The London Marathon 2017

So where do I begin? I know that I have been absent for quite a while from my blog, but wanted to use my account of how the London Marathon went to restart it.  Well, for starters I won't keep anyone in suspense; I achieved my dream of completing the London Marathon 2017 in 2hrs 55mins 07 secs. 

How would I describe my London Marathon experience? Intense, amazing, crowded, difficult to run through and one of the most interesting experiences of my running to date.

I aim for this to be more than a descriptive account of my experience of the London Marathon. The first bit is to get to the start early! This is something that I didn't truly appreciate until I got to Greenwich; even with being in a 'Good for Age' pen, I still found the start incredibly crowded. In short, aim to be overtaken by runners at the beginning,  rather than having to overtake loads of people.

The following advice is obvious rather than something that would give anyone great insight:

• Remember to ensure your Garmin watch works on the morning of the race. Sadly mine didn't.  I imagine a lot of readers will be laughing at me right now, but I assure you that my Garmin had been working perfectly on Saturday.

•Keep calm and carry on! Some may call it a rookie error, but I am not ashamed to say that I was overawed by the London Marathon. My training had gone well, and I think I may have just got a bit too excited before the race. So when I arrived at the start line for London there might have been a part of me that was a bit worn out from overthinking how I was going to run the marathon.

These issues of overexcitement and my Garmin being unreliable were not on my mind, as I made my way to the start of the marathon. The atmosphere was one of the best I have experienced, everywhere people seemed to be warm and friendly. In short, I felt positive if a little daunted by the race ahead.

These feelings became more intense, as I approached the red, blue and green start zones in Greenwich. This was where I probably made the possible error of spending too much time saying good bye to my wife and friends. After that things seemed to move quite quickly, as I queued for the loos and then moved into the starting pen.

This was where things took me by surprise. I didn't realise how many runners were trying to squeeze into the starting area. I wouldn't say I was claustrophobic, but it was not that nice being stuck so close to other runners. It felt like the marathon equivalent of being lined up at the start of a major cross-country race.

It was at this point that I was starting to find out that my Garmin wasn't connecting. Around me everyone else's watches were starting to connect, but mine just wouldn't do anything. Time was ticking away, I looked at the clock and 9:58am turned into 9:59am.

Strangely enough, even though I had been nervous in the days leading up to London, I felt peculiarly calm. This was most likely because I had no time to panic about this problem. The other thing I noted, whilst trying to figure out how to run London as fast as I could-and not blowing up- without a watch, is that we were now beyond 10:00am. It looked like we were setting off late.

Suddenly a noise filled the air to alert us to the start of the marathon (I can't remember whether it was an airhorn or not). It was in that moment that I came up with a plan or a gamble- you can decide on which is more accurate later. The idea was simple, yet dangerous, I was going to find a couple of club mates who I knew were aiming for 2hrs 50mins and try to hang on for as long as possible. I assumed that trying to find them and stay at that pace was pretty dangerous, but I had to try and give London my best shot; so would worry about blowing up when it happened.

The marathon started off immensely crowded and I can't emphasise enough quite how many people were around me. I suppose it was something I hadn't really anticipated. I found some club mates in the first few miles, with one of them giving me some inspiration by telling me that he didn't run with a watch.

I tried to settle into a pace that felt hard, but wasn't too tiring. Then I saw something that confused me in the distance. At around mile three we came up behind the Green and Blue '3 hour Pacers'. I didn't understand why we were running behind them, maybe it was our late start; I couldn't tell and thinking about it wasn't going to change the situation at that moment.

Trying to run at target pace became even trickier, as I had to dodge, weave and avoid other runners. At the time it felt like trying to get through London during rush-hour, but everyone was running in one direction. My focus was torn away from the herd of runners by the wall of noise that greeted me at the Cutty Sark. It was incredibly uplifting and took my mind off the fact that my watch wasn't working.

