The London Marathon, Sunday 21st April 2013
Looking for my other runs? They are here: Running Index.
Why do you do this?
I am sometimes asked "Why?" and it's not a straightforward answer. I think of camaraderie, but I train alone. I think of the races, but the marathons are very hard for me. I think of the fitness, but there are easier ways to achieve that. I think of the charities, but it's not always easy or comfortable asking for sponsorship. And then there's the training: hundreds of miles in pretty awful weather much of the time. As it happens, I am lucky and lead a flexibile working life so have it easier than most.
However, the truth is there are many aspects to enjoy about the whole process, including the sharing of experiences with non-runners and fellow runners. I got into this year's London Marathon by getting "lucky" in the ballot. My plan was to finally break 4 hours and then hang up my full marathon running shoes for ever. Having run (and walked) in many events before and called upon many of you reading this to support me, it was with a small sense of relief (for you and me!) that I didn't have to raise money for a charity.
With Owen. Everybody is glad to see the back of me
Fate was to intervene in the cruellest of ways though, as one of my longest standing friends, Denise, was diagnosed with bowel and liver cancer early in 2012 and whilst, realistically, it was always going to claim her life, her sad destiny was for this to happen faster than any of us imagined and she passed away on November 9th, 2012. I guess it was a natural feeling to want to run the marathon in her memory and I had seen many others do this on previous runs. I thought that, as well as marking my and our respect and affection for her and raising money for a related charity, it might provide a focal point for family and friends to gather around. I asked permission from Owen, Denise's husband, and set up the donation page in aid of Cancer Research.
The support from everybody exceeded all my expectations and I thank you all. As I write, we have already passed the amazing amount I was sponsored for the RNLI last year and the total will end up at over £4,700 including gift aid. (The online donation page is available until 20th May) From the £10s to the £500 pound donations they all count and make a difference. Thank you. Owen and I have a mutual friend, Simon, whose wife Diana also so sadly died earlier in 2012 and the words accompanying his donation were very sage: Diana did the 2006 marathon, we didn't dream then she would get cancer - though it turns out that she already had it. Work & treatment from Cancer Research probably gave us a couple of years. One day, like AIDs, it may be something that you die with and not of.
Training
Although I had a bit of a slow and rocky start, in the end I have to admit I was far and away better prepared for this marathon then either of the previous attempts. Training had started slowly in December and over Christmas, hindered by snow, flu and colds and I realised I was behind the curve. As the new year was welcomed I realised I had a skiing trip planned for just a few weeks' time. I'm not a natural skier. More of a naturally bad skier in fact but I managed to ski 5 days out of 6 and run on a treadmill at 3,000ft which was amazingly hard work. I also met the Dainty family (and Mark) there. Sophie Dainty was runnning for the Royal Marsden Hospital in memory of her Dad and foolishly took some tips from me (hope they weren't too bad!). On my return from skiing I felt good and immediately did a a fairly quick 15 mile run. Over the next few weeks my times stacked up well, I put the miles in and my run recovery periods were thankfully short. Looking good.
A friend of mine, Dave, was also running so we agreed to run the marathon together. Not living close by meant we couldn't train with each other but he had entered the Reading Half Marathon and so we did that as a "warm up". It was more like a "deluge down" though as the relentless rain lashed against us all morning. The guy on the tanoi was saying comforting things like "Don't worry, in a week's time you can get up, look out of the window and then go back to bed if the weather is like this". Dave and I looked at each other. We had 20 mile runs planned for that day (in near zero degree temperatures). Regardless, we had a very enjoyable run and it was Dave's first taste of a big event. 1 hour 46 minutes was 4 minutes faster than planned and a little too fast for me but a very respectable 13.1 mile training run all the same.
