London 2012

Two things about the 2012 London Marathon make me feel guilty.

1. The perfect conditions, coming only six days after Boston. I really admire the people who persevered and finished Boston. And I entirely respect the surprisingly few people who decided to put it off to next year. I’m delighted to have run London, but I’ll never be able to say I ran Boston 2012.

2. I didn’t run for a charity. I was pleased that I didn’t have to do so to get a place, but I never realised how much of the spirit of London IS charity. My Mother volunteered for a charity, my sister works for a charity and I did nothing (except see below). They both know this and never let out even a hint of disapproval.

My goal was influenced by two terrible training seasons and some good advice from 365Runners. Just before the 2010-11 running season (we only race in winter here in the Middle East), I was wrongly diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis and for six months, including four months of the running season, I average three miles per week and bought an expensive bicycle. I’m not a cyclist. I was very unhappy. By the time I had the sense to get a second opinion, there was only two months left of the season. It would have been foolish not to exercise the privilege of postponing my marathon entry by a year. The knee has hardly given any trouble, but I think I started the 2011-12 season too keen to catch up, too full of the joy of being able to run again, and too willing to do interval training with people half my age. The obvious result was hamstring pulls and they plagued my training with so many setbacks that I could only average 20-odd miles per week, only twice exceeding forty and three times in the low thirties. My race times at shorter distances were not too bad, but would have made a poor predictor for a marathon. Added to this, I developed a bad chest infection five weeks before the race. This put me completely out of action for nine days, followed by a nine-day light-running recovery, taking me up to exactly two weeks before the race. I settled on a pace of around 7:50 per mile, determined to enjoy the crowd support and scenes of the town of my birth.

I arrived from Abu Dhabi the evening before, my number having been collected by a kind sister-in-law (who also used to work for a charity). On checking into my club, I found that quite a few other members, none of whom I previously knew, were also taking part. The club had added a few sensible pasta dishes to its dinner menu and served a specially early breakfast at 6:30 on race day. This was a good beginning.

The weather, as I said, was perfect. I had been watching the forecasts and was seriously worried that it would be cold and wet. Cold I could manage, but I am not used to running in rain. As the day got closer, the forecast got better, and we were blessed with a start temperature around 50˚, some light cloud and a very gentle breeze.

London has three separate starts, in addition to those for elites and fast competitive runners, to accommodate the 37,500 entrants, with routes merging within the first few miles. Two of us with Good-for-Age entries had been allocated to the Green start, with only around 4,000 entrants, truly tiny by the standards of the Red and Blue starts. Getting there was amazingly easy, with the whole London Transport system allowing free travel. There were marshals at several main stations to direct us to the correct trains for our starts, each served by a different station. Even if one missed all the marshals (almost impossible), one only had to look up to see that the three starts were all marked by appropriately-coloured barrage balloons (You do remember those, don’t you? Well, no, actually I wasn’t born then, either!) We arrived just in time to drop our bags, get a pre-race drink and do the other things one has to do. I started in Pen 2, thanks to a previous time estimate, and only had to wait a few minutes before the gun. Experienced London marathoners were amazed that it only took me 32 seconds to cross the start line. Twenty minutes seems to be considered quite normal.

The run was amazing. I think it’s the first time I have run without any competitive ambitions, the first time I’ve taken much notice of anything other than time and distance. The whole route was lined with spectators and they were in great voice. Many of the charities had uniformed groups of supporters to cheer on their runners. After the sound of one band faded, it would be no time before the next could be heard. There were famous landmarks that I hadn’t seen since my childhood. I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a run so much. Why is it then that, being properly trained, I would still opt for the competitive approach? I loved everything about the experience, but I could never run just to finish if I were able to run competitively. After this, I can perfectly understand why people would want to do that. It’s myself I don’t understand!

Thanks to Mr Garmin, pacing was a simple matter, just involving a mental slap on the wrist when the excitement got the better of me. Nothing untoward happened until exactly 20 kilometres. I know it was exactly 20 km because I tripped spectacularly on the timing mat. There was a sudden (relative) silence from the nearby spectators, followed by offers of help, which fortunately was not necessary. If I had realised how much blood there was, I should have realised why I got such a cheer for carrying on. Anyway, there was no pain and I rushed off at a ridiculous 6:30 pace. I realised what I was doing after a few hundred yards, and reverted to normal.