With this positive moment, I started to find a steady rhythm. I couldn't get over how many runners there were still around. I estimated that I must be near a 6:35-40 pace. This was when I finally realised the status and size of London. In my previous 5 marathons, I could carve out a space for myself quite easily. In London not only was it crowded, but you were amongst some really talented runners in large quantities. I decided to figure out my time roughly by looking at the London Marathon mile markers, which also had the time on them, and so by clocking the time at each mile could roughly work out my splits. Besides the size of the London Marathon, I couldn’t get over the positivity of the marathon. It seemed like everyone around you was willing you forward. It was at that moment, that a Heathsider cheered me on and they were to be one of many Heathside supporters that shouted encouragement. I cannot emphasise how amazing the support was from London Heathside that day, regardless of whether you are having a rubbish race or on the verge of getting a great personal best. Having people you know and train with support you, is a privilege and a unique experience.

With the excitement starting to calm down and getting six miles under my belt, I started to find the familiar rhythm of a comfortably hard pace that most of my marathons have felt to date. Then in the distance I saw the club mates who I was gambling on dragging me round London on 2hrs 50mins pace. It was a relief to see some familiar faces in the vast crowds of London. I then came across a unique character who was dressed in a suit from head to toe. You may be thinking that it was a lightweight fancy-dress suit, but from what I could see it was a proper suit and even had a Guiness World Records sticker attached to him. We had a quick chat, I said how impressed I was with his attempt and then I carried on with the Heathsiders I had found. Anyway this suited marathoner will appear again later on in my story.

The miles seemed to tick by quite easily as I ran with my club mates. I found myself getting too excited by the event and surging ahead of our group when I probably didn’t need to. At around mile nine we were greeted with loud cheers as I saw a group of my team mates who were not running London that day cheer us on. Things seemed to be going smoothly, though as I have said earlier in this post I realised that I was pushing a pace that was probably not sustainable. I realised that we were getting near to London Bridge and hadn’t quite appreciated the level of noise that I was about to greet me. If there is one thing that lives up to the hype of the London Marathon, it is London Bridge. The sheer level of noise and support that I witnessed is hard to put down into words. It certainly put a big smile on my face on what had been an unsettling start to this marathon.

Running along the tower I realised that I was half way through a marathon that I had been targeting since 2013 and I knew from experience that the next 13 miles were going to be interesting. I don’t know if it was because I was going at a slightly harder pace than I had intended, but I nagging voice in my head started to appear saying: Slow down, you’ve still got a way to go. I knew that this could be the first signs of my body running out of energy and that I may need to be conservative in my pacing, to be in contention for my goal of 2hrs 52 mins. However I also felt like what I might call a sense of impatience, thinking that if I could carry on at the current pace then I would be able to close this race out sooner rather than later.

After crossing London Bridge and calming down from the immense crowd support. Coming the opposite way were the partially sighted/ blind elite runners, tied with their guide runners. Maybe it was the enormity of the London Marathon or my blood sugar was dropping, but I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed and amazed by those runners. Spurred on by witnessing the partially sighted/ blind runners I continued with my three club mates as we approached mile 14. It was at this point that I felt the pace was starting to feel less comfortable and slightly harder, than when I had found my club mates at mile seven. I also noticed we had lost one of my club mates, who seemed to have drifted off from the pace that we were maintaining.

Then I saw my wife and friends and, if briefly, I felt some respite from the task that was ahead of me of finishing my first world marathon. It really gave me a boost and took my mind away from things not going according to plan. I then resumed my focus on keeping up with my two remaining colleagues, though I started to feel more and more uncomfortable with the pace we were pursuing. I tried to stay with them and got through miles 14 and 15 in a relatively controlled pace, but I knew that I had to make a decision about whether I stayed with my two club mates or pursued my own marathon. I decided that I would have to put my ego to one side and let them go away, whilst I focussed on maintaining a decent effort for the next 11 miles.

It was frustrating to let my two club mates go, but I could feel a slight unease as well as fatigue creeping in. The route going towards Canary Wharf also did not seem to have as much support as the rest of the course, and this added to my sense that I was slowing down. I realised that with this feeling of fatigue, there was the possibility that I was starting to think in a negative way. I tried to break the marathon down into smaller segments. In six miles- at mile 21- I would see my wife and friends, which would give me a boost for the final five miles and a bit that would get me over the finish line.  Again I met fellow Heathsiders who provided such phenomenal support, as I was trying to keep my mind focussed on maintaining a consistent pace. Once I got to Canary Wharf the noise was far louder than I expected and restored some determination to get to mile 21. 

