Virgin London Marathon - 25 April 2010...

Distance: 26.2 miles

In a time of...
hh:mm:ss
02:42:24 Personal Best!!!

Finishing Position: 235
Number of finishers: 36605
Putting me in the top: 0.64%

How to start this report then eh... grab a cuppa, and nip to the loo - this might take a while.

Pre Race

Months of training had been and gone and I entered the 3 week marathon training taper very grateful of the chance to ease off a little - my legs had been battered as my training reached it's peak, and they were well and truly ready for some rest. As marathon day became closer and closer the 'taper madness' never seemed to set in - I was still grateful of the chance to put my legs up more than normal. Closer and closer we got to race day - my legs felt strong, my mind felt strong; I was ready.

Marathon weekend came and having collected my race number earlier in the week, carbo loading was well underway and by Friday afternoon I was already sick of pasta & carbs. One coach journey and a £40 taxi bill later and I was checked into my hotel. A Pizza Express Lasagna for dinner and off to bed I went. A restless night ensued, waking regularly every 30mins-2hours, wondering "Is it time to get up yet?" EVENTUALLY the time came; I woke, dressed and went in search of my breakfast.

Original breakfast plans were to take my mini fridge and have cold porridge, as I had done last year at Edinburgh, but I was limited to what luggage I could take, so the plan was to buy brekkie in London, but despite spending 20mins on Sunday morning wandering the streets of Greenwich - I couldn't find anywhere selling milk and/or porridge. I returned to the hotel and begrudgingly paid £5.50 for a bowl of muesli and glass of orange juice.

That done it was back to the room to make sure everything was packed and head to the start - Oooh, wait!!! Timing chip on the bed... blimey... I might need that! I met up with friends outside who were there to spectate the race, and whom my significant other (Emma) would spend the day spectating with. We walked together towards Greenwich Park to the start. The crowds became thicker and eventually I found my start area, I kissed Emma goodbye and said I'd see her later.

I entered my start area and checked my phone - a text from Stu Leaney (a friend a great runner from runnersforum.co.uk) saying he was by the fence at the entrance on the right hand side. I scanned all along the fence and couldn't see him - so trundled off and joined the toilet queue - I tried texting and calling him, but to no avail. I resigned myself to the fact that I'd probably not see him before the start now. Never mind!

I was then caught in a downpour whilst trying to change into my race shoes... there were some marquees but they were literally rammed full with no space remaining. I sheltered down the side of the marquees and hid under my space blanket come poncho. A last minute rush to dump my baggage, and I bumped into club mate Stu Hopkins, who's of very similar ability to me, we also stumbled across another club mate, Connor Carson, who was running in fancy dress as a Mosquito, raising money for a malaria awareness charity. Club mate Stu was aiming to pace himself to a 2:42 finish, I was hoping to go slightly quicker and pace myself to a time of 2:40. We joined our starting pens and were moved to the start area - 15mins before the race start. BUGGER!! I'd forgotten to grease myself up with Vaseline to avoid chaffing - I had my fingers crossed there would be first aiders on course handing out Vaseline (I'd heard they do this at some big events).

I can't remember ever standing on a start line for 15mins! "Rich!" I heard a voice shout - it was Stu Leaney, lord knows how he'd spotted me, but great stuff - I followed him and edged my way to the front of the red start. The 15mins stood on the start line seemed to last an eternity, but eventually we were minutes, then seconds away from the start... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... *HOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNKKK!*

The Race

We were off! What a surreal feeling - the 2010 Virgin London Marathon was underway, and for one brief moment, I was in 4th place! Okay... only at the 'red' start, and only momentarily... but a surreal experience nonetheless. I ran alongside Sturunner and it felt so easy just floating along, I had decided I wouldn’t use my Garmin to religiously pace myself as I had done at Edinburgh last year and ran as I felt - we passed the first mile in 5:52 by my timing. "A bit quick" I thought, "but not too quick, and it feels easy". We continued to run together, and approaching 3mi I felt some twinging in the arch of my right foot - a sharp annoying discomfort which sometimes seems to happen when wearing Saucony Fastwitch's but thankfully it passed by the 5km mark. Still running in a group with Stu, and having gone through the first 5km in 18:28 (5:57/mi) I felt it would be dangerous for me to continue running at Stu's pace, and silently I drifted off the back of the group we were in and ran at my original planned pace, taking on small amounts of water at each station and my first carb gel @ 5miles. The next 5km averaged out at 6:03/mi, which is about where I wanted to be.

