On Sunday 22 April, I took part in the 38th London Marathon to raise funds for V for Life. This was my first full marathon. I had completed the Manchester Half Marathon the previous year so I was fully aware that training for a full marathon would need a lot of time and dedication. As noted in my previous blog post, I began running under 2 years ago when I decided I needed to get fit, so I knew that this was going to be a huge challenge!
The strict training schedule began in January. On average I was running 5 days a week with increasing miles each weekend. The weather wasn’t particularly kind to me through the winter months. With dark mornings and temperatures not often reaching above zero, getting out of bed was sometimes difficult. I got used to running in the cold, and when I realised this year’s marathon would be the hottest on record I began to worry.
On the day of the marathon I scrambled across London to get to the start line for 10am, going from Ealing in the West to St James’ Park in the South East. Although I was very nervous, the atmosphere heading across the city was uplifting. And with thousands of runners huddling together to run the world famous marathon I felt a little more at ease.
We began at Windsor Castle with the Queen starting the race; I was one of 40,000 people who took part. Due to the hot weather I decided to pace myself at a slower speed than normal because this was the highest temperature that I’d ran in since last summer so had to be cautious of not overheating. When I began at 10:45 I was wedged between runners from Bristol, France and a charity group running in rhino and bear outfits!
The atmosphere running along the streets of London was amazing and not like anything I’d experienced before. Residents and the public lined the streets throughout the entire course, having BBQs and parties, while live bands bellowed out reggae and jazz. Spectators handed out sweets and ice lollies and some were hosing runners down in the heat. Running through famous landmarks surrounded by thousands of people was just incredible.
However, further into the run things became very painful. When I reached the twentieth mile my legs, hips and back were beginning to seize up, and I then understood what runners meant by ‘hitting the wall’. Luckily I packed painkillers and knew I had to then take it slower so I could get over the finishing line.
So, after 6 hours and 5 minutes I finally made it across the finishing line. I was aiming for a much quicker time of 4 hours 50 but I didn’t want to take any chances of injury and overheating, but was happy I made it round in one piece!
All of the money raised will go straight back to V for Life, helping us to improve the lives of older vegetarians and vegans across the UK in so many ways. If you would like to sponsor me, you can do by using the following link, or by sending a cheque to our address shown below:
https://www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/maggielister
Vegetarian for Life
83 Ducie Street
Manchester
M1 2JQ
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