Posts Tagged ‘London’

I knew the next section of the course very well, having run it many times before during my training runs. This, however, was not an advantage at all. The Highway, Westferry Road and Eastferry Road are long stretches of tarmac that just seem to keep going and have no poignant landmarks (aside from Canary Wharf in the distance). Although the crowds were brilliant, the numbers had started to drop off and it was down Westferry Road (the Isle of Dogs section) that I started to feel nauseous. At mile 16 the heat became too much for me.

As I turned the corner to travel back up towards Canary Wharf I began to feel faint and my vision started to blackout. It came over me very quickly and I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I didn’t want to start walking as I knew how hard it would be to start a jog back up again but something needed to change. For the next two minutes I ploughed my way along at barely a jog until I was seriously concerned that I was going to pass out.

I’m still really not sure what the problem was. There was a possibility that I was having a hypoglycemic attack. The symptoms were similar (I’d recognise them easily as I have type-1 diabetes) but the shakes weren’t as prominent as when hypoglycemia sets in. Still feeling very unsettled and sick, I began to walk. I became very upset and disappointed in myself. The hardest part to handle was that I knew exactly how far I had left to go and could visualise the route clearly in front of me. I had 10 miles left to cover and just couldn’t picture myself finishing. I began to think about the speech that Monty Halls had given in the Justgiving meet-up and how, later that day, I would have all the time in the world to look back and reflect on my performance. I knew I’d be disappointed but said to myself, “You’ll also remember how shit you’re feeling right now!”

Right at that moment, another MS Society runner ran up from behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and said,

“Come on Sir Jog A Lot, you can do better than that! The best of luck to you.”

… and the second he went past I started to run again. I’d only walked for around 30 seconds but it had felt like a lifetime. I approached the next drink station, grabbed a cool bottle of water, took one gulp and poured the rest over my head. This was the first ever time I’d done that and the feeling was invigorating. I immediately felt much better and picked up the pace again. I wasn’t quite at 10-minute miles but I was running and that’s all that mattered. From then on it was the support from the crowd that kept me running right until the finish. It sounds cliched but I don’t think I’d have achieved anywhere near 26 miles if it weren’t for the support from the crowd, my friends and my family along the route. If you ever do the marathon then my one piece of advice is have someone there with you. When you hit that wall, which I well and truly had done, you’ll need their support more than ever.

Over the next 2 miles I was cheered on by an old school friend who I haven’t seen for yonks, my friends and family at the next MS Society cheering point and a fellow blogger who recognised the ‘Sir Jog A Lot’ on the back of my vest and wished me luck. She had an eventful race. This picture was taken at Canary Wharf.

You can see the relief in my eyes at seeing some familiar faces. This picture also gives an idea of the casualties there were that day. I’m too delirious to notice the poor bugger to the left of me who was being so violently sick and was in so much pain that the paramedics could hardly touch him. According to the BBC, 6,038 runners needed medical attention that day. It was no 2007 heatwave but it was pretty toasty.

By now I’d started to feel a little cramp set in at my groin and I had the beginnings of sunburn (which would later turn in to full-blown strap marks across my shoulders) but I was really enjoying the experience. London sometimes has a reputation of being a grumpy and impersonal city. Not today. There was not one ounce of discontent or negativity and the whole of London had come together to cheer on a group of runners, who most had never met before or have any affiliation, with as much passion and vigour as a father watching his son score his first goal for his school football team. It was awe inspiring.

At mile 23 the noise was deafening. The walls of the city buildings echoed the screams and cheers from the spectators and it was one of the best moments of my life. I was told later on that one of my friends spotted me at this point and they were screaming my name but I couldn’t hear.

At mile 25 I was plum-tuckered. The last 1.2 miles went incredibly slowly. I must have run a 13 or 14-minute-mile and every inch of me wanted to walk. The MS Society post-race reception was along Birdcage Walk, two turns from the finish line, and I saw my supporters one final time (they did incredibly well to spot me three times during the race). I didn’t quite have enough for a sprint finish but I made it over the line to join an elite group of people who can say…

“I’ve run the London Marathon.”

Time: 4:45:51

Not the best time and certainly a very long way from my initial target of sub-4 hours (yeah right) but I was over the moon to have finished. The goodie bag was stacked full of post-race treats and it wasn’t exactly light (sports drink, milkshake, apple, Jelly Babies, creams, t-shirt, foil blanket and much more), which made the trip back round to the MS Society post-race reception all the more fun!

I was provided with a sports massage from two burly blokes, the only two men in a room full of female masseurs (I think Lady Jog A Lot had been in and had a word before I got there). They also interviewed me for a video that’ll be used to entice others to run the marathon for the MS Society (link to be posted as soon as it becomes available).

Would I do it again?

You bet your ass I would!