London Marathon Result

Hours upon hours of training, and hundred of miles of footwork, all came to a climax on Sunday. Yes, it was the London Marathon.

Despite London Underground's best efforts (the Northern line was closed) I made it to Blackheath without any bother. After some warming up, during which the elite women set off, I headed for the start line.

This time round I was at the Blue start. Last time, in 2001, I was at the Red zone. I'm not quite sure what the difference is, but my suspicion is that the Blue zone is for faster runners. Anyway, off we went.

Well, off we went for about 400m. Then, dead-stop. What the blinking flip!!!? I couldn't believe it! After all the organisation that goes into the race, and we still have to suffer a bottleneck so close to the start! PB chance? Slipping away... Luckily it all fixed itself and we were off in earnest.

The first two or three miles are always the quietest, but that doesn't last. It wasn't long before we hit the crowds. Then it was constant cheering and encouragement. This was what I remembered from my previous London Marathon, and this year's crowd was every bit as encouraging as before.

The fantastic atmosphere didn't end. From the east end pubs (The Albion, Rose of Denmark, etc), past the Gypsy Moth in Greenwich, over Tower Bridge, through Canary Wharf and onto Embankment, at last leading onto Birdcage Walk and past Buckingham Palace to the finish line, the crowds were amazing. Like many, I was a wreck at the end, but the atmosphere kept me going.

My plan of beating 4 hours fell apart at about the 20 mile stage. My legs started giving up on me, my knees in particular. My training wasn't what it should have been. I didn't do enough long runs, and I suffered for it.

The end result was i finished with a time of 4 hours 23 minutes. I've still to beat 4 hours, but the day was great fun. Perhaps I'll try another marathon later this year. With that in mind, I went to the pub:-))

London Marathon countdown

It's less that 6 days to go now. Come this Sunday I'll be doing my second marathon tour of London. As ever, I'm feeling that odd mix of dread and anticipation - dreading the pain, but anticipating the amazing atmosphere and the buzz of achievement.

This will be my 10th marathon. My first was the 2001 London Marathon. Since then I've run marathons in Edinburgh, Atlanta, Vilnius and Athens. All these have been great fun. However, nothing has been quite as invigorating or memorable as running 26.2 miles in London. So, this will be a much anticipated return to where it all started.