Author: Lee Stephenson
The day I opened the email from the results of the ballot, that’s when the journey began. I was over the moon, never have I been so excited about a race. The excitement remained my only emotion until marathon training started a few months later. Yes I was still excited but week after week of longs slow runs along with training sessions and social shorter runs over time took its toll. I was fully aware of the task in hand as I have trained for three previous marathons and with all three of these I found the training to be a rollercoaster of emotions. Fun, social, tiring, laborious, time consuming, physically exhausting and almost getting to the point of hating running but always in the back of my mind was excitement.
I was lucky in that there were several others all training for marathons so there was no shortage of people to run with. Some people prefer to run solo. That’s not for me. I prefer to run with company so the long slow runs each weekend were enjoyable in that respect. Spending a few hours with good company chatting about everything from the joy of running to our toilet habits (we all know how we can get nervous stomachs even with the shortest of runs, pardon the pun).
As the marathon got nearer, so did the fatigue and the constant feeling of hunger. I could eat and eat and eat, never really feeling full. Thank goodness for taper time which is when the excitement started to build when all the very long training runs were over and ‘just’ doing 10 miles on the last of the training runs seemed like a short run! Some of our band of merry marathon runners had booked in for Manchester which was the week before London. It was a strange feeling when half of the group did their marathon and those that were left still had theirs to do. I could see all of the posts appearing on social media. On the start line, at the finish, the photos, the activities on strava, how they were feeling and it brought it all home that the Londoners were next. In that final week the nerves and excitement grew. I still had to get to London to pick up the race pack and go to the expo.
On the Wednesday, 19th April, I arranged to go down to the Expo with a couple of others. It started with a Costa Coffee and then we were set. A fellow runner Teresa Brown drove down to Newbury Park along with Maria Huntley who unfortunately had to defer but was able to still experience the Expo with us. Once at Newbury Park we got on the train and underground to the ExCel. It was very worthwhile going on the Wednesday which was the first day of the Expo. It was very quiet and we were able to pick up our race pack without waiting. After a wander around the many stalls we had lunch then retraced our steps back to Newbury Park and headed back to Ipswich. Then it was a waiting game until the time we had to head back to London.
The weekend of the marathon came and I packed a few bits into a rucksack and got the 12:10pm train to Liverpool Street. Thankfully I had booked into the Hub by Premier Inn, Shoreditch which was only about 15 minutes walk from Liverpool Street. It was a great choice. I hung around the area mostly staying in the hotel room chilling and had an early night, turning off the light at about 9:15pm. It was about midnight before I fell asleep. Too much was going around in my head about getting to the start line and what the marathon was going to be like. The alarm went off at 5:30am and of course I could have done with a bit longer in bed but I had some breakfast and made sure everything was packed before setting off. I had only booked into the hotel for one night so I had to take everything with me but it was ok. Race day was here.
I took the underground from Liverpool Street to Bank to London Bridge then the railway to Blackheath. This train was packed. The platform was about 6 rows deep with people. I could not get onto the first train but managed to get on the second. Whilst on the train the rain began outside. It was forecast but my fingers were crossed that it would be a light shower. It turned out to be more than that. I made my way to the Blue start pen and waited for over an hour in the rain along with everyone else. I was prepared with a black bin bag over me but many others were shivering in their vests, soaked and cold before the start. Then when our wave was called I went into the starting pen and waited to head off which was only about 10 minutes until I crossed the start line and the start button on my Garmin was pressed. Off I went, very excited to be doing the race I’d watched on the TV every year and wanted to do for several years. Even from the beginning the streets were filled with supporters. The noise from the crowds was loud and in many places along the route it was deafening. It became quite a challenge to keep the emotions in through those points. Cutty Sark, London Bridge and the last few miles around Westminster and down the Mall were so very loud. The rain eased not long after I crossed the start line and I ran steady, counting down the miles one by one. I felt so good and was hopeful of a good run. I was very happy to run over Tower Bridge. You see it on the TV and is a symbolic landmark of London. After about 14 miles I could feel I was tiring and unfortunately started to get bits of cramp setting in to my legs. I tried to run further but it came to the point where I could not run with the cramp in my thighs and the muscles in my lower legs. So I started to walk a bit, run a bit, pull over and stretch for a bit then repeat. This continued until about 400 metres from the end and I knew the Mall was approaching and the finish line. I had to run that bit regardless of the pain and I did. The crowds roared and I crossed the finish line with a time of 5:10:04. This was not what I was hoping for but I was just so happy to have completed it. I was ushered to get my medal and T-shirt with the goody bag. I have many medals and T-shirts but I am especially proud of this one.
In my opinion the London Marathon is not a race, it’s an experience. One I will never forget. For those who have yet to do it and you want to do a marathon, you will not be disappointed with London. Go for it!
