It was certainly at the top of mine but It took me a while to get there though!
Having been unsuccessful in the ballot 5 times I decided to run for a charity. I was lucky to get offered a place by a small local charity based on Lake Windermere. I first became aware of this charity whilst training for the Great North Swim in Lake Windermere.
So it was 6 years after I started running that I finally headed down to London on Friday 21st April 2017 to take part in The London Marathon. I almost couldn’t believe it was happening after all this time! This would be my fourth Marathon!
We got the 11.23am train down from Oxenholme to London Euston and the journey went amazingly fast as I was sat next to two fellow runners and we filled the journey with “marathon talk”. We arrived in London at 2.15pm.
Once we arrived in London we got the tube to The London Bank Premier Inn where we were staying for 2 nights. After checking in, we immediately set off to go to the Expo to collect my race number, which was in the ExCeL, the International Exhibition and Conference Centre in East London.
The hotel was very convenient for the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) station which took us directly to the Expo in about 15 minutes.
However, by the time we walked from the nearest train station and then all the way through the Conference Centre to the Expo I felt like I had walked a Marathon! Thankfully there were no queues to collect my number, and then it was straight through to the Expo where I posed for several photos and picked up a goody bag that seemed to consist mostly of healthy snacks and leaflets!
I didn’t hang around too long at the expo, as I was trying to minimise time on my feet, I had learnt my lesson in Dublin where I found the travelling and expo really energy-draining which consequently affected my Marathon time – well that was my excuse and I am sticking to it!!
Instead we headed off for a drink (essential hydrating tactics!) and a bit of a rest at the hotel before heading out for an evening meal at TGI Fridays! I enjoyed a carbo-loaded meal of Cheese Corn tortilla nachos served with spicy guacamole, fresh pico de gallo and sour cream followed by Jack Daniel Ribs with fries! I even dared to have a sneaky Cocktail! I was exhausted after travelling and visiting the Expo so we headed back for an early night!
On Saturday 22nd April 2017(Marathon Eve) I woke up feeling daunted but excited about the task ahead the next day!!!
Today’s challenge was to fill our time in London without doing too much walking – it felt like a very arduous task! We decided to go to the finish line to suss out where the best place for us to meet was after I had finished! Being in the finish area with all the organisers setting everything up sent a frisson of excitement through me! In just 12 hours time I would be running! Whilst wandering down the mall we were lucky enough to catch The Changing of the Guards!
We then headed to Covent Garden to have a leisurely lunch consisting of a Tuna Baguette and Crisps washed down with a coffee and Carrot Cake.
After this we headed to The Prince Edward Theatre where we had matinee tickets booked to see the Musical Aladdin. This was an excellent way to stay off my feet and I was able to hydrate with water during the show! I thoroughly enjoyed this and came out feeling relaxed and ready to face the challenge of the Marathon!
We headed back to the hotel, where I set my running clothes out, got my gels etc sorted and attached my timing chip to my trainer and my race number to my vest top.
This made me feel anxious and nervous and I was pleased to have the distraction of getting ready to go out for our evening meal.
We had booked a table for 7.45pm at Zizzi’s which thankfully was just a 5 minute walk away. We had Garlic Bread with Mozzerella for starters and for my main course I stuck to good old fashioned Spaghetti Bolognese! There were lots of nice sounding pastas on the menu but I didn’t want to risk anything with a rich sauce!! I was very, very well behaved and resisted the wine, instead opting for water!!
Despite the lack of alcohol I had a lovely relaxed evening and when we got back to the hotel I was feeling amazingly calm. I set several alarms (I was terrified of missing the start!) for 6.45am and had lights out by 10.15pm! I am not sure how but I managed to sleep fairly well although I was already awake when the alarms sounded. I got up and got on with the job of drinking more water and forcing down two porridge pots. I always find this a hard (but essential) part of race preparation! I really don’t fancy food but know to run well I must have it!
After breakfast, it was time to get changed into my running gear! The weather was forecast to be warm so I had opted to run in shorts and a vest top. However, it was slightly cool early morning so I had some old clothes to wear to the start line which I was going to dispose of just before the race started!
