Running Total:£1,032.50
Still
to go: £467.50
Well,
what can I say? I did it. I completed the Virgin London Marathon 2014! In many
ways, however, the marathon didn’t go quite as I had expected/hoped it would.
In
terms of my result, I don’t know what went wrong. I could say it was too hot,
but I’ve run faster training sessions on hotter days. I could say that injury
interrupted my training and left me under prepared, but again, I’ve done the
long sessions with no issues. Or I could say that I went off too fast and paid
for it later on, but I was held in a queue so my race was restricted. Never the
less, I am proud of my achievement - Not many people I know can say they have
actually completed a marathon, but I can’t help but think ‘what if’.
Time 4:38:35
Place
– Overall 20,869 (35,766)
Place
– Men 15,050 (22,538)
Place
– Category 7,926 (11,982)
If
you like stats and graphs then check out my result page via the London Marathon
website.
Now
the day is over I have multitude of thank you’s to say:
- To Clare and Sara’s Friend Jane who sponsored me whilst I was out running the marathon, it was nice to finish it and see a couple more donations had come in!
- Of course a massive thanks goes to Sara for being my Support Team on the day and making sure I got home safely, though I’m pretty sure it was me that made sure we got home safely,
- To all my friends, family and colleagues who are so encouraging and supportive and who helped me out in any way,
- To Sense for taking a chance on me and letting me be part of this amazing day,
- To everyone who has sponsored me so far,
- To you lot for ploughing through the blogs.
As
to be expected, sleep was rather elusive on Saturday night. Having said that, I
did manage about six hours. The early alarm call was the worst thing ever,
though once I remembered I was running the marathon I soon woke up.
The
drive to Richmond to grab the train into Waterloo was fairly quiet on Sunday
morning when I started my journey. This soon changed once I got on the
Underground to head over to Greenwich. The attendants on the barriers set the
tone for London throughout the day, as they all gave a cheery good luck and a
smile. I’ve never known London to be so jolly and chatty.
When
I left my house early on Sunday the sun was already up and burning bright in
the sky. However I didn’t notice the heat until I stepped off the DRL train
service at Greenwich. I knew then that I was not just tackling the 26.2 miles
around the capital, but also the heat.
After
following the mass herd up towards the park, I stepped to one side to get my
gear on and complete my last check list. With everything in order I said
goodbye to Sara, and went bounding off up the hill to the entrance to the
runners area. After depositing my bag on the numbered trucks, I ticked off the
last thing on my list - visiting the boy’s room.
I
hadn’t known what the little number was on my running number until the night
before when I read the final instructions; it was telling me that I would be
starting in pen eight. I thought to myself that pen eight couldn’t be that bad,
how wrong was I? The only people I was ahead of where the fancy dress people.
Joining pen eight was mind-blowing: so many people, so much excitement and
anticipation. I couldn’t believe I was there.
It
wasn’t until I re-watched the footage that night that I saw the sheer scale of
the queue I was in. I knew it was kind of big because I didn’t cross the start
line until after 18 minutes had elapsed, but I could have never imagined the
sheer scale.
People
had told me that the crowds for the London marathon are excellent, but that
there are some quiet areas of the course which would require a strong mind to
get through. So I prepared myself for this, but I needn’t have bothered. There
was a mass of noise from start to finish and not one section of the course was
quiet. This may have been because Mo was running, but then thinking about it
they could have left once he passed. But they didn’t and they were FANTASTIC!
Even to the point where I wouldn’t have minded them quietening down a bit, just
so I could hear my music and get back into my running rhythm.
Arriving
at Tower Bridge was something I’ve been excited about for weeks. As I was
setting a good pace I decided to slow down to take in the crowd and savour the
moment. However just after that we curved east to head into Docklands/Canary
Wharf and could see the elite athletes coming in the opposite direction. This
was tough to take in as they looked so fresh. I was there wishing that I looked
and felt like that now, even though I had done something like five miles less
than them so far.
I’ve
not touched so many grubby, little hands since working as a kick boxing coach
years ago. The squeals of excitement from the younger members of the crowd as I
gently high-fived those in passing were so heart-warming and encouraging. Sadly
I couldn’t keep this up throughout the whole course as I got really tired and
just locked my arms in place to run.
Some
outstretched hands of the crowds offered water, juice, bananas, Jaffa Cakes,
jelly sweets, and even beer. I hadn’t anticipated such wonderful generosity.
The crowd really was one giant support team. It was staggering.
After
the heat of the city streets, descending into the cool canyons of Canary Wharf
was delicious. Gazing from the depth of the shadows up the sheer walls of glass
into an eye-wateringly blue sky was dizzying. However this is where my game
plan started to go wrong. The streets were too narrow to get past people and
there was no space to settle into a rhythm when I needed it the most. People
were walking three abreast so I burnt a lot of energy weaving in and out. There
was just no way to avoid the constant speeding up and slowing down, which may
be why my quads have hurt so much since Sunday. I didn’t ‘hit the wall’ as
such, but I could see time slipping away from me. I know the book had said not
to put a time on your first marathon, but it was frustrating. To snap out of
this lull I was in, I decided to challenge myself to make it to mile 23 in
under the (fast approaching) four hour mark. I did it with two minutes to
spare. Having reached that goal I decided to enjoy the last 3 miles of the
course, completing it in a leisurely thirty eight minutes.
By the time I
had crossed the finish line it would be pretty safe to say I was tired and a
tad sun burnt. I now have a fetching watch strap/ankle support and trainer sock
tan line, to go with the ones from my shorts and t-shirt. Once done, I headed
to the Sense after party. It wasn’t too far away looking back now, but trying
to walk there after I had finished the marathon seemed like a mini marathon in
itself. There were three options when I arrived: get some food, wash and
change, or go for a massage.
I’m pretty sure everyone
headed to get a massage first!
However, I
can’t rest on my laurels. I have my second marathon to get prepared for in less
than six weeks, and a fundraising target to meet!
The first challenge may now
be over, but I still have another three to do. More importantly, I still
require your help in reaching my total fundraising target of £1,500. Whatever
amount you can spare, even if it's £1, all goes towards doing amazing work at
Sense, which I hope to have the pleasure of seeing again in the near future! http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/LeighFleming
Leigh
Again
a big Thank you to you all!
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