The Marathon Is Over!
Hello Everyone,
I’d firstly like to give a massive thank you to everyone that has sponsored me and helped me achieve this goal, it made the pain worthwhile!
For those that don’t know, I completed the marathon in 3 hours 48 minutes 43 seconds. It was by far the most physically and mentally demanding thing I have ever done. To give you an idea of what the race is like I have written a short piece below that will give an idea of how it went for me.
The Start:
Well, I was slightly late for my start so ended up sprinting across the start area to get to my assigned group literally at the second that the queue started to move! In a way this was quite good as I didn’t even have time to get nervous as I was soon enough running over the start line!
The first few miles were really what the marathon is all about. There were so many different people trying to achieve the same goal, some wearing some awesome fancy dress costumes and even blind people running. This was the most fun part of the race for me as I was fresh and able to enjoy running past the crowds. The miles just seemed to fly by!
Around mile five the field started to spread out slightly so running became less of an exercise in dodging around slower people. As this point I was feeling good and was a few seconds under the projected time I had given myself.
Mile 9 was a real boost for me as there was a group of my friends standing on the side I was running. This really spurred me on and made me feel a lot better and that I wasn’t so alone in the race! The happiness and adrenaline from this lasted for another mile or two and then started to disappear as the sun became hotter and the pace became more demanding.
I ran through the half way point in a time of 1 hour 42 minutes which was again right on schedule to achieve the time of 3 hours 30 that I set out to do. I felt relatively good at this point, however I was starting to become dehydrated due to the heat.
Miles 14 to 16 rolled on by slowly with my pace slowing a small amount as my legs became heavier and I struggled with keeping myself cool and breathing properly as the air became stagnant between all the high buildings around canary wharf.
At around mile 16 I found that I hit the ‘the wall’. For some reason this had come much earlier than in training (normally around 21 or 22 miles at this pace) and was very worrying as I wasn’t even two thirds of the way through the race yet. At this point I started to really struggle and again my pace slowed.
Miles 16 to 22 were the most difficult miles I had ever run. Not only physically as my legs were burning and felt like lead, but mentally as there were so many people starting to drop out and walk. The temptation to walk was horrendous but I battled with it so that I could eventually finish the race having run all the way. At times through these 6 miles it felt like my eyes started to glaze over and sometimes I was finding it difficult to see. I think dehydration must have been a factor in this because from miles 20 to 26 I drank nearly two litres of water because i was so thirsty!
At mile 23 I ran past my friends again who gave me a huge cheer. By this point I new i wouldn’t make the time of 3 hours 30 and had managed to slightly control my heart rate and the pain so that I was just slowly jogging and actually began to enjoy it again. My friends said that when I ran pat I looked green which I guess showed that all was not well.
Having reached this point I knew I was going to finish. Earlier in the race (around mile 18) i had set myself a new target of finishing in under 4 hours due to the condition that I was in. I knew this was achievable if I just kept running through these last few miles which seemed to take forever.
The most welcome sight I have ever seen during a sporting activity was the 800m to go marker as I ran past Buckingham Palace. Now I knew the end was close and I would have accomplished a lifetime goal. At 365 yards to go the course turned a corner and there was the finish, just a minute or two away. The crowd was cheering so loud and I ran as fast as I could to get over the line. Never have I been so pleased to have finished something!
Overall I was placed 6312th out of over 35,000 finishers. Only 1 hour 43 minutes and 43 seconds behind the overall winner Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya!
What I'm Doing: Running the London Marathon in aid of Cancer Research Uk
Why I'm Doing It:
In June 2008 my mum was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer in her appendix. The cancer was found at quite a late stage and had unfortunately already spread to various other parts of her internal organs including her liver. She has been receiving treatment since then by way of chemotheraphy to try and stabilise the growth of the cancer and prolong her life as much as possible.
The reason to chose Cancer Research as my charity seemed fitting as there is very little known about cancer starting in the appendix and I would like to think that any money raised may go towards helping research in this area, perhaps finding a more effective treatment so that others may be much more fortunate than my mum.
The marathon for me is much more than just the personal acheivement, it is the fact that I have the opportunity to give something back to the people who have been so quick to help my mum and are doing whatever it takes to try and overcome the disease. It is also something on a more personal level for my mum to watch me take part in and (hopefully) acheive, while she is still relatively well enough to make a trip to London.
The Race:
The marathon takes place on the 26th of April, which seemed a really long way off in October when I was granted the place! However it has become more of a realism now and I have set myself a goal of finishing it in under 3 hours 30 minutes.
Thankyou's:
Thankyou's go out to all my mum's friends for everything they have helped her with and how they've kept her battling on. Also massive thankyou's to the 'Friday Night Lot' for grabbing this fund raising by the neck and organising events and other ideas in and around Whitbourne.
Lastly a big thankyou for everyone who donates money, this can really make the difference to people's lives.
Joe.
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