I was running from the Red Start at Greenwich Park, which is the busiest start as it is for all the charity runners!
We got the DLR and I expected the trains to be chaotic, so we set off in good time at 7.45am, when we got on they were fine, however further down the line the train got busier and busier until eventually they didn’t even open the doors when the train stopped as they were overloaded! I am not sure how these poor people will have got to the start as I am sure each subsequent train would fill up in much the same way!! It only took about 20 minutes to get to Greenwich. From here it was about a ten minute walk to the red start!
Once we got to the gates of Greenwich Park it was time for me to say Good Bye to my husband as only runners were allowed beyond this point. I felt abandoned and alone as I tentatively walked into the start area! By now it was around 8.45am so I had an hour and 15 minutes to fill before the race started! I had a wander around locating my starting pen before heading to the toilets. At this stage there was absolutely no queue!
I then decided to save my legs and sat on the grass in front of the big screen which was showing the televised wheelchair and Elite Women’s Race. Luckily I had taken a foil blanket to sit on as the grass was slightly damp from the early morning dew.
Whilst watching I further carbed up with a banana and hydrated with water! However, by 9.15am nerves had got the better of me and I needed the toilet yet again! However, this time the queues appeared to be miles long!! I considered whether I actually needed to go but decided I had best try as I wasn’t planning on stopping during the race!! It took me quite some time to actually find the back of the queue and I was a little worried that I would miss the start and of the state the toilets were going be in by the time I got there! However, the queue moved happily along and surprisingly the toilets were as clean as they were at the beginning!
By now it was around 9.40am so I headed to my starting area in pen 5. Just outside the zones there was a huge charity bin collecting discarded clothes so I got rid of my old joggers and top and headed in. Each runner was meticulously checked to make sure they were going into the right area! I stood at the back of my pen with the sub 4 hour pacers!
I had decided I wasn’t going to run with a pacer as I wanted to enjoy the race at a pace I was comfortable with. I knew I’d probably only run London once and didn’t want my memory of it to be painful!
By now the sun had come out and huddled tightly in the pen with thousands of other runners I was beginning to feel rather warm! I was pleased I had opted for shorts and a vest. A lot of people around me appeared to be over dressed! At around 9.55am someone came and removed the tape separating us from pen 6 behind which made a mockery of having zones in the first place. All that happened were people from the back surged forward pushing their way through to the front!! I soon realised I was going have to go with the flow or I was going end up at the back!! It would have made much more sense to me to walk each area forward to the start line as separate zones and then cut the tape to prevent this!
Apparently, there was 40,000 runners, (a record number) in this year’s London Marathon, cheered on by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. They pushed the red button to start the elite men’s race and mass race. However, as a runner I was unaware of this and certainly didn’t see or hear them cheering me on!!!
I tried to remain calm and focused as we headed to the start. By now the race had actually started but we were waiting for our turn!
It took me 11 minutes to reach the timing mat and be on my way!
The weather was sunny but cool with hardly any wind – perfect. I felt really comfortable as we set off. After about 3 miles the red runners merged with the blue and green!
The course was very crowded, especially in the first 10K or so, with quite a bit of shoving and jostling! It was far more crowded than I had expected and I found it difficult to settle into my pace! However, there was the advantage that there was no way I could set off too fast and just had to settle myself down to accepting a slower pace than I wanted!
I think the 4 hour pacer was struggling with this also as he appeared to surge forward then I would catch him up again and then he would surge forward! I was pleased I had made the decision to run alone as I don’t think this is a good strategy in a Marathon!
I stuck stringently to my fuelling strategy which was to take a gel every 45 minutes right from the beginning! This meant I was taking my first gel at around the 5 mile point. Although there were plenty of water stations, I decided to keep hold of my bottle and kept taking sips rather than discard it! With it being so warm I was very conscious of not getting dehydrated and ruining my chances of a good run!
I hit the 10K marker in 57:20 on schedule for my dream 4 hour finish!
