Report on the London Marathon

The English colours shone through on the day of the marathon. While the balmy 10 degrees was very encouraging, it was accompanied by a constant drizzle of rain. Public transport was poor, and the queues for port-a-loos were about 50-deep at the start line. The start itself was not too bad, with entrants split between three starts, merging into one after 3 miles. The course was well attended by spectators – there was not one stretch without strangers yelling encouragement to me. Along with most of the runners, I ran for a charity (the National Autistic Society). They provided me with a running singlet with my name on it, so many people called out my name to encourage me on.

The run itself was quite good. The course was fairly flat, with a few undulations. With 35,000 runners, however, it was pretty congested, and weaving was the order of the day for most of my race. I started to feel the effect of the rain by the 20-mile mark, with heavy shoes and wet socks starting to rub. I was still on target, and attempting to reach my aim of 3½ hours. As the Tower Bridge came into sight at the 22-mile mark, the intensity of the crowds increased. Intimidation from the cheering crowds stopped me from walking at all during the last 4 miles (though my body was craving it!). Despite the crowds, though, aching legs, a cold body and sore feet saw my pace decrease markedly in those last 4 miles. Spending more than 14 minutes running the last 2km, I still made it through in 3:38. At least it gives me something to beat for next time! A cuddle from Peter at the end of the race cheered me, as did a well-earned shower and massage. I'm now aiming to run a half in July.