LONDON MARATHON

Sunday, 13^th April 2008

The Marathon revisited

This London Marathon was celebrating a hundred years since the first marathon in London, at the 1908 Olympics and I was here, but this time only to watch. I went down with Mike Walsh, (substituting for his wife Beryl, who is recovering form a recent operation), Julie Cruse and Debbie Cardwell. I was last down in London to compete in the English National XC a few years ago at Parliament Fields, but the last time in central London was for the 1998 London Marathon, when I was 50. I had previously run this race back in 1984 and 1985. Back in 1998 I had a disappointing race and more or less decided not to run another marathon. Well I changed my mind a couple of years ago and I managed to clock my best marathon time at Belfast and have since run two other marathons. However I had not considered trying London again, even though I have reached another age milestone, (which was just as well as, at present, I am injured and would not have been able to compete this year).

We travelled down on a busy train and, although we had booked seats, because of a computer fault, no seats were reserved and consequently we could not sit together. Our carriage contained a noisy, but friendly large party from a Barrow Rugby Club going down to see the final of the EDS Energy Cup between Leicester and Ospreys and they were staying at the same hotel as us. Of course they chatted-up Deb and Julie. Cheeky Debbie said Mike was her father and I was his boyfriend! They said they would be going to the final in fancy dress on Saturday morning and would be in the lobby at 11:00. ‘Typical men’ though – they stood them up!

After booking in at the hotel we went off to Marathon HQ to get the numbers and ‘chips’. Back in 1984 and 1985, when I first ran the London Marathon and I went to pick up my number, I think there were only about a dozen or so stalls. Although I didn’t count them I bet this time there were upwards of a hundred representing everything connected with running, including sportswear manufacturers, food supplements, various road races across the world and lots of charities. We walked around, taking advantage of the freebies on offer and trying the various massage implements. One was a stick with rings on, which, while quite soothing, seemed somewhat overpriced at £40. As Julie said – a broom handle would probably be as effective. Debbie and Julie tried a vibrator; that is a vibrating massager type thing, quite big and powerful – Oh stop digging! Whilst wondering about the exhibition, at various points we met with Wesham and Blackpool’s finest and Nigel Thompson of Lytham.

In the evening we arranged to meet Carmel Sullivan and daughter, Mick Edge, Simon Eaton and family by the lions in Trafalgar Square. Julie and Mike went around Nelson’s monument one way and Debbie and me the other way. We didn’t see them. We went back and found that Debbie and me had walked straight passed them before, but then they were stood nearer the fountains than the lions. We had an enjoyable meal. The next day Mike and the girls went a walk around Camden Market, whilst I went to the Natural History Museum to see, amongst other interesting exhibits, various dinosaur skeletons – I won’t make any cheap jokes about them reminding me of Mike Walsh and Dave Waywell! I then had a wonder in Harrods.

Anyhow let’s get to the main event. It was a bright and sunny start to the day as we made our way by busy trains to the Starts near Greenwich. Julie was worrying that it might be too warm, even though the weather forecast had predicted temperatures of 15 centigrade and heavy rain showers, which turned out to be accurate; Debbie was full of anticipation and Mike was his usual phlegmatic self.

After leaving our intrepid competitors at their starts I watched the wheelchair competitors warming up and saw Shelly Woods preparing. I watched their start and then the start of the Green Start runners, trying to spot Debbie but was unsuccessful. I then moved on to various points on the course. When I first competed in 1984, I thought it was massive – then there were two starts. I started at Black Heath and only lost about a minute or two crossing the start line. Now it is double the size and you would be lucky if that was the case now – but of course now there is the chip to record a correct time. Running 26+ miles is a magnificent achievement, but to do it in fancy dress is impressive; clowns, Father Christmas, tomatoes, camels and a veritable herd of rhinos – these were just a few of the costumes on display. Julie told me after the race that a man next to her was juggling balls. He offered to let her have a juggle, but she declined. I also saw a several men with artificial legs running, including one who had lost both legs and he looked as though he would complete the course in less than four hours – truly amazing.

As I said before it was difficult to spot people I knew. However I did see Julie Cruse a couple of times and on both occasions she looked very comfortable. This is the first time back for the London Marathon since 2004, when she clocked the fantastic time of 3:29:49. Because of this excellent time she got automatic entry for the 2005. However she was unable to take this up as she contracted meningitis and as a result had to curtail her running. Now fully back to fitness, she was back in London and unsurprisingly, considering her recent form, went on to smash her PB by over 6 minutes, posting 3:23:00. Carmel Sullivan, who ran with Julie for over 20 miles, did even better, to post a time of 3:19:52. Another who I saw at the 22 mile mark was Caroline Betmead. This was her first marathon and she had a fantastic first section, clocking 1:24:48 at half way. However when I saw her the strain of the fast start was beginning to show and, although her pace slowed, Caroline still managed to finish in a good time of 3:10:10, which would place her on the elite start next year and was an excellent result for her first marathon. Before Caroline, I had seen Alex Rowe (2:51:29), Steve Price of BWFAC (2:58:56), Steve Myerscough (2:58:14) and Peter Cruse (3:04:49). George Kennedy was behind Caroline when I saw him. However, he finished stronger, to complete in 3:09:24, with Simon Eaton (3:18:13) and Mark Midgley (3:21:13). Although I shouted them on all seemed oblivious of my presence, no doubt because of the noise and also at this point in a marathon one has to focus and one virtually blanks out the crowds and just focuses on finishing – I’ve been there!

