Flora London Marathon 2006

First of all - this is just a quick blog - will do all the stats and stuff tonight.

Wibble!

It was an early start - I got up at 5am, feeling a tad apprehensive but not as nervous as before when I was going for a PB. I busied myself getting food etc, interspersed with lots of pointless activity, cursing the fact that no-one else was on the RW forums to wibble to!

Anyhow - time to leave - good to see some of the Sutton Runners again, and have a natter about what had been going on. The bus wended it's way through the streets up to Blackheath, but our plans were scuppered when they'd closed the roads early and we had to walk the last bit. It provided a welcome chance to pee in an alley and visit Costa's for a massimo latte!

Blackheath and the Build Up

Then onto Blackheath. There didn't seem to be anyone by the church, and a text to Benz on red start produced no response, so I walk towards the blue start area, and bumped into Smitch on the way, complete with Andy (boyfriend I guess?) and a stackful of tissues! Maryanne had got stuck on a train, and it got to the stage where I felt I had to go into the blue area and get acclimatised. I made my way in, met up with Womble and Leon, and prepared to faff for England (and pee for them too!).

Soon - they were calling for baggage, so I frantically changed, then got a call from M saying that she had arrived. We arranged to meet up, and I headed out of the blue start area but failed too see her. We had some frantic faffing while we sorted that out. Then a mad search to find the pens - only to find that the ones outside the start area wer six onwards, and I wanted to be further forward. I made it with a minute to spare - saw Vrap and the raptorites, gave hugs all round, and headed forward as far as I could.

We're Off!

9:45 - and the hooter sounded, and we were under way. The start is slightly uphill, and we didn't seem to get going quite as quickly as last time. I decided "if I pee at 600m, that'll get the nervous wees out of my system and I can settle down to run properly. Little did I know that this would be the first of many!! A bit more of a climb, across a roundabout, and we hit mile one. The Garmin said 1.02 miles - fantastic!

A left turn, and my feet were aching a bit, as was my left quad. "Ignore it", I told myself, and kept going. It settled fairly soon, but an awful lot of FLM on the blue start at least has a right sloping camber, and I was wary of that. We creasted the hill, and there was a nice downhill to come. Shortly before we joined the red start, there was a drink station, and I gulped plenty of water as I was thirsty, pourinf about half of it over my head. Then onwards to the joining point, with lots of booing and hissing. Then the first chip mat at 5km, with the high pitched screaming from the mats. I was getting nicely into my stride by this time. I'd felt pretty good and had only taken a short walk break at mile two, as I didn't want to fall back with the slower runners too much. I was on about 9:30 - 10:00 minute miles.

This stretch is rather dull, with not much going on, and it passed without incident. I had started taking the odd walk break, but really only 30 seconds while I took a drink. This led to the need for more pees, which also provided walk breaks/stops!

Mile six came into view, and shortly after the 10k point. I was just over an hour to here, and the Garmin was only about 0.05 miles over. A smidgeon under ten minute miles, and I decided I could walk a bit more, but didn't feel that I needed it. I resolved to try to get to half way at ten min/mile pace (2:11), giving me spare in the second half to still get under five hours. Then onto Greenwich and the wonderous Cutty Sark. I tried calling Maryanne at this point, but couldn't get through, and had no luck with Vrap either.

The next couple of miles are rather dull, but ticked by nicely, save for more stops for a leak. It was becoming irritating by now! Still - it did let my heart rate come down. Mile ten came and went, and I felt chuffed that I'd reached double figures, my legs starting to feel tired but knowing that I should reached the half way mark feeling okay - and much the same as in my previous long run about nine days earlier. Mile eleven came and went, and I knew that Nicko and Meldy would be there. I saw Nicko, we high-fived, and I looked for Mledy. Ah well, that snog will just have to wait (good thing too!). then it was on to mile twelve, and I knew that Tower Bridge was approaching. This is always one of the noisier parts of the course, and it didn't let me down this time!! I didn't notice the incline.

Another couple of hundred yards, and then it's right onto the Highway. Last year they switched this bit of the course so it was run in reverse, and for me this was the first time I'd run it this way. It seemed to work fine, and before long I passed the half way point (2:15 - slightly slower than desired, but I'd noticed I was slowing). I called Maryanne, and got lots of cheers in the background, which was good to hear. I saw some of the elites coming back in the opposite direction, and Luis and Martin from the club.

Another mile, and the odd sign above the tunnel came into view, and we lurched right shortly before this into Narrow Street. Then it was the small backstreets around the Isle of Dogs and surrounding area. It was odd to be doing this bit backwards! I was starting to feel tired, but hey - this was further than I'd run for two years, and I had no right to feel anything but tired!! I told myself that in a mile you can ring and ask Maryanne to pour the coffee! That spurred me on, and in spit eof a couple of walk breaks on some small but seemingly sharp hills, I wasn't going badly. I made the call, and resolved to take the next mile fairly easy, so that I could be strong approaching mile seventeen and the RW crowd. I actually caught sight of the ballons really early, way before Hollywood's banner, and walked at the bottom of the climb so that I would look strong! During this time, someone said "Not far to go now", and I jokingly said "well then you won't mind running it, let me give you my number"! I stopped off for another pee, and then ran the last 200m to our wonderful RW support peeps!

