LonDONE 25.04.10

An ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruption in Iceland swept over Europe in the week before the London Marathon and grounded some 100,000 flights, stranding more than 10 million passengers. Eyjafjallajokull almost became my new swear word but, I can't pronounce it, and my flight was one of the first into Heathrow after airspace over London opened. I have never seen Heathrow so quiet. So Runner #54178 made it to the 2010 London Marathon. I think the race organizers were happy that most of the elite runners were able to get there just in the nick of time too. And so I find myself at Waterloo station ready to catch the train to Greenwich just before 8am Sunday April 25th. The day of the 30th running of the London Marathon, and the first year the race is sponsored by Virgin.

As we all bundle onto the packed train at Waterloo, there is lots of chatting and joking around, and enough liniment in the air to rub down a racehorse. It is a pleasant walk to Greenwich Park and, as we meander up a hill to the red start area clutching our red kitbags, a marshal quips "it's the only hill you'll have today". Everyone sits or lays down in the park like we are all on a giant picnic. A few drops of rain come down and no-one moves - it is warm enough not to be bothered by a bit of light rain. Then it really starts chucking it down, the grass suddenly clears, and everyone huddles under the large trees. As the clock clicks down to start time runners dash out from the shelter of the trees and into the rain to check-in their kitbags, after a warning that the bag-check lorries are leaving soon, and that running the race with your kitbag was "not a good look". Everything is so well organized, and everyone so friendly and polite, that every pre-race task seems effortless - I don't queue for anything - post-race the same experience.

After the rain it is overcast and muggy. I stand right at the back of my assigned pen, feeling decidedly jet-lagged but very happy just to be there. Beside me a blind runner and his circle of red-shirted guides. At 9.45am we were off! Well, after we shuffled forward for a bit and squeezed through the narrow gates leading out of Greenwich Park...we were off! The blue and green starts converge after ~1200m. The red start and the combined blue/green start don't see each other until about 3 miles, in Woolwich. There is a deep, low sound ahead on the course, and I wonder what it is. Then I turn the corner, see the point of convergence, and realize that the red start and blue/green starts are deriving great enjoyment by heartily booing each other.

It is difficult to spot a runner not wearing a charity shirt - more than 80% of the runners are running for charity and will raise more than £46m for numerous charities during this race. There is also a good showing of club singlets. My quandary about whether to wear my LGRR shirt or the Laureus Foundation shirt was quickly solved because my charity shirt was made with heavy dark material with bulky seams - for a short run it would be fine - for a marathon I had one word flash neon in my head...it was ‘chafe'. Apparently I wasn't the only one of Laureus's marathon runners to have comments on their shirt - so they plan to redesign for next time. Speaking of heavy fabrics and chafing, an amazing number are running in fancy dress - there is Felix the Cat, Gladiators, Nurses, various Superheroes, a Postman complete with large postbag, ballet dancers in tutus, a Dalek, various animals/vegetables and, of course, a Stormtrooper. The Empire's workplace ‘get fit' program gathering force after having been launched by Darth Vader at the Sunshine Coast April Fools Half Marathon a couple of weeks earlier.

Greenwich, Deptford, Bermondsey. We cross Tower Bridge at around 12 miles over to the North side of the river and I hit the halfway mark at 1.48. Well, it is nice to be on schedule for the first half - but we all know that is the easy bit. Here we run parallel to the route heading back to Westminster and see the elite men flying through 22 miles - the leader looks strong and has quite a bit of ground to play with - he is Kebede from Ethiopia - I will leave it up to him to prove that small can be mighty today. It is warm and humid - certainly warmer than ideal for me. But there are run-through showers on the route - they are gaspingly cold - I love them, I just need a mobile one to take along with me. My family (mum, dad, younger brother, and my daughter Mika) are out supporting me - dashing round various points in the course (I think they worked harder than I did) - I hear them yelling above me and wheel around to wave at them at Heron Quay (~15 miles). But the jet lag and the humidity start taking their toll (lets not even mention the long training runs I missed). I'm getting tired way too early, my pace slowing.

Throughout the race the London crowds are brilliant - being particularly enthusiastic, pint in hand, outside the pubs along the route - spectating being thirsty work. I start to feel that maybe I am on the wrong side of that equation.

Isle of Dogs, Canary Wharf, Poplar. We enter a tunnel and one runner bellows "Oggy-Oggy-Oggy!" and even though we are all tired the response comes back with incredible power and synchrony - "Oi! Oi! Oi!" reverberates off the tunnel walls. I imagine similar battle cries being used by early humans some 200,000 or so years ago (and football fans more recently). And now the battle really begins.

I am really struggling in the last miles, feeling light-headed - it seems like a dream to be running along the Embankment now - towards Westminster and the Houses of Parliament - and the crowds are unbelievable. A volunteer who hands me water says kindly "you are nearly there love". Big Ben, Birdcage Walk, the front of Buckingham Palace. Ahead I see two runners help-up and shoulder an exhausted runner between them to help him get to the end - each of them wearing different charity shirts. It's a moment that defines this marathon. It is just a right turn into The Mall and then the Finish Line.

I think I can reconcile being passed in the last mile by a giant bottle of Lucozade Sports Drink and Mr. Incredible, as this seems appropriately in-character - but being beaten by a wedge of cheese along Birdcage Walk just before the finish line was harder to take - you might be tempted to say ‘well that's just hard cheese' and I would have to agree. I guess he paced himself more caerphilly than I did.

And if you are planning on running London, be warned; there is a costumed nemesis for almost every speed - just look at these times:

Fastest runner dressed as Santa Claus: 2h 55mins

Fastest cartoon character (Fred Flintstone): 3h 07mins

Fastest vegetable (carrot): 3h 09mins

Fastest runner dressed as a baby: 3h 13mins

Fastest runner dressed as an animal (tiger): 3h 31mins

Fastest TV character (Dalek): 4h 01mins

Don't ask me what the cheese ran - but I know he beat 3.55 - which I have to admit is quite respectable for a high-fat dairy product.

My motivational training quote for Boston 2011: "Somewhere in the world a wedge of cheese is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win."

A remarkable and superbly organized race.