London Marathon 2008 Special

Hello

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Quick Results
position pl.age Race no. time Avg Pace
12537/23612 1372 22968 4:03:42 9:17 per mile

Splits
5 km 0:29:18
10 km 0:58:08
15 km 1:26:47
20 km 1:52:40
half 1:58:06
25 km 2:18:57
30 km 2:46:50
35 km 3:16:09
40 km 3:51:00
finish 4:03:42
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The London Marathon was to be my first marathon of 2008, and what a memorable one it would turn out to be. I was able to stay just a 20 minute walk from the start line thanks to a good friend of mine from Uni, so thanks Vicky & Damien for the hospitality. In the starting area for the blue zone the atmosphere was great. I had some quick banter with a bunch of people from Iceland who had marathon tour t-shirts on of every one they’ve completed and they were trying to convince me to take part in the Reyjavik Marathon but sadly my summer holiday to Iceland isn’t at the same time.

My plan had been to run the first 10 miles slow (9:25 per mile), the second 10 miles at a medium pace (9:00), and then pick it up on the last 10k (8:35). I expected the course to be flat, and whilst the route did take in a few tourist attractions, there looked to be a big sparse patch of anything interesting round Canary Wharf though.


I managed to sneak into the back of wave 6 (out of 8) but this still put me towards the back of the masses. As I crossed the start line at Blackheath I was glad I was taking the first section easy as it was impossible to run at any speed, so I just tried to relax and enjoy the costumes and told myself I’d worry about the time later. After a few miles, the different colour starts merged and its traditional to boo the other colours which I did with vigour! Its little things like this that makes London a great Marathon for atmosphere.

As I approached Greenwich I passed a sight that will stay with me for a while. A fireman was running in full gear including breathing apparatus. I’ve no idea how heavy all of it was, but the feat was awe inspiring, a true hero! As we went round the burnt out Cutty Sark the course narrowed and we ended up stood still for a bit which was a shame so early in the race! As I turned the corner to start leaving Greenwich I managed to catch sight of Vicky & Damien, and even better, they saw me and snapped this great photo!



Outside of Greenwich I checked my time and I was only marginally down on where I was supposed to be, and felt great, though obviously it was still early days. Around the 8 mile mark I came across the Massai Warriors! An incredible sight, as they sang away and apparently planned to dance every now and then. The scene was made even more touching with some of our own armed forces who’d entered the marathon giving them an honour guard and running with them.

Sadly though the Massai marked a turning point for me in the race as the heavens opened and a fairly torrential downpour started. Brendan Foster bragged from his warm, dry commentary booth how he ran for a mile in bad rain the day before and it can help… well I’m not a fan of running freezing cold and soaking for 3 hours so I’ll respectfully disagree with the modern day father of British road running. All I could do to stave off the cold was pick my pace up to generate a bit more heat and I slowly dropped my pace to the 8 minute mile mark which I maintained from mile 11 to 14 as I entered the Canary Wharf district. I had not planned to be running at this pace, but it was the only thing keeping off the cold and wet but the cost from this would be felt later. It was during this peak running zone that I managed to see Dave and Pippa and the shout from Dave was something that may have made even the Massai Warriors flinch! My running gizmo produced the below graph, and for the sharp eyed, you may notice that total distance it claims I ran is 27.26 miles! I suspect this is a combination of normal fudge factor for GPS, the odd area of poor reception, and me not being able to take the racing line on many bends (also I’m pretty convinced mile 20 is wrong… there is no way on this planet I ran that fast).



By the 20 mile marker, my body was in a fair bit of pain and my core muscles were completely shot. I realised I had no hope of running at 8:35 pace for the remaining 10k but tried to keep close as long as I could. The game was up by mile 23 though and I broke, no longer able to keep up the pace that kept me warm, my decline accelerated and I was reduced to run/walking and by the time I reached the underpasses of Victoria Embankment I was down to walking for a minute or two at a time. This was a very black time for me and one that I was saved from by some phenomenal athlete dressed as Paddington bear as we kept leapfrogging each other. I have no idea how the chap had got so far at such a consistently good pace in a mascot suit. As the houses of parliament came into site, I thought to myself “I can’t let Paddington beat me” and I somehow found the energy to start running at a good pace again.


As I crossed the line I was utterly destroyed. This experience had been far more brutal on me then Nottingham (Nottingham is a more difficult course though) and by the time I’d got my bag I was not in the best state. Staggering fairly aimlessly around Ben somehow saw me, shouted and came to get me. I was on a different planet at this point and was hoping to try and get to the meet and greet tent to try and find Tony, but with the legs shutting down, my head in a bit of a mess, I was convinced by Ben to find warmth and somewhere to sit and so off we went. Thankfully once I'd warmed up and rested for 10 mins I felt a lot better.

Overall it was a fantastic experience, and I recommend anyone signing up to the ballot entry for next year which is open now. The atmosphere is electric and something to experience. A final thank you to Mike for his support in the build up and the friends who looked out for me on the course, it was a shame I didn’t see all of you, but the thought kept me going and looking out for people gave me something to take my mind off the pain!