Whilst I consider myself fortunate to have got into this event there is more than a little inconvenience involved before you start running. Firstly you or your representative has to register in person at the London Excel in the days prior to the race. This meant half day off work, train to Euston, northern line to London Bridge, jubilee line to Canning Town, and then DLR to Custom House - all just to sign their entry form in front of their representative. Secondly the race start is at Blackheath, again this meant a long journey train to Kings Cross, Piccadilly line to Leicester Square, Northern line to Charing Cross, and then train to Blackheath. This meant getting up at 5.45 and leaving the house at 6.45.
The race itself and in particular the starting areas were really well managed. There was three starting points that all came together at various points early in the race. Within each starting area there was nine pens for runners depending on your estimated run time. I can't remember what I estimated my time to be but I was allocated pen nine - for the slowest runners.
My plan when I got accepted was simply to run and enjoy the occasion however as time and training passes I did start thinking about the time I would like to complete the course in. Given that I recently did the Cambridge Half in 1:52 and that training was going OK ish I set myself a target time of 4:20 to 4:30. That was meant to be 2 hours for the first half and 2 hours 20/30 minutes for the second half.
The first half went virtually as planned and I had caught up with the 4:15 pacers as we crossed Tower Bridge. My time at the half way point being 2:04 and I felt reasonably good. In some respects it was good that there was so many runners as it prevented you going off too fast.
Around the 25k mark I took the opportunity to stop for a tinkle (toilets being provided in a long tunnel). I don't know whether stopping was a mistake but at 26k I started to feel the onset of cramp in my thighs. A little later cramp came to my calf's.
The cramp started much earlier that I expected. In my only other marathon it came at mile 20 so "only" had to struggle on for 6 miles, here I still had 10 miles to go so any ideas I'd had of a decent time were dismissed and the only aim I now had was to complete the course.
I did manage to walk (mainly) and run the remainder of the course finishing in 4 hours 50 minutes. The first half in 2:04 and the second in 2:46. In hindsight I maybe should have gone even slower in the first half and hence lasted longer. Because I did have a time in mind ultimately I am disappointed with my result.
Along the entire route the crowds were absolutely amazing, and the noise they generated around Cutty Shark and for the last 3/5k was something I could not have imagined. I must have heard "come on Les" etc hundreds of times:)
My best medal ever and a very decent tee-shirt softened the blow at the end though.
Here are my 5k split time which read great for the first 25k and then, well, disappointing.
| Split | Time Of Day | Time | Diff | min/km | km/h | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5K | 10:41:45 | 00:29:29 | 29:29 | 05:54 | 10.18 | - |
| 10K | 11:11:03 | 00:58:46 | 29:17 | 05:52 | 10.24 | - |
| 15K | 11:40:28 | 01:28:11 | 29:25 | 05:54 | 10.20 | - |
| 20K | 12:10:14 | 01:57:57 | 29:46 | 05:58 | 10.08 | - |
| HALF | 12:16:57 | 02:04:41 | 06:44 | 06:08 | 9.80 | - |
| 25K | 12:43:20 | 02:31:03 | 26:22 | 06:46 | 8.88 | - |
| 30K | 13:22:31 | 03:10:14 | 39:11 | 07:51 | 7.66 | - |
| 35K | 14:03:32 | 03:51:15 | 41:01 | 08:13 | 7.32 | - |
| 40K | 14:43:54 | 04:31:37 | 40:22 | 08:05 | 7.43 | - |
| FINISH | 15:02:57 | 04:50:40 | 19:03 | 08:41 | 6.91 | 18574 |
Les Potts