RW Support Point - Mile 17

How fantastic can it be to see a group of friends? There were hugs all round, I probably said some stupid stuff, and decided I couldn't let this chance pass. I came off the road, stopped, had two cups of coffee, another pee, and countless Pringles and jelly babies! Sadly, I had to go eventually (I'm guessing I spent nearly fifteen minutes there), and left there with 3:15 on my Garmin. Nine miles to go, so even at 20 minute miles, i was still going to come in at 6:50 or so. Five hours didn't look likely, as I was sure I'd have to walk soon, and I didn't want to leave walking too late and only start once I had cramped, as otherwise the last miles would be agony. When to decide to walk though?

Anyhow - another few yards and I passed the mile 17 marker, and then into an uneventful (apart from a pee) mile 18. The 35km mat follwed soon after, and it was rather good having the extra milestones to tick off. These roads are rather featureless, and I did do the odd walk break, but my legs were still turning over reasonably smoothly. I did vaguely think about asking for a massage from St Johns around mile nineteen, but they were occupied, and by mile twenty, they hadn't got any worse. I was still doing the odd minute walking, but all too often the crowd kept saying "come on, get running Iain", and gave such a cheer when I did that it was hard to comply!

Mile 21, and I was still running! The crowds all round had been phenomenal, but they really grow around this point, and the whole run becomes just a tunnel of noise. Around this point, the caterpillar went past, shortly followed by Rupert Bear. He beat me in my first FLM in 2000, and I've been wanting revenge ever since. He'd beaten me this year though.

Around this point, I got a call from Leon, saying he'd finished in 3:16, which is fantastic going. He wanted directions to the Crisis reception, which were at the bottom of my kit bag, and as I think I said "I'm not going back for them now"!! It was great to hear a familiar voice though, and hear that he'd done so well. I passed on what info I could recall, but as I found out later, it wasn't enough.

Back onto the Highway, where it was odd to see how desolate the other side of the road was. Just a few very lonely looking runners, and I did my best to whoop at them and give as much encouragement as possible without seeming smug. I hope they all finished. Then the new part of the route for me, past the back of the Tower (so no cobbles), and then onto the bit leading down the embankment. The crowds were going mad, and some kind soul gave me a swig from a can of Carlsberg. Just what I needed! Another pee stop, I climbed through some tape, went off road, only to find I couldn't back on again. The Vittel people kindly moved some barriers out of the way, so I made it back onto the road just before the 35km mats I think!

I was still mainly running at this point, particularly on the flat or marginally downhill bits, saving the walking for the minor uphills. Mile 23, and I knew that the underpass wasn't far away. The Garmin was only registering 0.15 miles further, which given the weaving was great, although I think the new model needs to count the times you stop for a pee as I'm sure I was into double figures by this point, and with more people at the side of the road it was getting tricky! I decided to go in the underpass (if it's good enough for Paula!). The Garmin lost its signal at this point, which was a shame, as when I came out the other end, it had added on about three miles, so I'd already done over 26 at this point!

Bear Death Grudge Match

You hit the real embankment here, and again the crowd just wouldn't let me walk, and I didn't really want to except for in short bursts. Suddenly, surprisingly, I saw a white furry head not far in front. It was that ruddy Rupert character. Maybe I did have a chance for revenge after all. He was walking, whereas I was still running. Ha! This was going to be a sweet victory. I was walking a minute and runing a minute, which worked well, but Rupert was walking faster than me, so I didn't get much ahead. He broke back into a run, and I was struggling. I tried two minutes run then 40 seconds walk, which kept me just about level, but it was a close thing, particularly with another loo stop! We traded the lead a couple more times, and around mile 25 I decided I was going to have to do something special. I broke into a run, and kept going from there on in, with only a couple of short breaks. I'd left that imposter bear for dust!! Ha!

At this point the crowds are completely unbelievable, and you hit Birdcage Walk. They have started to thin by this time, and had gone slightly quieter, and in my exhuberance, I worked them and starting yerlling "I can't hear you" and "make some noise!". They responded perfectly, and I think appreciated it. I think the crowd love to see that their support makes a difference to the runners, and with that in mind I was applauding the crwod from half a mile to go. One final walk break, a cry of "don't give up now Iain" (my response was "I'm not f**king going to!!"), and the quarter mile mark was in sight. Unbelievably, my legs still felt strong, and I did the last quarter mile in nine min/mile pace. Crossing the line felt incredible, and apparently I was on telly. I did do an amazingly spectacular finish - arms raised, whooping and pumping my fist in the air. Forgot to stop the bliddy Garmin though!

Phew - it's over

Then the chips are taken off, you get presented a medal, and bags are reclaimed. I called M, we had a chat, and I said I'd see her in the Thistle. My brain went nuts, and I decided to fit in the Croisis reception (thanks Wumbly) beforehand, which took much longer than anticipated, and frankly I was daft no t to mention it. The massage and shower were great though, as was chatting to everyone in the Thistle :o)

Here's to next year!!