after months and months of training the marathon finally arrived, we arrived in the capital on Saturday morning, checked into our apartments. then did a bit of site seeing, mainly in pubs, but i stuck to water, went back for a chill out and pasta, i was quite excited about the race now,
race day
the morning of the marathon, i felt fine, no nerves just wanted to get to the start and get running, me and burf set off before the crew to catch a few tubes to get to the Greenwich park near Charlton to the start line, arrived with plenty of time, loads of people walking around waiting to start, we drank loads of free water and lucozade, mingled in and enjoyed the entertainment, we dropped off our bags and headed to the starting area, slightly the nerves tingled but more excited though,
we stood in bay 6 our zone and waited with the other 35, 000 people running, we heard the bang and we were off, but it took around 8 Min's to get to the official start line and a cheeky wee on the road just before, crossing the start line was amazing as we were finally running the London marathon, the 1st mile was simple and quick, the weather was perfect, no wind and cool, we took out times and enjoyed the small crowds,
both of us felt great and the 1st 5 miles passed easily, the crowds were getting thicker all the time, calling out our names, things were going great, drinking the free water and energy drinks along the way
miles 5-10 were the same, every pub we passed the entertainment was amazing, all had DJs and MCs playing loud music
we hit mile 12 and the the tower bridge, this was amazing crossing the landmark, both me and burf had goose pimples, about another mile down the road at the half way point we saw our crowd shout at us for across the road, gave them a cheeky wave and carried on, now when i did pass 13 miles it was now the longest run of my life, so every step for me was a step into the unknown
through miles 13 - 17 things were going great but it was red hot by now and we needed more water to drink and cool us down, i developed a method our chucking it all over myself to cool my body down, this work great but i was soaked, lol,
i started counting down in my head from here as it was only just over 10 miles to go, burf did say afterwards that this was his hardest few miles,
we got to 20 miles in the heat and we knew that we would see the girls and the gang again very soon, i think this helped us, we saw them at 23 miles and we were buzzing, yes the old legs were sore, but in my head i was talking it through, saying come on lee u can do it,
now things got hard for me from here, straight after seeing the girls, my legs was tight and cramped up a Little, but i made my stride shorter, burf was keeping me going, we were still pouring water all over us and use the free energy drinks and gels, these all help, we got through mile 24 and headed to big Ben, not long now, people were dropping every where the medical team were working over time,
we hit big Ben at just over 25 miles and we knew it was so so close, then before we knew it, there was a sign saying 800 metres to go, wow wow Wat a feeling 600 metres to go, 400 then the turn to the finish line and a big sign shouting 385 metres to go, with Buckingham palace behind us we made our way to the finish,
crossed the line at 4 hours 01 Min's and 53 seconds, i was one very happy man, gave burf a manly hug, our legs were very sore, we got our chips took off, got our goody bags and made our way to collect the bags, it was a massive walk but we probably needed it
we had done the London marathon, and had a great night with our great friends, i did feel fine about an hour after the race, especially with a beer in my hand and i felt fine the next day when we headed home
i want to say thanks to everyone that supported us and that have very kindly sponsored us, i would like to say a massive thanks to my wife, she is my rock and i love her to bits, along with my 2 little boys,
THANKS