I can’t really tell you a lot about the route from Canary Wharf back to mile 21. I knew that the crowd was there with me, but my concentration started to become more focussed on my running and keeping my effort steady. I don’t know if it was my mind starting to become more fatigued, and possibly having a negative slant on things, but I saw a couple of runners come up against the nefarious ‘wall’. The first runner I saw was veering across the course from side to side, looking like he was drunk rather than tired, until he came up against a lorry that was parked and holding water. There he ran up against and along the lorry, now continuing straight. The other runner looked like he had just been shot in the leg, as he clutched his hamstring, and then proceeded to slowly hop and gradually go to ground; the runners around him parting like a sea, as a St John’s Ambulance volunteers ran over to help him. I felt mixed emotions as I watched those runners; thankful that I had not got into that situation, but also feeling sorry for those runners. I tried to detach myself from the increasing tiredness, as I witnessed those scenes, and looked for the blue line on the route to run the most efficient line possible.

Mile 20 came and went giving me a welcome boost that I would be seeing my wife and friends soon. I started to notice some runners speeding up and overtaking me. They were in that hallowed and envied place of running a negative split; being able to speed up as their marathon was coming to an end. It dawned on me that this is what makes large city marathons, like London, New York, etc., so appealing is the vast array of drama that takes place over the 26.2 miles. Some people achieve their dream, some people do not finish, others smash their personal best; the many different stories that make up a marathon are nearly endless. Finally my wife and friends came into view with their enthusiastic cheering contrasted with my now visible tiredness. 

My wife shouted amidst the noise of the crowd: “You are still on target for two hours and fifty-two minutes!”

Near mile 23

I was astonished, miles 15 to 21 had felt like I had lost all of my target pace. To now know that I had a chance at still getting near 2hrs 52 mins gave me some hope, however I could feel my body really starting to rebel against the speed I was trying to keep. The simplest way I can describe how I felt was a complete emptiness, as I progressed towards mile 22, with my legs becoming heavier and heavier. My right ankle started to become painful as well, and increasingly unstable, with the feeling of a needle persistently stabbing it as I ran along. I wish there was some sort of mental shortcut that I could tell you about those last five miles; like I tried to imagine I was on some sort crazy of Pokémon Go hunt for those strange little creatures for every few hundred steps or so. Unfortunately this was not the case, it was quite literally a case of putting one foot in front of the other as I ran along the embankment, thinking about all the training that I had done for this event and all the people who had come out to support me.   Again my fellow Heathsiders were out in support near the end, which I found incredibly uplifting at such a tiring time. 

I was quite a strange experience as I ticked off the final miles of the marathon. It was such a privilege to be able to run round some of the most amazing sites that London has to offer. Then, amidst the many runners, the suit runner I had mentioned came gliding past. I smiled to myself and silently congratulated him for pacing himself to such a strong finish. By the time I came to approach the Houses of Parliament, I felt strangely relaxed, with even my marathon fatigue turning into a dull sense of pain. It was at that moment, that I found myself feeling almost a sense of gratitude and relief of being able to run the London Marathon; with four years of training finally culminating in this moment. 

I ran past the Houses of Parliament and a fellow runner said to me how amazing it all was, I couldn’t even muster enough energy to give a response. Everything started to feel longer and longer as I ran down Birdcage Walk and then onto the Mall. The final 400m was in sight and I tried for a sprint, but there was nothing left to give. I crossed the finish line with as much a feeling of exhaustion as relief. 

One of the many kind volunteers handed me a finisher’s T-shirt with an ice-cream on the front saying: ‘Got it licked’. I questioned whether I had licked the London Marathon or whether it had licked me. Looking back at that moment I realised running a marathon had taught me a valuable lesson of not giving up, even when a number of things had gone wrong. I may not have hit my goal of 2hrs 52mins, but I had got a personal best of 2hrs 55mins 07 secs. The marathon had left me humbled and inspired. I knew from the moment I received my medal and shirt, that there was unfinished business with London and I would be back next year. For now there would be rest…, well for two weeks anyway.

My work colleagues being very kind and congratulating me on my London Marathon time.