Virgin London Marathon 2011

Let me start off by saying that as great a day as it was and how great it felt to be a part of it… I’m really glad that the Virgin London Marathon 2011 is over.

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It’s hard to write this without touching upon the same stories, the same feelings and the same experiences that everyone else who’s ever run the marathon has told you about.  There’s a reason for this though…. it’s because they are more or less all true… it really is great to just be a part of it, the crowd really is amazing and keeps you going through all the aches and pains, the initial wonder you experience is slowly overcome by a begrudging annoyance over when it will end, and there really is a big frickin wall that hit anywhere from 10 to 25 miles in.  I suppose that’s one of the reasons why so many people run it and find it within themselves to run it again… there’s something universal about the whole thing and whether you are watching or taking part, it really does bring out a sense of community and camaraderie that is unfortunately too rare a thing these days.

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I suppose for the spectators, they might say that watching people run the marathon is a real testament to the triumph of the human spirit (or a good excuse to have a few beers in the sunshine).  Watching ordinary people putting themselves through extraordinary pain, all in the name of a good cause or  just for the sake of saying they’ve achieved something.  For me, running around on what turned out to be an uncomfortably hot day, I was overcome by the good will of it all.  People from different cultures and of all ages coming together to support you on your way.  I love London and am proud to tell people that’s where I’m from (when the need arises).  However, I’m also fully aware it’s not without its flaws, especially if you have to travel to work there everyday!  Sometimes all this potential is lost in the routine of everyday lives and everyday problems.  Yesterday, was the first time in a long time I remembered just how great London can be.

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Yesterday, I fell in love with London again…

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Bermondsey, an area I would usually avoid like the plague was suddenly alive with cheers and enough good will to blow you over Tower Bridge without breaking sweat.  The Commercial Road, my pathway into the big city, a road so frustrating by it’s abject dinginess and limited access to the two tunnels that take me home was suddenly over run with people shouting and swaying on the pavements. St James Park and Buckingham Palace, a a place for the tourists, seldom mentioned as somewhere you might entertain visiting if you’ve lived in London for any part of your life suddenly became a significant beacon on your 26.2 mile journey… a more fitting place to finish I can’t imagine.

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The race was tough, the training insufficient, the weather too hot but the experience was amazing.  And the train journey home, a journey I’ve experienced far too many times to mention was the most friendly and enjoyable I’ve ever had.  Nobody listening to their music too loud and everybody chatting to complete strangers sat across from them about their day and their experiences.  It really just flew by and made you wish that every time could be like that.

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On a personal note, I finished the race in 4hrs 44mins (after wrongly checking my phone and thinking I’d done it in 4hrs 30)!  I naively hoped before the race that I might do it in sub 4hrs but having done the miles I realize now that that was never a possibility.  I feel I ran a very similar race to a lot of other people out there… a good first half and a very painful second half.  Around 19 miles my legs went and it was a slow part walk part run final 7 miles.  If I’m brutally honest though, I just didn’t do enough training and paid the consequences.  And though I’m slightly disappointed in my time, I can hold my hand on my heart and say I really did give it everything I had (and I’m suffering the consequences of that today!) and am proud of myself for that.

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Having set out a marathon playlist before the race, I ended up starting the race listening to the new Foo Fighters album ‘Wasting Light’ not once but TWICE through before switching to the designated playlist.  (The album really is that good and saw me through the first 10 miles with ease.)  Other musical highlights were Two Step by the Dave Matthews Band coming on whilst running through Surrey Quays followed by Dress for Success by Roxette, Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits encouraging me to start running again after I had walked through a big part of the Docklands and Ants Marching by the DMB stopping me from walking from St James Park to the finish line.

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(Other moments of musical inspiration were That Summer-Garth Brooks, Calico Skies- Paul McCartney, I’m Waiting For The Day-The Beach Boys (along Commercial Road), Losing Lisa-Ben Folds, Canadian Rose-Blues Traveller, My City Of Ruins-The Boss, No41 & Dreamgirl-DMB, Sequestered in Memphis-The Hold Steady, Centrefold-J.Giels Band, All Along The Watchtower-Hendrix, Serve The Servants-Nirvana, Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Otis Redding, The Fixer & Gonna See My Friend-Pearl Jam, I Wanna b ur Lover-Prince, Just-Radiohead, Wet Sand-Chilli Peppers, Mockingbird-Rob Thomas (top song), Mayonnaise-Smashing Pumpkins, He’s Misstra Know It All, Sir Duke & Signed, Sealed Delivered by Stevie Wonder, The Waiting-Tom Petty, Drops of Jupiter-Train)

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Other things I noted were getting my name printed on my shirt beforehand was the best tenner I’ve ever spent.  Hearing your name shouted along the way really makes you feel a lot better about yourself which is vitally important on the last few miles when you’re not feeling your best (even if no amount of shouting from a stranger in the crowd is going to stop your leg from seizing up!).  Also, having friends and family there to cheer you at certain points really does help you along.  Personally, knowing that I had those closest to me there to cheer me on at 15 and 19 miles really encouraged me to make it to those points and just having something to look forward to during the race is a big incentive to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

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And then it’s done, you cross the finish line and all those hours of training and stretching (and physio!) can be put to rest (for the majority of people anyway).  You congratulate friends, you congratulate people you don’t know and for me you struggle to carry your winners bag and belongings all the way back to Charing Cross.  The evening was a haze, a a mixture of exhaustion and hunger (and a little bit of sun stroke) made it all seem like a bit of an outer body experience.  I finally fell into bed with the aches and pains which are even more prominent now already settling in.  I woke up unusually early this morning and tried to think clearly about everything that had happened the day before…. so many memories yet so many things I”d already forgotten.  After thinking everything through I asked myself the most important question, the question that I’d been ignoring since I crossed the finish line.

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‘Would I do it again?’

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And I thought to myself…

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‘in a heartbeat’. (But I will give it a couple of years first!)