Since getting back home, I've had a lot of questions asking me how the marathon was and to be honest it would seem unfair to the experience to sum it up in one word, or even one sentence. I hope that in this final blog post, I will be able to bring together some of the thoughts and feelings I had throughout that 5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds. Hopefully I can put down some of the highlights
The start line
The start line
I knew there was going to be 38,000 runners I just didn't quite understand how that would look, it was quite overwhelming, from my starting point I couldn't see the point where the mass of runner began in front of me and I couldn't see where the mass of runners ended behind me. There were a huge amount of incredibly fit looking people. It was obvious by the way they were talking, they were not doing their first marathon, that aspect of it I found very intimidating. When the starting gun went off I was around 600 metres away from the physical starting line so I was already getting tired before I had crossed the start line (which took me around 17 minutes).
The funniest memories from the start was the impact of runners over hydrating before the long race, there were load of runners in the 17 minutes before the start line who had to jump the fence and run back to the toilets. Then in the first 400 metres of the race once people started running there was a long row of bushes at which there were about 30 guys doing the toilet. It was funny to overhear two ladies beside me complain at how life was very unfair for women, I must admit at this row of bushes I made my first pit stop, I too was over hydrated.
The marathon was 5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of nerves, anticipation and excitement!
The crowds
I heard many people tell me how amazing the crowds are going to be and they were. The first taste of the kind of support the runners would get came around 50 metres into the race, when some cockney geezer shouted "keep going guys, you are almost there" I could tell from the folks around him, that he had told this joke about 100 times in the last 17 minutes, but it was funny to me.
This kind of encouragement lasted the whole marathon. So many of the locals came out just to shout and clap the runners on, many came with jelly babies, orange segments and other things that the runners might need on their way. The two main highlights for me were when running round the cutty sark (around 6 miles) and the tower bridge (around 12 miles) where the crowds were so loud it was like running through a wall of sound, it gave me the impression of what it must be like to be a professional athlete to have a huge stadium roar you round the track- it was spine tingling.
5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of pure elation!
The race entertainment
Another really cool thing was the entertainment that was put on for the runners, this ranged from some guy with a set of speaker on his balcony playing music and shouting random words of encouragement, to Morris dancers, gospel choirs outside a church, live bands, drum bands, bagpipes, brass bands, cheerleaders and many more. It was really amazing that they would do this, you only saw them for 20 to 30 seconds but some were so brilliant that many runners applauded them as they went.
5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of fun
The 9 mile mark
I knew that somewhere around the 9 mile mark, my own personal fan club would be waiting to see me, at this point the road was a little narrower and it was thick with runners, without my glasses I wasn't too sure if I would miss them. I would have done, but somehow over the significant noise of the crowd, I heard a roar that I knew instantly to be my dad's (not that he needed to shout at me often as a child, but apparently I'm still sensitive to it).
I then (much to the annoyance of about 50 runners) crossed the road to greet my family, at that point I felt an abundance of elation and being high on adrenaline it was an extremely joyful reunion. I felt so pleased to share this experience with those I love most. I felt empowered as I hugged them and went on my way.
5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of happiness
The 16 mile mark
The boost I received from my family lasted a few miles, but unfortunately not 17.2 miles, at around the half way mark I was beginning to really toil, at 15 miles I had run further than I had ever run before and at 16 miles my legs would no longer cooperate.
In hindsight, I realise how ill-prepared I was to run 26.2 miles. Between having the flu twice, sitting two exams, trying to balance running with normal life and being extremely cautious not to run with an injury or pain, I just hadn't put enough miles in my legs. Most of the reading I had done talked about hitting the wall at around 19-20 miles. I definitely hit it at 16 miles. 10 miles to travel after hitting the wall is an extremely long way to go.
