Written by Eric Apperley
So here I am, it’s 6am, after a week of nerves, excitement and some tears after reading a letter and card from Bronwyn and Liv; two amazing people I have in my life, I’m awake after not much sleep, it’s race day of the London marathon.
I get up and get some porridge and coffee down before heading for a quick shower and to get changed into race kit and get everything else ready before chilling out a little before the commute to the start. Chilling out would have been ideal instead my breakfast decided to make a reappearance so I was bent over the sink thinking it’s going to be one of those days. So on to the train to Blackheath now with no breakfast I’m just trying to stay calm and not think about it.
Once at Blackheath the enormity of the race took hold, thousands of people making their way to the start pens put it into perspective. When in the pens the normal pre race rituals took place plenty of toilet stops and getting in the zone. I didn’t expect to see anybody I knew in the pens as there were so many people but caught up with Carl Salmon and his friend Grant and being in the same start wave hung around with them until the start.
The start horn goes off and we walk for a couple of minutes as there’s so many people before running across the start line my race has started. It became apparent very early on there was going to be a lot of overtaking a lot of waving and just trying to stay calm and not sprint as it’s a marathon. As the early miles ticked by gels and water were going down and staying down which took a worry of being sick again off my mind. From here the early miles were quite boring just taking my time overtaking and finding space it wasn’t until mile 10 that finding space was no longer a problem and I could settle down and absorb the atmosphere of thousands of people cheering along the course.
The next standout moment for me was rounding the corner at mile 12 and seeing and running over tower bridge having never seen it before I was taken back by how big it was just wow. After running over the bridge it marked the half way mark of the race and I was on target for the goal I had hoped for. The next couple of miles nothing really happened apart from seeing the elite women on the other side of the course going so fast yet being so smooth it was incredible to watch until I turned off this small part where the course comes back on itself.
Mile 15 this is where I started to notice how hot I was getting and not cooling down as much as I had been during the early stages of the race. But we continued on and submitted the goal time was not going to happen today but the other two goals of enjoying it and a PB were very much on.
The run through canary wharf was not as bad as I was expecting it to be as I heard it gets quiet and although it was quieter than the rest of the course it wasn’t too bad . Then mile 20 hit it was from here I was starting to struggle but I made the goal of not to walk otherwise I wasn’t sure if I did that I would be able to run again.
So I just kept moving even though there were many runners walking and stretching along these final miles I just tried to concentrate on the blue line with a smile on my face. The next big thing that came up was big Ben amazing to see but from here I managed to pick it up a bit all the way to the finish. Then came the mall this is where all the emotions came out and I just started crying crossing the magical finish line. I managed a PB of 2.46 and definitely enjoyed the entire event even when it got hard.
I didn’t realise how amazing that finish line would feel but it was truly an one of a kind type event I’ve never felt like that before magic. I would love to thank everyone who gave me well wishes in messages in the lead up to the event. And a special shout-out to BaD runners Haydn O’Reilly, Sophie Cook supporting and Kate Jones and James Jones running, for making the weekend even more memorable.
