According to Wikipedia 128,000 people applied to enter the race with 50,039 applications accepted and 36,396 completing it. I was one of these people and this is my story.
I remember watching the first London Marathon, back in March 1981, I would have been 9 years old. I don’t remember much about it other than being captivated by this spectacle of a race, on the streets of the city I lived in. It was amazing seeing so many participants, Male, female, old young, diversity and fancy dress 😀 watching it became an annual activity. Even though I wasn’t a runner, it was part of the UK calendar starting before I went to church and still on when I got back! It felt like it went on ALL DAY.
I’d never follow it all, it was too long, but I remember the winner being announced on the news and there was always ‘chat’ about it at school the next day and how if we entered we would win 😂
I can’t remember when but at some point in my teens I mentally said to myself ‘one day I’ll do that’. Back then I thought I had all the time in the world to do everything and anything, back then I thought anything was possible.
Fast forward to 2006 and I’m lying on a massage table in Belenden Therapies with the masseur, Jane, ironing out the knots in my shoulders. After I’d gasped as something clicked back into place Jane said to me, have you ever thought of doing the London Marathon? My mind went back to the younger me, the dreams I’d had and replied absolutely, someday, to which Jane replied, I have three places from the charity I’m working with, let me know if you’d like one of the places. The question hung in the air. I knew that I wanted to run the London Marathon, someday but was that now? I also knew that getting entry into this event was very difficult and I was being offered a place. Would this kind of opportunity ever present itself again? My brain shouted, now’s not the right time and you’ll have to raise money for charity, what if you can’t reach the sponsorship target? But underneath a quieter firmer voice said ‘this is a once in a lifetime opportunity’. This voice rose to the surface and it was like I heard myself say yes. And in that instant, although I didn't know it, my life irretrievably changed.
A few weeks after that conversation, with Jane, I received a letter from the Independent Adoption Agency thanking me for agreeing to run the 2007 London Marathon and agreeing to raise a sum of money for them to advance their work. I let the words of the letter sink in, this was it, I was registered and there was no turning back, I needed to start taking this seriously!
Over the coming weeks, I bought some trainers, found a training plan for beginners and booked runs into my calendar. My housemate, Lucy, was going to be doing it too. In my mind I said, just commit to the plan, don’t miss a single session and on race day you’ll be able to do it, just take it one session at a time.
I also had to start reading about the work the Independent Adoption Agency did. I needed to understand everything they did and why, because I was going to be asking people for sponsorship. I read, I researched and read some more so I could answer anyone’s questions. Fast forward to today and I now sit as an independent member of the Adopt London South panel, funny how things can end up #unexpectedconsequencies
My training started in September 2006, I had no Garmin watch, no carbon-plated shoes and I ran in my cycling shorts. I went to my local park put headphones on and ran for the length of time set out in the plan. I knew nothing about pacing or running levels. All I knew was what length of time each session was and did it. Looking back I smile at how naive I was, but I can respect how focussed and resilient I was. No matter what rain, wind, snow or shine I would do my sessions. As the length of the sessions increased, I started eating more pasta and socialising less and less, I stopped sleeping and instead passing out once my head hit the pillow.
I didn’t join a running club, I didn’t join a running circle, I didn’t even know about parkrun and I wasn’t watching YouTube channels about running. I was just binge-reading the few things which would be emailed to me from the London Marathon along with thinking how on earth I was going to raise the sponsorship total I’d agreed to.
The London Marathon is 26.4 miles or 42.2km. It starts at Greenwich Park heading East to Charlton and Woolwich Dockyard before coming back to Greenwich and the Cutty Sark which is 7 miles. This part of the race had incredible roadside choirs and bands. A person dressed as Elvis atop a garage belting out hits was particularly memorable, an example of why this event is embraced and has become part of the fabric of the nation, a celebration of London and a display of the power, prestige and self-confidence.
Winter training was hard but by now I was locked in and even knew what SLR (Sunday long run) meant. I didn’t know that I should have bought new trainers due to the amount of mileage I was doing or bought actual running socks. I was simply sticking to the plan and now eating wholemeal pasta and sleeping like a log. In my waking moments when I wasn’t eating pasta outside work all I could think about was my next training session, total running-tunnel vision.
Raising the sponsorship money proved to be easier than I’d feared due to the huge generosity of family and friends. I turned up on race day with the goal of not walking and doing myself proud my excitement and anticipation kept me blissfully unaware of what was to come.
I remember arriving at Greenwich and being in the biggest assembly of runners I could imagine. I managed to find my start ‘pen’ and was simply carried along by the wave of excitement in the air. I felt part of something much bigger than anything I’ve ever been involved in before, I was a drop of water in a sea of runners. This was it, I was going to run the London Marathon, without walking and smiling and waving to family, friends, and supporters.
I remember going past the Cutty Sark and then going up Jamaica Road and I didn’t feel right, 7 miles in and I couldn’t find a rhythm but I was enjoying it. The London Marathon is incredible: the other runners, the supporters, it is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before or since. I actively encourage everyone if they can, to complete it. I now know I hadn’t stretched enough before setting off, I also hadn’t drunk enough water. At the time it was a record-breaking hot day and my entire body was too tight. At mile 12 I smiled for the cameras as I turned onto Tower Bridge, with St Paul’s in the distance, the halfway point, and the loudest wall of noise I’ve ever heard. I experienced a euphoric moment, an emotional moment, a moment I’ll never forget!
I took a right at the end of the bridge and promptly started cramping in my right leg. Panic started to sink in as I wondered if I’d picked up an injury. I completely slowed down and hoped I could run it off which after several miles I did and then promptly started cramping in my left leg and I ran to the Isle of Dogs, I descended into my own Isle of hell. With each mile the pain increased and then it became a complete mental game. The promise I had made to those who had sponsored me that I wouldn’t walk, along with the crowd carried me on when every part of my body was screaming to stop.
I was a mess, tears streaming down my face. Supporters kept encouraging, a runner put his arm around me and said ‘keep going son, you’re almost there’. Some friends in the crowd spotted me and called my name, I wasn’t smiling, I wasn’t waving I was clinging on with everything I had. I remember going up Embankment, taking a right at the top going past Big Ben and then heading to Bird Cage Walk going past Buckingham Palace and finishing on the Mall. I was delirious and had to be directed to walk up a ramp to be given my medal. I had completed the London Marathon, without walking in 4hrs 45mins 14secs.
I went to walk down the ramp and my legs gave out and I collapsed and was unable to get myself up. Volunteers called for help, a wheelchair appeared. I was lifted into it and taken to a Salvation Army tent. I was seen by a physiotherapist who worked on my legs for 40mins and slowly life returned to them and I could walk again.
Fortunately, I didn’t do any permanent damage to myself physically however the day left mental scars. My body recoiled at the idea of running and I didn’t do it again for 5 years. I now run regularly completing 5ks, 10ks and half-marathon’s but I’ve never felt ready to tackle a marathon again, not until now. I have unfinished business with 42.2k and this September I’m going to face my fears.
Happy running
Wow that brings back such incredible memories! How inspiring that you stay open to opportunities and the ripple effect means it changed my life and many others too.
What a wonderful account. Brings it all to life so vividly