2013 Virgin London Marathon

News

As far as I am aware Croft Ambrey RC has never had so many participants in the marathon as we have had this year! I’m sure I will be corrected if I am wrong though!

Firstly with the Club membership reaching new heights recently there were 2 places available, following a ballot it was decided that these places should go to Glyn and Sue P. Secondly there were 2 club members lucky enough to get places via the VLM ballot, those being Kayleigh and Ben M.

Finally, on the strength of Kayleigh’s luck in the marathon ballot I decided to try for a charity place, which seemed like a good idea at the time! This would make my 3rd Marathon following twice being awarded the singleton club place in 2010 and 2011.

In all honesty the winter of 2012/13 has to have been one of the worst winters for marathon training, (or any outdoor training for that matter) for some considerable time, bearing in mind that wet cold weather doesn’t get the running juices flowing at the best of times, but I’m sure we all coped to varying degrees.

Kayleigh, I’m sure, was very apprehensive as the big day approached as 26.2 miles would be far and away the furthest that she had run in her life, and I have to admit that I never feel totally prepared myself.

After all the lousy weather we have endured recently the weather on Marathon day was a very welcome contrast; although quite cool early on the sky was clear, there was very little wind and the sun shone which made for near perfect running conditions.

So it was with some trepidation that Kayleigh and I set off from our hotel via the tube to Greenwich and the 3 separate starts on the marathon. We had found out that we were to start at separate locations, Kayleigh starting at the blue start and me at the red start, we wished each other good luck and went our separate ways.

Kayleigh’s target was to finish, mine was another stab at trying to get inside 4 hours, which, after falling foul of some very painful cramp in my calf muscles at just short of 23 miles, I again failed to achieve. Although my run up until that point was relatively comfortable, if you can call trying to run 22 miles plus a ‘comfortable’ occupation.

Kayleigh achieved her goal and finished in 5hours 30 minutes and 8 seconds while I reached the finish line after 4 hours 26 minutes and 40 seconds, which is the longest I have taken over a marathon.

I have one of the race marshals to thank for me even reaching the finish as she did a fantastic job of helping me to get going after my legs had virtually seized up (my fault entirely as I got my hydration strategy wrong again, not enough electrolytes?) Once I had got going I was overtaken by Sue (isn’t it a small world?) and we swapped places a couple of times as we ran the closing 2 miles with Sue outsprinting me as we entered the Mall to finish ahead of me, well done Sue! You looked as though you were thoroughly enjoying the occasion, is this going to be the first of many?

The official results service is second to none with every conceivable statistic and result at the touch of a computer key pad. Here is a résumé of Croft Ambrey RC members’ results:

Runner No. Name Halfway split Finishing time

23761 Glyn Williams 01:42:52 03:33:31

23648 Sue Powell 02:07:43 04:19:16

49120 Frank Luscott 01:56:11 04:26:40

3568 Ben Marsh 02:12:44 04:55:13

13778 Kayleigh Luscott 02:29:46 05:30:08

I’m sure we all have our own stories to tell but very well done to Glyn, Sue, Ben and Kayleigh

Finally, on behalf of myself and Kayleigh I would like to thank everyone who sponsored and supported us in our quest to raise an overall total of over £1800 for VICTA and Saint Michaels Hospice. Your support has been overwhelming, thank you.

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