I was amazed at how narrow and congested some of the streets were and the obstruction caused by tens of thousands of discarded plastic bottles was significant and a huge risk to runners! There was also runners darting out in front of me to reach a water station at the last minute or to talk to a spectator they had seen!! I don’t know how I managed to survive the 26.2 miles without being tripped up as very few people used any race etiquette. What with these hazards mixed with people who just decided to stop running and walk without any thought to those behind them or groups of runners running together so no one could get past made the experience very frustrating and dangerous at times and harder work than it should have been as I was constantly adjusting my pace and weaving around people!
The route first goes through East London - including Greenwich and Woolwich, doubles back on itself, then winds through Central London, and finishes in Westminster , near Buckingham Palace. The last three miles of the race passed along the Embankment, turning right at Big Ben into Birdcage Walk and then past Buckingham Palace into The Mall to finish!
I took in the atmosphere and saw some great sights but the highlights were running past The Cutty Sark and over Tower Bridge in the first half!
Running over Tower Bridge with the crowds shouting my name was a wonderful experience that I will treasure as a runner forever! I actually felt myself well-up and have a little moment! My emotions were highly charged as I had trained so hard to get to this point and I could barely believe I was actually running in The London Marathon! The glorious weather made everything look brilliant and I felt great! I was still feeling confident when I hit the half way marker in 2:00:45 only slightly behind my 2 hour goal! However the tricky part was still to come, maintaining the pace over the second half on tired legs!
Meanwhile, my husband had been dashing round the city taking our cases to the baggage storage at Euston Station before trying to find a suitable space to spot me! Luckily I had set my Garmin Live Tracker so he knew exactly where I was on the course at a given time he just needed to try and fight his way there! He only managed to spot me once and amazingly I also spotted him at around the 18 mile point!
By now the sun had come out and huddled tightly in the pen with thousands of other runners I was beginning to feel rather warm! I was pleased I had opted for shorts and a vest. A lot of people around me appeared to be over dressed! At around 9.55am someone came and removed the tape separating us from pen 6 behind which made a mockery of having zones in the first place. All that happened were people from the back surged forward pushing their way through to the front!! I soon realised I was going have to go with the flow or I was going end up at the back!! It would have made much more sense to me to walk each area forward to the start line as separate zones and then cut the tape to prevent this!
Apparently, there was 40,000 runners, (a record number) in this year’s London Marathon, cheered on by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. They pushed the red button to start the elite men’s race and mass race. However, as a runner I was unaware of this and certainly didn’t see or hear them cheering me on!!!
I tried to remain calm and focused as we headed to the start. By now the race had actually started but we were waiting for our turn!
It took me 11 minutes to reach the timing mat and be on my way!
The weather was sunny but cool with hardly any wind – perfect. I felt really comfortable as we set off. After about 3 miles the red runners merged with the blue and green!
The course was very crowded, especially in the first 10K or so, with quite a bit of shoving and jostling! It was far more crowded than I had expected and I found it difficult to settle into my pace! However, there was the advantage that there was no way I could set off too fast and just had to settle myself down to accepting a slower pace than I wanted!
I think the 4 hour pacer was struggling with this also as he appeared to surge forward then I would catch him up again and then he would surge forward! I was pleased I had made the decision to run alone as I don’t think this is a good strategy in a Marathon!
I stuck stringently to my fuelling strategy which was to take a gel every 45 minutes right from the beginning! This meant I was taking my first gel at around the 5 mile point. Although there were plenty of water stations, I decided to keep hold of my bottle and kept taking sips rather than discard it! With it being so warm I was very conscious of not getting dehydrated and ruining my chances of a good run!
I hit the 10K marker in 57:20 on schedule for my dream 4 hour finish!
I was amazed at how narrow and congested some of the streets were and the obstruction caused by tens of thousands of discarded plastic bottles was significant and a huge risk to runners! There was also runners darting out in front of me to reach a water station at the last minute or to talk to a spectator they had seen!! I don’t know how I managed to survive the 26.2 miles without being tripped up as very few people used any race etiquette. What with these hazards mixed with people who just decided to stop running and walk without any thought to those behind them or groups of runners running together so no one could get past made the experience very frustrating and dangerous at times and harder work than it should have been as I was constantly adjusting my pace and weaving around people!