With the Cancer Research shoe
at the marathon Expo
After that, I did a 20 miler in just over my target 9 minute miles and a 22 miler in exactly 9 minute miles. My only injury was a dull ache in my right thigh and a pain in the side and top of my left foot - which I think was caused by over-tightening a shoelace before a run. Such a fragile body! Dave unfortunately pulled a ham string the following Sunday and we discovered we were starting from different zones so no running mates for us :-(. For me, on paper at least, I was looking good and 3 hours 45 minutes was possible allegedly. Paper isn't the real thing though and feels to me like saying I have good face for radio (which I have). So I planned to just go with the 3 hour 59 minute 59 second plan.
Race day
Massive Jug. Mental, mental, mental
A day full of emotion dawned with frost on top of the cars and on the lawn, but with the promise of dry, low wind and overcast conditions. Decisions had to be made: Running trousers or shorts? Do I wear and discard my faithful tracksuit which was just 15 years old and due to come back into fashion Real Soon Now? How much gel to cram into my running pouch? Cap or sweatband? Shall I wear a 30 pound trophy costume or not? Some questions were easier to answer than others.
Shorts - Tick. I got on the Tube and the first guy I chatted to was wearing thermal running tights. First mistake by me? Tracksuit - it had to go, it's time was ready, even though the bag drop facilities are excellent at the marathon. I crammed 5 gel packs and loads of running beans and glucose tablets into my pouch - mistake. It was now like a bunch of golf balls in a bag strapped loosely to my waste and when I started to run it hung low and, well, banged around my bits. Great preparation! A sweatband was the choice. I think I was the only person using one but I don't care as it keeps the sweat out of my eyes and I just wring it out every 5 miles (eeewwwww!). 30 pound trophy costume? Are you kidding me?
Blackheath was looking gorgeous as I strolled the mile or so to the start. It's quite unsettling to have to walk so far, and uphill, but it's the same for everyone. I ran the gauntlet of the endless queues for the toilets, the last minute nerves having the desired effect, then strolled over to my starting pen. I sat down, took off my top, chatted to the poeple around me and then with 10 minutes to go decided to do the last minute preparations. This included a last minute panic looking for my iPhone arm holster that I retrieved from the sleeve of my top in panic. The tracksuit was having it's own back on me for chucking it away.
iPhone plugged in and playing my special running track, headphones in, laces tied but not too tightly, naff sweatband around my head I was ready. Humming along to something or other I noticed that everybody around seemed rather quiet...and I quickly realised they were listening to some idiot playing shit Dad music during the 30 second silence for the people affected by the Boston Marathon bombs. I hurriedly turned down the volume but still looked like something out of a Mr Bean film.
Blue Start, Blackheath. Indeed, blue it was - check out the sky!
The Race
There was some expectant shuffling forward and then we seemed to be off. False alarm. There was a BBC camera that people wanted to run past and so we concertinad just after it and resumed our shuffling. We rounded a bend and could see the start. And that's it, we're away. The first few steps are odd as you know there is hours of running ahead but no good, or bad, time to start. The crowds were there right from the start with their well meaning shouts of support. Of note, and within 100 yards of the start, was a young woman's voice which shouted out "Keep Going!". Now, I am not sure that coaching is allowed during the race but I can confirm that we all took her advice. The first mile was slooooow and so crowded that I couldn't stick to my plan of running 8 minute 55 second miles for as long as possible. I was running at a pace slower than 10 minutes. There was a couple of gaps so I managed to speed up a little resulting in 9 minute 37 seconds. Don't panic I told myself and I didn't. 8:45 in the second mile brought me a little more inline. This was helped by a massive red fire extinguisher in which some hapless fool was running. I would see it just ahead of me for over a mile and, having been overtaken and beaten by Scooby Doo in a previous race, I was not going to be belittled by Foamy the Fire Extinguisher. It was a small and hollow victory as I ran past him but an important one I felt. Saddo.
