Sue's London Marathon
Why on earth would you want to run a marathon? 26 miles is a long way in a car! Just two of the comments I received from friends who thought I had lost the plot or should be thinking of putting my feet up. So there’s a challenge!
I had run a marathon about 25 years ago, but the lure of London was always there, even during the 20 years I didn’t do any running. So when the opportunity of a charity place for London 2010 came up, it was too good a chance to miss. It was two years away at that point so plenty of time to build up.
Running magazines are full of training schedules – how to run a marathon from 0 to 26 miles in just 4 months. Well I was already doing a reasonable amount so reckoned it had to be feasible. I have to say the last stages of training went amazingly to plan – the gradual build up with an increasingly long run at weekends, with shorter and faster ones in the week. About six weeks beforehand I took part in the World’s First Kilomathon (26k or 16 miles) from Nottingham to Derby. It was great to be one of the many who were using that event as a warm up for London. My longest run before the Marathon was about 19 miles, so still another 7 to go on the day. But that was a grey miserable morning, a very hilly route, and I was running on my own. I reckoned the buzz on the day would lift me for the full distance I hadn’t covered for 25 years.
As the great day got nearer, and still following the training plan, I began to taper down. It does feel odd to suddenly be cutting down on the miles, after weeks and months of adding a bit more each week. But I’m sure that following the training plan helped me stay injury free. They say that much of the challenge of completing a marathon is mental, rather than physical, particularly for the last few miles. And so for weeks before the Marathon, my bedtime reading was Runners World and yet more Runners World! Given competing pressures of life, work, dog, etc, I’m not sure I could have put any more into preparing for the day. But I had two goals and was determined to achieve them. The first was to complete the course, running all the way (annoyingly I had walked at 19 miles on my previous attempt) and to complete it in under five hours.
The weekend of the Marathon I went down to register on the Saturday. Despite the crowds, registration was very slick. I even took the opportunity to listen to some motivational talks. Bit of a mistake there in that I misheard the percentage that don’t actually finish. Its actually very small, but lying in bed that evening, I worked it out to be rather higher than it was, and then got in a panic about not finishing. How could I face everyone who had been bored to tears – but been too polite to say so – by my marathon dream, if I didn’t actually complete the course?!
The day itself was all I had ever hoped it would be. Of course there are butterflies, largely because its a long wait at the start and you just want to get going. I had a plan – even pace all the way round. No mad surge at the start and I certainly didn’t want to be dragging myself over the finish line. After all you never know where the cameras are! And did I achieve my goals? Yes I certainly did. Never a question of not running all the way, and my finish time was 04:53:49. Hindsight is great at the end of 26 miles – I could have gone a bit quicker but .... And my position, 24,936 out of about 36,000. “Nicely in the middle of the pack” was my brother’s comment, but then 5k is his limit, and he is 4 years younger than me! I finished in great shape, my medal worn very proudly all the way back to Leicester. And I was out running again, albeit not very far, a couple of days later.
Along the way as the date got nearer, various people asked about sponsorship. I had some reservations but duly set up my Virgin Money Giving Page, and the money just kept rolling in! The total sponsorship was in the region of £3,500. Just amazing!
After it was all over, there seemed a very logical way for the funds to be used. CCLG produces a fantastic range of information booklets for families and patients. There seemed an obvious gap,which tied in perfectly with the money being raised from a run, and that was the idea of a booklet entitled ‘Sport and Exercise for Children with Cancer: A Parent’s Guide’. That booklet is now at the design stage and will be out by the end of the year. It feels a really nice legacy.
And would I do another marathon? Not sure. There are lots of nice 10 and 5k runs, and the occasional Half Marathon is still quite a good achievement. And there are, of course, other things in life too!
Sue Ablett