The route first goes through East London - including Greenwich and Woolwich, doubles back on itself, then winds through Central London, and finishes in Westminster , near Buckingham Palace. The last three miles of the race passed along the Embankment, turning right at Big Ben into Birdcage Walk and then past Buckingham Palace into The Mall to finish!
I took in the atmosphere and saw some great sights but the highlights were running past The Cutty Sark and over Tower Bridge in the first half!
Running over Tower Bridge with the crowds shouting my name was a wonderful experience that I will treasure as a runner forever! I actually felt myself well-up and have a little moment! My emotions were highly charged as I had trained so hard to get to this point and I could barely believe I was actually running in The London Marathon! The glorious weather made everything look brilliant and I felt great! I was still feeling confident when I hit the half way marker in 2:00:45 only slightly behind my 2 hour goal! However the tricky part was still to come, maintaining the pace over the second half on tired legs!
Meanwhile, my husband had been dashing round the city taking our cases to the baggage storage at Euston Station before trying to find a suitable space to spot me! Luckily I had set my Garmin Live Tracker so he knew exactly where I was on the course at a given time he just needed to try and fight his way there! He only managed to spot me once and amazingly I also spotted him at around the 18 mile point!
There was so much crowd support and noise around the entire course, which was amazing, the thought that thousands of people had come out to support runners they didn’t even know was so touching and really spurred me on – as did the thought that various friends and family were tracking me online and had sponsored me to run!
Despite the heat and the crowds I was feeling very comfortable and it was only at around mile 20 that I started to feel my legs!! My hips and Quads started to hurt. It was a huge mental battle to keep running through the pain as there was lots of people walking by this point or collapsing on the road due to cramp etc. My heart and lungs felt fine so I tried to push harder to the finish but the pain in my legs wouldn’t allow me and my pace dropped significantly for the last 6 miles scuppering my dream sub 4 hour goal time!
There was also Blackfrairers underpass to go through around this stage. I had to dig deep to keep running as it was full of runners walking, stretching, sitting, resting with no spectators to encourage you on! I was tired but I wasn’t giving up now! Even though I had taken 4 gels up to this point at 45 minutes, 1 hour 30 minutes, 2 hours 15 minutes, 3 hours I felt the need to get more energy down me and had another at 3 hours 30 minutes to get me to the finish line!
I felt a surge of energy as I turned right at Big Ben into Birdcage Walk and then past Buckingham Palace into The Mall and onto to finish!
The atmosphere was amazing at this point in the race and I ran up the mall with a manic smile on my face!!!
My official time was 4:06:28 and according to my Garmin I had actually run 26.51 miles! You can view the route and my splits here.
A lovely woman hung my medal round my neck and then amazingly I bumped into a friend who had started at the blue start!! We were amazed to see each other!
I picked up a goody bag with more snacks and a really nice t-shirt.
The finish area seemed to go on forever – a long walk after running 26.51 miles! But at least it was in the direction of the tube and where I had arranged to meet my husband.
I was relieved when we were finally reunited in the crowds and we immediately headed to the tubes to get to Euston for our train home!
I was feeling weary but the euphoria kept me going! I was pleased to get a seat on the tube as my legs would not have appreciated standing up at this point! At Euston Station I got changed into some clean clothes before getting the 3.30pm train home!
I refuelled on the way home with sandwiches, crisps, cake washed down with a couple of beers!
I had earned it!
Am I glad I ran London? Definitely!
It’s an epic event and I’d recommend any marathon runner does it at least once. I think it would be an amazing first marathon as you wouldn’t be concentrating on getting a PB, just enjoying the race!
Despite being vast it’s really well organised and the atmosphere is incredible.
Would I do it again? No!
It was on my bucket list to do and now that I have ticked it off I have no desire to do it again!! Personally I found it far too busy and crowded!
However, I WILL do another marathon and one day I WILL sub 4!
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