5 hour 22 minutes and 17 seconds of exhaustion
The 19 mile mark
Somewhere in London's financial district, is the 19 mile mark. This was the next place I was to meet my family. At this point I was going so slow, it would have been hard to miss them. This time it was not so much a happy reunion, I saw them and I just said "It's so sore". I could tell there was a lot of sympathy from them, I saw in their eyes the desire for them to say, Gary you've done really well just stop here and we'll get you home, but we all accepted quitting was not an option, the pain was the only option, but you don't ever want to see people you care about going through pain.
I had a couple of brief moments with Lynne, I can't remember what was said but I do remember taking a lot of heart from it.
5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of pain
20 - 25 miles
For me at this point, the crowds stop mattering, even the other runners didn't matter, no matter how imaginative their costumes were, I could have been on one of those long lonely runs I had done over the winter. It became such a mental battle, my feet were on fire, my knees and ankles were begging me to sit down and I couldn't help but feel I was doing some serious damage to my hips. It became so long with each mile feeling so much longer than the one previous.
At one point I remember thinking, I can't remember a time in my life when I was not running the London marathon.
To demonstrate my struggle in the last parts of the race, I received some race stats saying in the last 7km of the race I overtook 50 people but was overtaken by 1,100 people.
5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of mental anguish
The finishing line
The mental aspect seemed to lift a little with 2km to go, I was able to envisage the first 2km of most of my training runs which is my house to Dobbie's and for some reason that seemed to give me great hope that the race would soon be finished. At the 26 mile mark, Buckingham palace came into view and I was able to break into a hobbled jog for the last 0.2 miles and was able to find a random stranger to hold hands with as we crossed the line together.
The feeling of relief as I crossed the line was overwhelming, I congratulated my random stranger and he congratulated me then I just broke down in tears. Now cause I'm a man, I want to say this is not really like me, but there was such a surge of emotion in crossing the line, I just couldn't hold it back. A week on, I still am not sure what it is exactly I was feeling, but I know I wasn't alone.
5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of relief
It was again a joyful reunion to meet all my family, for the long and painful walk to the busiest tube station I'd seen all weekend.
Post running pain and glory
I had a terrible sleep on Sunday night, primarily because of pain. I woke up about 1am unable to move my leg, I lay there for about 20 minutes before I had to wake Lynne up to help me out of bed, she didn't seem to have as much sympathy as at 19miles as she just laughed at me. Everyday since then I have got better and better, yesterday I actually did some exercise and felt great. I may even be ready to go for a run in the next few days.
On Monday morning we were at King's Cross station wearing my finishers medal, Charlie and I were standing in the queue to get a picture at platform 9 and 3/4. An American visitor in front of me looked at my medal which is silver in colour and asked me if I had just done the London marathon, I proudly told him that I had, to which he responded and you managed to come second, congratulations! Now I probably should have put him right, but I didn't!
Next steps
It has been an amazing experience to prepare for and complete the London marathon. 21 weeks ago I was not doing any exercise, I sat in an office for hours a day. In doing this I managed to get much fitter, lose a bit of weight and feel like I have accomplished something amazing. If I can do it, then I think most people can amaze themselves and take on this amazing challenge.
Tomorrow morning the entry for the ballot for the 2016 marathon takes place, I've decided that I will apply again, it is unlikely I will get a place through the ballot, but if I do I will look forward to repeating that amazing experience, if I don't get a place through the ballot I will count myself lucky I don't have to go through that traumatic experience.
My advice to you all for this week, is to apply for a place in the London marathon. It can change you!
Thanks for reading.
Donors of the week
The last two weeks I have been overwhelmed with the generosity of friends, family as well as friends of family and family of friends. I would like to mention the following special people!
Isobel Watkins
41 UK
John mellor
Rita Tulloch
Mike, Jane and Ethan
The Bousies
Dawn
Marcella
Audrey (old school friend of Lynne's)
Paul
Rachel and Charles Oliver
Kathry and Nathan
Rachel Gorrie
Tony Rand
Shona
Ala Taylor
Gavin Duffy
These contributions in addition to all previous contributions have provided almost £1,650 to Actuaries' Charitable Trust, I thank you all.