*Guuuuuurrrrgle*... uh-oh... my stomach was feeling quite right... truth be told it had been causing me some concern on Friday and Saturday, but I'd resigned myself to the fact that it was merely due to pre race nerves... "Forget that - focus on the race!" I thought, and thankfully we approached Cutty Sark, which was a welcome distraction. All boarded up, you couldn't see a thing - and no supporters down there at all, which made a strange change to the endless crowds that had lined the streets thus far. "Oooh... St John's Ambulance people... with their hands out... Vaseline! Phew!" that was one worry out the way - I scooped some Vaseline from the medics hand; I say some but it was a right handful - and no sooner had I taken it but I was back on the street and the crowds either side were both HUGE and deafening! "How am I supposed to rub Vaseline on my groin now without looking weird now?" I thought, "Ah well - just get on with it", and my chaffing worries had gone - So my apologies the spectators in Greenwich - needs must and all that. ;) Cutty Sark was in fact the first point of the course where I had any idea of where I was - I knew I was somewhere near my hotel, and that was it. Trying to take my next mile split was a nightmare - my hands still covered in Vaseline I struggled to press the lap button.

A few slower miles followed, and I continued to take on water whenever possible, though I was feeling bloated, 15km came and went with little excitement to speak of, though I was wondering how well my carb gel at 10mi would go down. Surprisingly it went down rather well, and I continued along the way, though by 11mi doubts were starting to enter my mind... my legs were starting to tire a little. "Noooo - this can't be?! I'm not even half way yet, and I can feel myself starting to tire". Around 11.5mi my I spotted some club members who'd come along to support - this gave me a burst of energy which was all too short. By 12mi the unthinkable entered my head "Your stomach's not settled, you're not even halfway and you're starting to tire - perhaps you should just accept that it's not meant to be and call it a day?" With hindsight, what a stupid thought that was - how could I even think about throwing in the towel so early?! I tried to draw confidence from my training runs, and I was soon on Tower Bridge "Wow... I always thought Tower Bridge was much further away! I must be almost halfway... come on rich... once the first half is done, you're on the home straight" (albeit a 13.1mi home straight!).

I passed halfway and after miles of pondering, I decided I would have to stop for the loo - it was either that or run the risk of ending up like that "Mr Runner" bloke, who had his photo plastered all over the internet having been photographed running following a bit of a toilet accident. It's not what I wanted to do as it would cost me time, but I knew it needed to be done - the discomfort was creating doubt in my mind and was losing me valuable time every mile. Finally at 14.5mi there were signs "Toilets - 200m ahead". I reached the toilets and had to dive off the course, and through the crowd to get to them. I was in and out as fast as I could, and estimate I lost somewhere around 40 seconds in there, but I instantly felt better and powered on, briefly scrolling through the screens on my Garmin to see what pace I was doing - 5:17/mi... Oops... bit quick... slow down! I completed mile 14-15 in 6:33, which coupled with the fast paced burst seems to tie in with me losing somewhere around 40seconds to the pit stop.

My next thought was "Where's Stu Hopkins?", my club mate who was targeting 2:42 - I wondered if he had passed me. Low and behold he had, I could see him perhaps 75m ahead, or rather I recognised the running vest and hairstyle. I set about closing the gap and eventually drew level, tapping him on the shoulder to say hello. Running with Stuart for a while made life a lot easier and took my mind off the discomfort. 20-25km had taken 19:34, so an average pace of 6:18/mi, I thought about my dad sat at home monitoring my split times and said a little "sorry dad!" to myself, thinking about how terrible it must be to see such erratic splits appearing. I reached 18mi and was struggling - my legs felt so much more tired than they did at the 18mile marker at Edinburgh last year "Come on, only 8miles to go - hang in there" I told myself. 25-30km came and went in 19:13, so 6:11/mi - still not as fast as I'd have liked but I was already in survival mode and starting to pay the price for starting that bit too quick.

