Stitched Up (The Marathon)

The final week leading up to the Marathon went well. I did some light exercise, cut out alcohol from Tuesday and ate upwards of 550 grams of carbohydrates each day on Thursday through to Saturday. I went to bed relatively late on Saturday after watching the disappointing Amir Khan fight, so not perfect but I still had 6 hours sleep. I woke up at 6am on Sunday feeling good and finished breakfast around 6.45am (Tea, Banana and a Cereal bar). At 7.15am my dad gave me a lift to Worcester Park train station to catch the 7.32 to Waterloo.  He then went back home to the rest of my family who planned to arrive in London later on and see me at the official Outward Bound Trust cheering station at mile 13.

From Waterloo you take a 5 to 10 minute walk to Waterloo East where the trains to Greenwich depart. It was extremely busy on the train with the typical sardine squeeze you expect from a big event. I’m not sure everyone on the platform made it on and so they would have to wait for the next. Thankfully the train went direct without stopping and it was a relief to get out of the carriage and into some fresh, London air!

The walk into Greenwich Park and the marathon starting area was pleasant, with official photo’s being taken and the runners completing last minute preparations. I had around 1 hour to kill upon arrival so used the time to rest, gather my thoughts and take on some final water and fuel in the form of a Lucozade Energy Gel and a Cereal Bar. At around 9.40am I headed to the starting pen ready for the 9.45am start.

The atmosphere was relatively calm for the whole of the start. After the gun went off, it took around 15 minutes to reach the official starting line and the timing chip to commence recording. Several runners (male and female) were relieving themselves against the railings to the left before the start line, including me – better out than in!

And so the race commenced. I took on board the advice given from several marathon runners and started slowly. I was aiming to complete the marathon in under 4 hours, which felt realistic given the training runs. This equates to 9 minute 10 seconds per mile. And then without even getting to the first mile marker my chest started to hurt with sharp pains and the dreaded stitches had arrived. Despite my efforts to compress the area with my fist, the pains persisted.

I hit the first mile marker after around 10 minutes so was behind the pace from the off and playing catchup. At mile three I was around 90 to 120 seconds off pace, but wasn’t too concerned. Getting rid of the stitches was more important, but they still remained and the trapped wind in my stomach made it difficult to focus on running.

At around mile 5 onwards, I also felt the need to use a toilet and give my stomach some relief. But the queues at these stops (approximately every 2 miles), was too long for my liking (around 20+ people) and I pushed on instead.

At around the 13 mile mark was the Outward Bound Trust cheering station (just around the corner Tower Bridge) and I was on the lookout for my 12 family members/supporters amongst the vast crowds. As luck would have it, they kept their patience (I was aprroximately 20 minutes below pace) and I saw them all. What a massive buzz to see them. I threw my hands into the air and shouted wey hey, drenching myself and some fellow runners in the process from the water bottle in my right hand! Oops.

The steady but slower than usual pace continued for the next couple of miles until I could not wait any longer to use a toilet. I joined a queue at mile 15 and gave my stomach some relief. This added 5 minutes onto my time and I was not the only runner disappointed at the low number of toilets (around 6 to 12) given the number of participants.

And so I joined the pack again and headed towards the final 11 miles. My pace was way behind schedule by now and my hopes of finishing in under 4 hours had passed. I carried on through Surrey and South Quays at a comfortable pace (around 11 minute miling) which took me to around mile 18 before the traversing through Canary Wharf. My legs were starting to ache pretty much everywhere and even the lower back was aching.

As we headed out of Canary Wharf, where the crowds were huge (approximately 19.5 miles), I had to stop and stretch my legs. The heat we endured and the stitches I suffered took their toll and I was not going to be able to complete the marathon without periods of walking and stretching.

Miles 20 through to 25 seemed to role into one, gradually counting down to the final mile or so. I was also on the lookout for my family again at mile 22 onwards as they were planning to see my uncle Colin’s band “Gugge 2000” who are invited to play each year. Unfortunately there was a mix up on where they were playing and it turned out they were at mile 23 or so! I stopped to see if I could see them, but without any joy.

So I pressed on for the final few miles, hoping that I would see them again at mile 26 where the other Outward Bound Trust cheering station was positioned. I was greeted by a huge cheer from the supporters at OBT, but still no sign of my family and supporters, which was fair enough given that I was around 1 hour behind my slowest prediction!

And then with around 800 metres to go, I saw them, or rather they saw me and I heard them! I headed over to the railings and said hello everyone. I apologised for having a nightmare of a race and being so slow, but no one was bothered by that and they were just happy to see me. After a 30 seconds or so chat I continued onto the finish accompanied for the next 50 metres or so by my mum and 5 year old daughter, Lily, who were running along the spectator area, cheering me on some more. Fantastic!

The final 200 metres was a joy and a relief after a gruelling race. I raised my hands in the air for the final few meters and over the finish line. Woohoo! What a great feeling. The marshalls cut off the timing chip attached to my trainer and then I was handed my medal and goody bag.

Here are the official time splits for the race:

Has this turned me off running. Not a chance! I’m signing up for a ballot place on 26th April and will be more determined than ever to smash 4 hours. And then 3 hours! (my wife may have something to say about that ;-))

So who won the two prizes from my “Guess My Time” competitiion?

• 1st prize of £300 treatme.net vouchers goes to Ben Williams, kindly donated by the 2 companies I’m involved with www.2able.co.uk and www.abc-toner-cartridges.co.uk.As Ben Williams is my colleague and business partner at 2able, as a gesture of goodwill he will be giving £150 of the vouchers to Mandy @ Razors in Ringwood, whom I talked out of guessing 5 hours 32 minutes as I thought it would be a waste of a guess!

• 2nd prize of paintballing for 16 people goes to Steve Ford, kindly donated by www.treatme.net.

These will be sent out in the post over the within the next 2 weeks.

I would like to take this opportunity to say:

• Thank you to everyone who has donated so far. I still have around £400 to raise to reach the £2000 I pledged. Please visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/bencrowley if you haven’t already and pledge whatever you can.

• Thank you to my wife, girls and family for supporting me in the training and fundraising efforts over the past 4 months or so.

• Thank you to the thousands, possibly millions of people who lined the street of London to cheer on each and everyone of the runners. It truly was amazing. There was never a moment where you felt alone on the course.

• Thank you to the Outward Bound Trust for giving me the opportunity to run for a great cause, for the support and regular emails they give and for the superb reception they laid on yesterday after the race.

And so this marks the end of my 2011 London Marathon posts, unless I get a twitch to write again next week!

Have a great week and feel free to leave any feedback below.

Ben