I went to meet Mike and the girls at the finish. I got to Buckingham Palace and the crowds of people were incredible and there was no chance of finding a place to watch the runners finishing. Back in 1984 it was busy, but I’m sure not to the same extent. Then the finish was on Westminster Bridge and I think we went the opposite way up The Mall and then down Birdcage Walk. That year my mother had come to watch me and she stationed herself on The Mall, (bless her, she watched the changing of the Guard umpteen times, whilst waiting for me to pass by), and I had no problem seeing her as I ran pass her. I seem to remember the finish was slightly up hill to the crown of the bridge and then picking up my gear on the South Bank, before crossing by the footbridge across the Thames, to meet up with my mother. Now the meeting area was on Horse Guards Parade.

The first person I spotted was Joanna Goorney. She was a little upset; because I think she was suffering from cramp and was disappointed with her performance. She had clocked 3:28:26. Although somewhat slower than her excellent run at the Dumfries Marathon, two weeks ago, I think that when she reflects in the cold light of day, she will realize that it was an excellent performance. It was only two weeks since a hard marathon and one week since the tough Coniston 14 race. I helped her with her bag and met up with her mother Hilary, Julie and Carmel.

I missed meeting Mike and Debbie. Both had excellent runs, although Mike (4:00:10) was a little disappointed to have finished over the 4 hour mark for the first time in a marathon, but as he said himself, he is now 76! He was second in his age category. Debbie was really pleased with her run and had enjoyed every moment of the event – has she removed the medal yet? She finished in 4:12:23; having started off conservatively, with negative splits – 1^st half of 2:07:53 and a 2^nd half of 2:04:30. Debbie finished strongly sprinting across the finish line. Her last 7K+ was actually faster than Caroline’s.

The ‘local’ performance of the day was of course Steve Littler, whose well judged race produced a PB of 2:25:21. His position out of 34,420 finishers was 34^th and he was 15^th Briton. Other Wesham runners I have not mentioned yet, were Fiona Bledge (3:54:25), Yvonne Russell (3:59:07), Dave Young (4:04:39), Jenny Salt (4:09:14) Anne Docherty (4:26:14), Barry Edwards (4:36:03) and Glenn Johnson (4:36:18). Julie Murphy, who had run with Anne in the early part of the race, had to drop out at 17 miles.

One of the bravest runs was by Bev Foster, who this time last year was undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer, together with her sister ran a PB of 5:06:55. Paula, (never again), Washington, also ran a PB of 4:24:27 and apparently hated every step, although I’m sure with time the memories will be more pleasant. Another brave run was by John Bradley, who despite all his previous health problems of recent years, ran an amazing 3:49:24, to qualify for an automatic entry for next year’s race. Other BWFAC finishers were Dave Brooks (3:35:02) and Lynne Naylor (5:14:04).

For LSARR Nigel Thompson (2:41:09) had a good run to finish in 202^nd and Roy Stephens finished in 3:46:19. Also running was a former North Fylde member, Vicky Barrett of Stockport Harriers who finished in a good time of 3:30:30.

The next morning Julie, Debbie and Mike had recovered well and before catching the train back to Blackpool, we went for a walk around central London. In a situation rather reminiscent of a scene from Dr Zhivago, where Yuri is on a tram in Moscow and sees his long lost love Lara walking down the street, John Bradley was on a London bus and saw us walking. Like Yuri, he jumped off the bus, but thankfully John did not collapse like Dr Zhivago and was able to join us for the rest of the walk.

To round off this report I should mention that the winner was Martin Lel (2:05:15) of Kenya and the winner of the elite ladies race was Irina Mikitenko (2:24:14) of Germany. In the wheelchair race, where there was a blanket finish in the men’s race, with David Weir (1:33:56) coming out on top and Sandra Gref (1:48:04) of Switzerland winning the ladies race. Shelly Woods, despite suffering a puncture to her wheelchair after three miles, managed to put in a good performance in the circumstances, to finish third in 2:01:59.

Postscript; Watching the race caused a yearning to run it again and when I returned home I registered for next year’s ballot. Now whether I actually run it are odds against, but at least I’ve made an effort!

Written by: David Wood

Submitted: 22^nd April 2008-04-22

Edited By: Brenda J Earnshaw WRR Editor