London Marathon 2011 Race Report
Thank you to everyone who wished me well or sponsored me as I ran the London Marathon on Palm Sunday. The weekend began on Friday with registration at a big exhibition centre in the docklands area. The race number and timing chip were safely issued and I was in. My home for the weekend was St Pauls Youth Hostel, and I pleased to be able to make it to Evensong in the Cathedral, which was an amazing experience.
The Saturday was an easy day. A visit it to the Sunflower Seeds exhibition by Aiwei Wei at the Tate Modern in the morning, which was an awe inspiring installation. Then it was off to the London Marathon Service of Thanksgiving at All Hallows by the Tower in the afternoon. A simple service and because of the date, some elements of Palm Sunday were included (including Palm Crosses) for those of us who would be running the next day instead of being in church. It was also an honour to be able to read some of the prayers at the service as a Christian Aid runner. There was an interesting comparison in the sermon about the crowds who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on the same day as vast crowds of people would be running and watching the London Marathon...
On Sunday, I was up early to catch the tube, then a train to Black Heath and the blue start. Based on my very roughly estimated time from a year ago, I was shepherded to pen 10 of 11 at the start amid another 15,000 people at the blue start and about 45,000 people taking part altogether. At 9.45 am we were off and it only took 9 minutes to cross the start line. The first half of the race follows residential roads around the south of the river. There were stewards everywhere, including on road humps, who were holding a sign reading ‘hump’, some even shouted ‘hump’ and runners would shout it back to them. There were children holding out hands for high-fives, others holding out tubs and handfuls of jelly babies, others cheering, clapping and calling out my name (and many others) in encouragement. The sun came out after the first fifteen minutes, it became just that bit too warm and so the showers every 5 miles or so were very welcome, just cold water sprayed across the road from above for us to run through. Some residents even set up sprinklers tied to lampposts for the same purpose. Outside every pub was a live band, a disco DJ or a drumming orchestra. One of most effective was on a roundabout underneath a flyover. A group of twenty people drumming a fast rhythm on kettle drums made an amazing noise. All of this just added to the fun and the wonderful atmosphere.
The run itself was hard work and I would have liked to have been quicker. I was disappointed to completely miss Buckingham Palace, even though I ran right past it! What will stay with me is the huge support given by friends, family and all the many people I met during the weekend, being cheered by the Christian Aid team by Tower Bridge, the fellowship of other runners, supporters and finally, the cup of tea at the Christian aid reception at the end.
Thank you again for your support. Together we raised over £950.
The Saturday was an easy day. A visit it to the Sunflower Seeds exhibition by Aiwei Wei at the Tate Modern in the morning, which was an awe inspiring installation. Then it was off to the London Marathon Service of Thanksgiving at All Hallows by the Tower in the afternoon. A simple service and because of the date, some elements of Palm Sunday were included (including Palm Crosses) for those of us who would be running the next day instead of being in church. It was also an honour to be able to read some of the prayers at the service as a Christian Aid runner. There was an interesting comparison in the sermon about the crowds who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on the same day as vast crowds of people would be running and watching the London Marathon...
On Sunday, I was up early to catch the tube, then a train to Black Heath and the blue start. Based on my very roughly estimated time from a year ago, I was shepherded to pen 10 of 11 at the start amid another 15,000 people at the blue start and about 45,000 people taking part altogether. At 9.45 am we were off and it only took 9 minutes to cross the start line. The first half of the race follows residential roads around the south of the river. There were stewards everywhere, including on road humps, who were holding a sign reading ‘hump’, some even shouted ‘hump’ and runners would shout it back to them. There were children holding out hands for high-fives, others holding out tubs and handfuls of jelly babies, others cheering, clapping and calling out my name (and many others) in encouragement. The sun came out after the first fifteen minutes, it became just that bit too warm and so the showers every 5 miles or so were very welcome, just cold water sprayed across the road from above for us to run through. Some residents even set up sprinklers tied to lampposts for the same purpose. Outside every pub was a live band, a disco DJ or a drumming orchestra. One of most effective was on a roundabout underneath a flyover. A group of twenty people drumming a fast rhythm on kettle drums made an amazing noise. All of this just added to the fun and the wonderful atmosphere.
The run itself was hard work and I would have liked to have been quicker. I was disappointed to completely miss Buckingham Palace, even though I ran right past it! What will stay with me is the huge support given by friends, family and all the many people I met during the weekend, being cheered by the Christian Aid team by Tower Bridge, the fellowship of other runners, supporters and finally, the cup of tea at the Christian aid reception at the end.
Comments
Post a Comment