I have received a very kind email from someone on behalf of the charity thanking me and all my donors for all the work that had been put in. They will ensure that these funds are put to good use.
Please give generously!
If you wanted to sponsor me but just never quite got round to it, my just giving account will be open for another two months. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=therunningactuary&faId=524011&isTeam=false
The funniest memories from the start was the impact of runners over hydrating before the long race, there were load of runners in the 17 minutes before the start line who had to jump the fence and run back to the toilets. Then in the first 400 metres of the race once people started running there was a long row of bushes at which there were about 30 guys doing the toilet. It was funny to overhear two ladies beside me complain at how life was very unfair for women, I must admit at this row of bushes I made my first pit stop, I too was over hydrated.
The marathon was 5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of nerves, anticipation and excitement!
The crowds
I heard many people tell me how amazing the crowds are going to be and they were. The first taste of the kind of support the runners would get came around 50 metres into the race, when some cockney geezer shouted "keep going guys, you are almost there" I could tell from the folks around him, that he had told this joke about 100 times in the last 17 minutes, but it was funny to me.
This kind of encouragement lasted the whole marathon. So many of the locals came out just to shout and clap the runners on, many came with jelly babies, orange segments and other things that the runners might need on their way. The two main highlights for me were when running round the cutty sark (around 6 miles) and the tower bridge (around 12 miles) where the crowds were so loud it was like running through a wall of sound, it gave me the impression of what it must be like to be a professional athlete to have a huge stadium roar you round the track- it was spine tingling.
5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of pure elation!
The race entertainment
Another really cool thing was the entertainment that was put on for the runners, this ranged from some guy with a set of speaker on his balcony playing music and shouting random words of encouragement, to Morris dancers, gospel choirs outside a church, live bands, drum bands, bagpipes, brass bands, cheerleaders and many more. It was really amazing that they would do this, you only saw them for 20 to 30 seconds but some were so brilliant that many runners applauded them as they went.
5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of fun
The 9 mile mark
I knew that somewhere around the 9 mile mark, my own personal fan club would be waiting to see me, at this point the road was a little narrower and it was thick with runners, without my glasses I wasn't too sure if I would miss them. I would have done, but somehow over the significant noise of the crowd, I heard a roar that I knew instantly to be my dad's (not that he needed to shout at me often as a child, but apparently I'm still sensitive to it).
I then (much to the annoyance of about 50 runners) crossed the road to greet my family, at that point I felt an abundance of elation and being high on adrenaline it was an extremely joyful reunion. I felt so pleased to share this experience with those I love most. I felt empowered as I hugged them and went on my way.
5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of happiness
The 16 mile mark
The boost I received from my family lasted a few miles, but unfortunately not 17.2 miles, at around the half way mark I was beginning to really toil, at 15 miles I had run further than I had ever run before and at 16 miles my legs would no longer cooperate.
In hindsight, I realise how ill-prepared I was to run 26.2 miles. Between having the flu twice, sitting two exams, trying to balance running with normal life and being extremely cautious not to run with an injury or pain, I just hadn't put enough miles in my legs. Most of the reading I had done talked about hitting the wall at around 19-20 miles. I definitely hit it at 16 miles. 10 miles to travel after hitting the wall is an extremely long way to go.
5 hour 22 minutes and 17 seconds of exhaustion
The 19 mile mark
Somewhere in London's financial district, is the 19 mile mark. This was the next place I was to meet my family. At this point I was going so slow, it would have been hard to miss them. This time it was not so much a happy reunion, I saw them and I just said "It's so sore". I could tell there was a lot of sympathy from them, I saw in their eyes the desire for them to say, Gary you've done really well just stop here and we'll get you home, but we all accepted quitting was not an option, the pain was the only option, but you don't ever want to see people you care about going through pain.
I had a couple of brief moments with Lynne, I can't remember what was said but I do remember taking a lot of heart from it.