Mile 3 was all downhill and I had picked up the pace to 8:29 which, whilst faster than I wanted to go, nicely brought me back into line. In fact, I never achieved 8 min 55 seconds on average and was always a bit slower so maybe I got the pace right although I did slow in the second half... After that I settled down to being close on 9 minutes per mile. Oddly mile 25 was done in 8:18 according to my watch. There is no doubt that you can't run the shortest distance of 26.2 miles when you are in a pack of lots of runners. And there is *no* quiet part of the course where you run by yourself. When I could I followed the broken blue line and even went inside it on the pavement a couple of times. The resultant distance though was a massive 26.62 miles - over 4 tenths of a mile further which is about 3.6 minutes at my pace! A 4 hour marathon is 9:09 minute miles but you are told to aim for 9 minute miles. 9 * 26.62 is 239.58 minutes so that's about only 20 seconds to spare!!
Other notable runners were the mankinis, who I thankfully never saw, two blokes with very realistic plastic bums hanging out of their shorts and the runaway bride and groom both wearing full white wedding dresses. The bride was having to hold her dress up for all 26 miles. The groom was sporting a big hairy beard for the avoidance of any doubt I guess. I ran close to them for a while but remembered my own advice which is to not run anywhere near anybody in a funny costume - they get all the cheers and you get nothing. I lost track of the happy couple but caught up with the groom a few miles later. It hadn't worked apparently so he had divorced his new bride during the run.
I looked out for various supporters on the run and was very pleased to see Nigel, my previous running mate, and Natasha around mile 8. Nigel, albeit with his damaged knee, ran along the side with me for, oooh, about 5 yards I think but his encouragement was second to none - thanks mate. I didn't see Maxene Dainty and her family or the Menace (hello Dennis!) but did look out for them all. Karen, Ryan, Derek, Owen, Dan and Adam were there at the 25th mile which was great. Afterwards they said I was looking good but I think that was only by comparison to the poor guy who had collapsed not 10 paces from them.
For you runners out there, a word about "the wall" and the mental hazards of running such a long way. If you have trained well and are running to your plan then you might be aching and want to give up. You won't hit "the wall" though as my view is that is when you run out of mental and physical energy. This year I really concentrated on my nutrional preparation (eat pasta twice a day for 4 days) and topping it up during the race. Of course there are exceptions - my friend Sharon ran 3 hours 32 minutes and was not aching the next day and is doing a triathlon on Sunday. I hate her. For me, I seem to start aching some time after 13 or 14 miles. This time I focussed on 18 miles being two thirds distance, otherwise I get hung up on 15 being a "nice number". I then tried to remain focussed to get over the 20 mile mark and, as the pain really started, just tried to go fast enough so I was as comfortable as I might be to get my planned time. Coming in from miles 21-24 I overtook loads of people and saw several runners cramped up or collapsed. At about mile 23 my faithful running watch told me to start today's workout - a marathon run!? Fortunately that message disappeared. I did feel lost after running through a tunnel after that in terms of knowing which mile marker was next and I think the GPS went a bit AWOL. Indeed my offline stats show by best speed as 25mph on mile 24 and an even more ridiculous 75mph on the next mile!
I tried speeding up in the last mile but couldn't do much so returned to a steady plod and tried to enjoy the last few yards. So much doubt was still in my head and it was only with 200 metres to go that I allowed myself to be convinced that I had done it. I crossed the line, staggered a few yards and the let the tears flood out thinking of all that this meant to me. I texted Karen saying "Never again" and tweeted my result - see the next paragraph!
Post Race
So did it work out for me finally? I am delighted to report that it did. 3 hours 58 minutes 4 seconds. I tweeted the simple message for my geek friends "< 4 :)". That'll do for me. Job done, hang up those marathon trainers and stick to half marathons or less. (Unless a friend asks me to run with them, then I may reconsider). I averaged 8 minutes 57 seconds per mile according to my watch but, as per the above, ran about 4 tenths of a mile further than I should have had to. I am sure the faster you are, the more likely you are to be able to run closer to the blue line and be less hampered by others.
My stats are available as follows:
My split times on the Marathon website.
The stats from my watch.
After the race with Owen, Dan and Adam
Many many thanks to everybody who has helped through this, not least of all my lovely wife Karen who has asked me all along how the running has been going, cooked me nutritional meals and given me the time to indulge myself. I really feel like this has been a wonderful collaboration for the good of many and in the memory of just one.
Bless you all.
Grahame