Well if there was ever a marathon to run .. The London has
to be it !!
I can’t begin to say how overwhelmed I am at the support
that Team Pittman has received. To date this is the pinnacle of my running
adventures, even the weather decided to support us for the day.
So after a weeks’ worth of virus and a calf injury which
basically side-lined me from running for two weeks, I was going to be running the
Virgin London Marathon on the least amount of preparation ever. I felt bad and
I hadn’t tested my leg (which I thought would give up in the first mile for
sure) but I was surprisingly looking forward to it. This is an accumulation of
all the hard work, all the training, all the fund raising, and I sure as
heckerslike wasn't going out without giving it a bloody good go first.
The expo a couple of days before hand was great, I got my
leg taped up and ate far too many gels, bars, bloks, electrolyte drinks, etc. that’s
when the real excitement kicked in. I picked up my goody bag and got my name
printed on my shirt. Andy for me and Nelly for my cousin Neal (little did I
realise I would get Nelly envy in the first mile of the race ). Everything was
ready for the race now, all we had to do was run it !!
The morning of the race and the alarm went off at 6am, jam
on toast and porridge consumed we headed for the train station. After a short
trip we was at Greenwich Park. Still the enormity of the race hadn't hit me,
yes there were a few people milling around but didn't seem out of the ordinary
to other races I had ran in. After a queue for the loo’s and some final lunges
and stretching we put our bags in the trailers and headed for the start line,
again it was very busy but when you are in a bubble of people you can’t see the
thousands of other runners around you. A rhino pushed in front of us and a few ladies
wearing bra’s stood beside us (who to be fair really should have thought longer
and harder about their costume, neither their age, or gravity, was doing them
any favours). Batman and Robin, a giant nurse, a peperami stick, a spider, a
man in a tutu, several other rhino’s, and a few hundred athletes with itchy
garmin fingers surrounded us as the 10 o’clock start was approaching. A whistle
sounded for 30 seconds silence for those who lost their lives so tragically in
Boston and then a huge cheer as the race started … well I say started, it was
more of a shuffle, after 20 minutes we were finally out of Greenwich Park and
under the start line and released into Blackheath. It was here that the
enormity hit me, not so much the runners taking part, but the crowd, thousands
of them, people everywhere shouting, cheering, blowing whistles, sounding
horns, clapping , screaming, chanting, beeping, waving banners, high fiving.
This was when the first round of emotion hit me and when my calf tweaked for
the first time.
Now I won’t bore you with every twist and turn but I would
like to cover a few things during the race that are important. Firstly Neal and
I both made a pact that we will not get overtaken by anyone in a comedy outfit during
the latter stages of the race. Secondly I will chat, whether or not you want to
hear it or can answer back, I am still loving a chat. Thirdly whatever happens
we are finishing this race, even if we have to drag each other over the finish
line.
The twinge in the calf is making me run/limp up and down any
hills but the flat seems ok, fingers crossed the deep freeze and pain killers
will start working soon, fortunately the London Marathon is pretty flat so I
should be ok. We are both running well and are way ahead of our set target,
this is where my Nelly envy starts. I just had Andy on my vest which doesn't really
stand out so much, Nelly on the other hand is an amazing name to shout out, or
so I hear, again, and again, and again. By mile 8 I thought I heard my first
Andy, but there is another guy called Andy running next to me so can’t be sure
it was for me, in my head I’m thinking of putting Zoro or something on my shirt
for the next time. As the race goes on there are cries of ‘come on Nelly and
Andy’, it’s the best I’m gonna get so I’ll take it.
We see Kat at the Cutty Sark and Neal and I veer off , boom
second wave of emotion, we don’t say much to each other for a minute or so, but
I’m guessing I probably broke the deadlock with nonsensical chat. The next big landmark
was Tower Bridge, and this is where Justine and Jessica would be, approaching the
bridge I was looking around for them until I hear ‘It’s Andy Pittman’ to be
fair I think half the race course heard it, I look over and see Alex Jumping
about and Justine and Jessica, Jessica incidentally seemed very pleased to see
me until I planted a sweaty smooch on her. Half way, on target feeling great !!
Big smiles for the cameras and we begin the countdown to the
end.
There are another 13 miles to run, yep we had aches and
pains, yep we laughed and moaned in equal measures, more people were stretching,
limping and being aided to by the St John Ambulance the nearer we were getting
to the finish. Neal had already decantered a bottle of water into the crowd, by
this I mean squirted it in the face of a woman by-stander who was not amused
(oh how we laughed) and was now looking for his next victim. With 800 meters to
go he found her, I heard a woman shout ‘he’s just taken my cider’ and looking
round see Neal jogging up with a pint of Koppelberg pretty sure that’s not in
the marathon training book. Karma however threw two legs cramps at him as
punishment.
So rounding the corner we can see the finish, the crowds are
huge, the cheering is immense, the emotion is running high, we muster every bit
of energy we have for a sprint finish (which turns out to be a slightly faster
than normal jog) and cross the line in 4 hours 37 minutes. Hugs, kisses, high
fives, maybe an odd tear, but we have done it !!
This event is amazing, if any of you get the chance to do it
you must. Don’t underestimate it, it’s not easy but the rewards are
incomparable to anything else you may ever do.
So we done it, I am so proud of Neal and myself, for the
money we raised and the support everyone has given us. What I am not proud of
is getting overtaken in the latter stages by a man dressed up as a bumble bee.