5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of pain
20 - 25 miles
For me at this point, the crowds stop mattering, even the other runners didn't matter, no matter how imaginative their costumes were, I could have been on one of those long lonely runs I had done over the winter. It became such a mental battle, my feet were on fire, my knees and ankles were begging me to sit down and I couldn't help but feel I was doing some serious damage to my hips. It became so long with each mile feeling so much longer than the one previous.
At one point I remember thinking, I can't remember a time in my life when I was not running the London marathon.
To demonstrate my struggle in the last parts of the race, I received some race stats saying in the last 7km of the race I overtook 50 people but was overtaken by 1,100 people.
5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of mental anguish
The finishing line
The mental aspect seemed to lift a little with 2km to go, I was able to envisage the first 2km of most of my training runs which is my house to Dobbie's and for some reason that seemed to give me great hope that the race would soon be finished. At the 26 mile mark, Buckingham palace came into view and I was able to break into a hobbled jog for the last 0.2 miles and was able to find a random stranger to hold hands with as we crossed the line together.
The feeling of relief as I crossed the line was overwhelming, I congratulated my random stranger and he congratulated me then I just broke down in tears. Now cause I'm a man, I want to say this is not really like me, but there was such a surge of emotion in crossing the line, I just couldn't hold it back. A week on, I still am not sure what it is exactly I was feeling, but I know I wasn't alone.
5 hours 22 minutes and 17 seconds of relief
It was again a joyful reunion to meet all my family, for the long and painful walk to the busiest tube station I'd seen all weekend.
Post running pain and glory
I had a terrible sleep on Sunday night, primarily because of pain. I woke up about 1am unable to move my leg, I lay there for about 20 minutes before I had to wake Lynne up to help me out of bed, she didn't seem to have as much sympathy as at 19miles as she just laughed at me. Everyday since then I have got better and better, yesterday I actually did some exercise and felt great. I may even be ready to go for a run in the next few days.
On Monday morning we were at King's Cross station wearing my finishers medal, Charlie and I were standing in the queue to get a picture at platform 9 and 3/4. An American visitor in front of me looked at my medal which is silver in colour and asked me if I had just done the London marathon, I proudly told him that I had, to which he responded and you managed to come second, congratulations! Now I probably should have put him right, but I didn't!
Next steps
It has been an amazing experience to prepare for and complete the London marathon. 21 weeks ago I was not doing any exercise, I sat in an office for hours a day. In doing this I managed to get much fitter, lose a bit of weight and feel like I have accomplished something amazing. If I can do it, then I think most people can amaze themselves and take on this amazing challenge.
Tomorrow morning the entry for the ballot for the 2016 marathon takes place, I've decided that I will apply again, it is unlikely I will get a place through the ballot, but if I do I will look forward to repeating that amazing experience, if I don't get a place through the ballot I will count myself lucky I don't have to go through that traumatic experience.
My advice to you all for this week, is to apply for a place in the London marathon. It can change you!
Thanks for reading.
Donors of the week
The last two weeks I have been overwhelmed with the generosity of friends, family as well as friends of family and family of friends. I would like to mention the following special people!
Isobel Watkins
41 UK
John mellor
Rita Tulloch
Mike, Jane and Ethan
The Bousies
Dawn
Marcella
Audrey (old school friend of Lynne's)
Paul
Rachel and Charles Oliver
Kathry and Nathan
Rachel Gorrie
Tony Rand
Shona
Ala Taylor
Gavin Duffy
These contributions in addition to all previous contributions have provided almost £1,650 to Actuaries' Charitable Trust, I thank you all.
I have received a very kind email from someone on behalf of the charity thanking me and all my donors for all the work that had been put in. They will ensure that these funds are put to good use.
Please give generously!
If you wanted to sponsor me but just never quite got round to it, my just giving account will be open for another two months. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=therunningactuary&faId=524011&isTeam=false
Well done Gary, it was an amazing day and an amazing achievement and it was great to be there and experience the atmosphere of this event - have also enjoyed reading your blog!! Not sure whether to hope that you do, or hope that you don't get picked!!!
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