I then stayed upright until 26 miles and tripped on another timing mat. Why they have timing mats at 26 miles I don’t know. They don’t use 26-mile time for anything. What happened was that I had to slow down for the last three miles. It wasn’t really “hitting the wall”, at least, not hard, but I had decided I was not racing this one and that if my body wanted to slow down, I’d just let it. Well, at about 25 miles 1759 yards, I suddenly recognised two runners from Dubai, and they were overtaking me. The competitive instinct kicked in. I was not going to allow this. I darted off, for about a millisecond, and caught another mat. They beat me by about twenty seconds and promptly ordered me off to the St John Ambulance service, that had set up a very impressive first-aid station. Suitably cleaned up, wounds covered, it was less than a mile’s walk back to my club, where I spent the afternoon answering the ‘phone.

It was hours later that I heard the news that a 30-year-old woman had collapsed within a mile of the finish and died, despite immediate medical attention. She was running for the same charity my Mother used to volunteer for. As a tribute, like many other people, I went to her justgiving page and made a donation. Perhaps I also wanted to salve my conscience.

My time? I nearly forgot. 3:31:02. Who cares?

Wonderful report, Chris and again a well run race! Hope you heal up from the cuts/bruises.

Two falls and still a great time. Nicely run!

Great run. A timing mat at 26 miles. Hummm, odd.....

Man that is a great time for not being properly trained, falling twice, and impressive for your AG regardless. Nice race, Chris! I read about the gal who died and heard her donations went from 500 to 448,000 Euros so you weren't alone in that department, tragic loss!

Good show Chris! You punched your ticket for next year.
I'm looking forward to meeting you then. My ticket just got punched.



Consider doing the Boston - London double in 2013. Mind the gap!

KBFitz wrote:Good show Chris! You punched your ticket for next year.
I'm looking forward to meeting you then. My ticket just got punched.

Consider doing the Boston - London double in 2013. Mind the gap!

Congratulations. You're going to enjoy it.

Very sadly, I shan't be running London next year after all. It's too close to my Mother's 90th birthday party and I can't have time off work for both. In 2014, I'll definitely be there. My leave schedule is written in stone.

Boston - London double in 2014? I'd just love to think I'd be capable!

I'm doing the Boston-London double in 2013. Two marathons 6 days apart. Joining Kevin over in London and as of now I have no bib but plans are in the works....but the corral thing worries me. How can I easily run with Kevin if I'm with a bib I got from a charity and he's in the "good for age" corral. I have a "good for age" time but I'm not a UK resident so I wasn't able to get in via that route. Now I'm worried that I'll be in but not able to actually run with Kevin.

Chris M wrote:I'm doing the Boston-London double in 2013. Two marathons 6 days apart. Joining Kevin over in London and as of now I have no bib but plans are in the works....but the corral thing worries me. How can I easily run with Kevin if I'm with a bib I got from a charity and he's in the "good for age" corral. I have a "good for age" time but I'm not a UK resident so I wasn't able to get in via that route. Now I'm worried that I'll be in but not able to actually run with Kevin.

Unfortunately, Kevin will probably be at the Green start and you at the Red or Blue start. The organisers do take account of your time estimate, but a Green pen is much nearer its start line than an equivalent Red or Blue pen. Then, even if you managed to cross the start lines at the same time and ran accurate miles, the size of the field would make it difficult to meet up. That's the bad news. I read somewhere that the organisers are reluctant to move runners to "faster" pens. From that I infer that pen changes are not impossible, so a reasonable request for two people to run together might be seen favourably, provided it didn't involve promotion. There must be lots of people in a similar situation and I know people do run together. I'd be very surprised if it can't be arranged.

Chris Coleman wrote:

Chris M wrote:

Chris Coleman wrote:
Very sadly, I shan't be running London next year after all. It's too close to my Mother's 90th birthday party and I can't have time off work for both. In 2014, I'll definitely be there. My leave schedule is written in stone.

I'm doing the Boston-London double in 2013. ... joining Kevin over in London ... but the corral thing worries me. How can I easily run with Kevin if ... he's in the "good for age" corral?

Unfortunately, Kevin will probably be at the Green start and you at the Red or Blue start. ... I read somewhere that the organisers are reluctant to move runners to "faster" pens. From that I infer that pen changes are not impossible, so a reasonable request for two people to run together might be seen favourably, provided it didn't involve promotion. There must be lots of people in a similar situation and I know people do run together. I'd be very surprised if it can't be arranged.

It's a shame that we won't be able to meet in London next year Chris. But your Mom's 90th definitely takes precedence. Thanks for your insights on start assignments. McKee and I will just have to work it out. Maybe we'll look up David & Marilena to help coordinate a joint start. And maybe one or both of them will be running it. Anyway, we've got nearly a year to work it out.