARNSWORTH, CHRISTINE W55 147 4:58:29
28,526 BROOKS, PETER M 11,647 5:16:42
30,309 MCGINN, CAROLE W45 935 5:29:55

35,000+ finishers.
*Elite Women’s race.

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