Another gel at 20mi didn't sit too well but did give me some energy and the crowds were able to lift my spirits a number of times when I was feeling low. Only 10km to go... come on... 10km is easy! Approaching 35km the course ran alongside an earlier section of the course with runners passing the halfway mark, my pace over the last 5km had slowed again to 6:18/mi and I was struggling until I heard someone shout my name... "SIMKISS!!!" I turned to see who/what/where it was and instantly spotted Twinkle Toes (from runnersforum), it made me smile and lifted my spirits massively and onwards I plodded. "3miles and you're part of History" said a Lucozade banner, I can't remember if this was before or after the tunnel as the whole experience around this point was a bit of a blur. Running into the tunnel was strange - having heard crowds cheering for the past 23mi or so, suddenly we were all running in silence; the air was warm and still - I'd have killed for a bit of a breeze. "Oggy - Oggy - Oggy!" a runner ahead shouted... "Oi Oi Oi" was my response - on this went and was a welcome distraction to the silence of the tunnel and the accumulated pain in my legs.

Out of the tunnel and the crowds of spectators were immense. Running along what I now realise was the embankment seemed to take an eternity, but I drew great confidence from the fact that I was catching and passing runners, one after another, my pace was seemingly slowing more and more with every mile, kilometer and metre... I tried to force the pace, and I could, but it required focus, and my brain was just scrambled. 35-40km was completed at an average pace of 6:25/mi, 20secs per mile slower than my target pace. Marshalls were directing runners around spectator crossing points... firstly the marshals told me to pass on their right, so I had to cross the road - at the next crossing point they wanted me on the left, so I crossed the road again, this only added metres to my distance, but metres felt like miles and my thighs were screaming at me - I just wanted to finish!

Finally I could see in the road ahead cones, I could tell I was almost there - low and behold there was the 26mile marker "Just 385yards to go" it promised me. I began to float, the relief of having the finish line in sight just lifted me - the noise of the crowds, it was pure elation running down the final straight - I'd completely missed Buckingham Palace as I was so focused on the finish line - I picked up the pace "oooh, ooh, ooh" my left hamstring threatened to cramp up, so I eased off again, and gradually built the pace up to pass 2 runners - nobody else ahead so all that was left was for my cheesy celebration... both arms in the air as if I'd won the race - in reality I was just delighted to have finished. I stopped my Garmin moments later - 2:42:31 it said - I was delighted... absolutely over the moon. No it wasn't the 2:40 I'd initially hoped for, but after the journey that was the past 26.2mi, I was ecstatic with my time, taking 10minutes off my Edinburgh Marathon 2009 time.

I struggled away from the finish area, congratulating Stu Leaney on his phenomenal performance, and club mate Stu Hopkins on his great run, finally breaking 2:45 after several attempts. I met with Friends and club mates afterwards before making the very painful journey back to the hotel to crash and relax. Mexican food and Tequilas followed to end my VLM experience.

What Now?

REST! Rest and recovery. I can't wait to start training again - I'm not yet decided as to whether I'll run a marathon next year or not yet, but I'm looking forward to working on shorter distances for the remainder of the year at least. I want to be out training NOW, but my legs and common sense says otherwise - hopefully I'll be able to start running again next week.

What can I do to improve next time?

• - Lose weight... I lined up at London this year at the same weight as I started Edinburgh Marathon at last year - I was determined to be nearer 11st, but I wasn't disciplined enough with my weight management - this will play a big factor.
• - Train more... this year was a big ramp up in mileage from last year, and I couldn't have trained any more without severely risking injury (in fact I had a few niggles as it was), though I feel I'll now be able to push the weekly mileage even further if I so wish.
• - Pace better... Not go out too fast - whether I do this by using my Garmin in the race, or by training with the Garmin less (so I get a better feel for what running at race pace is like).
• - Not have stomach upset... I'm still working on this one, not quite sure why it happened so I'm not sure what I need to do differently!

AOB

There were a few people on the course cheering for me by name - in my dazed state I couldn't make out who they were - if you were one of them I thank you - you have no idea how much you helped me, and apologies for not remembering you individually. I'm also grateful to Emma, Pete & Ros who leapfrogged across London to support - unfortunately I didn't get to see them once amidst the crowds, but I'm very grateful and glad they a least got to see me. A big thanks to Dad, who regularly joined me on his bike for my weekend long runs, carrying fluids and always being supportive. Of course a huge thanks to everyone on runnersforum for giving me a place to talk about running - I'm still learning and take inspiration from so many people.