London Marathon 2015

Going into this race, I had plans A B and C. A was finish - achieved, B was sub 3:30 - achieved, and C was a new PB - achieved. 3:05:17.

Myself and Brian C flew over on Saturday morning. On arriving to the expo, the excitement was building, and the expo event itself was a great experience. They have been at it a while, but the standard of organisation is truly amazing. Everything runs with military precision, and it just makes it so easy for the participants. After two hours we headed off for lunch to my hotel, and then Brian went to his hotel.
The rest of the evening was spent taking it easy watching TV. I had considered going into the city as I was out at the docklands, but I figured rest was the order of the day. A solitary dinner in the restaurant and bed for 10pm. It wasn't the worst nights sleep, I only woke about ten times, and a day of vigorous hydration was partly to blame.

The weather was forecast to be light rain and overcast with temperature of 9 to 10 degrees, and it was true to form. A good breakfast, shower etc, and off the the start. While it is explained well in the briefing packs, unless you are familiar with London transport, it can still be a bit daunting. It took about an hour to get to the start, and the scale is truly amazing. I met Brian, and we ditched the bags and queued for the loos.

We were both starting from the blue start, and we managed to get into the same holding pen, number two. The pens are queued in order of projected finish times, and while we could see the 3 hour pacers we were still some distance back. I had decided that I was going to give the sub 3 a shot. I knew it was a long shot at that, but it was London, nothing ventured and all that.

At the off we got going quite quickly, but as ever, there were many people who had clearly


overestimated their finish time, and as with any marathon the first mile was slow enough. The next
couple were spent trying to make up some time, and ended up being a bit fast.
Mile 1 7:01
Mile 2 6:43
Mile 3 6:35
Mile 4 6:36
Mile 5 6:50
Mile 6 6:49
The pace felt good and easy enough. The volume of runners was incredible. For the first 8 miles you were always shoulder to shoulder and two steps behind someone. It was very congested and when gaps started to appear it was welcome, a chance for a bit of a breeze and just some personal space. It was like the first mile of Dublin that just never thinned out. We lost the pacers  as we couldn't get

around the volume of people, but I was running to the watch so it wasn't a concern as they would have gone over the start line earlier than us anyway. Obviously the two fast miles were not ideal, with the watch set for a 6:51 pace but I wasn't overly concerned about it at this point.
Mile 7 6:55
Mile 8 6:50
Mile 9 6:53
Mile 10 7:01

Brian was starting to suffer at this point. It was his second marathon in five weeks, and he had picked up an old problem injury a few weeks before the race. In an effort to keep us together I slowed slightly with him. He urged me on, but we had a 30 second cushion so I allowed it to bleed away thinking he might get a second wind.
Mile 11 6:57
Mile 12 6:57

Mile 13 6:52

Just before the halfway point I decided to maintain the pace myself, and Brian gradually drifted back. Coming into the race, I gave myself a couple of checkpoints to asses my chances of sub3. Half way was one. I didn't want to blow up entirely, so if at half way I was feeling the pressure, I would slow for a 3:05, but I felt really good so I kept the pace.
Mile 14 6:45
Mile 15 6:52
Mile 16 7:40. Ah I hear you think, boom! Well, no. A tunnel! There is a long tunnel and the garmin lost signal and got very upset! When it got signal back it was showing 50 seconds behind pace. I couldn't figure out what that meant, so all I could do was wait for it to calculate the next full mile pace. I hoped I was maintaining a steady pace, the dangers of relying too much on the watch.

Mile 17 6:48
Mile 18 6:48
This was my next checkpoint mentally. The danger zone approaches. Fuelling at this point was water and two sips of lucozade sport. I was feeling good, and I ate two jelly babies I had taken with me. The pace was definitely getting tougher, but all paces are at this stage of a marathon, so I pushed on. The crowds along the way were unbelievable. Practically every single yard of barrier both sides of the route were occupied with spectators. They all cheered as if every runner was the first they had seen and their close family. I had heard people talk about the London crowds before, but it really something else to experience.
Mile 19 6:32
Too fast, getting conscious of the wall at 20 miles, I pushed hard to try to stay strong,but I felt the effort of those 20 extra seconds very quickly.

Mile 20 6:46, better, but still faster than ideally. I think I was starting to get tierd, and overcompensating as a result.
Mile 21 6:58
Mile 22 7:08
Mile 23 7:12

So no wall as such at 20-21 miles, but I knew as I hit 20 miles at 2 hours 20 mins, that I would not be running a 40 minute 10k to come in under 3 hours. Plan B now kicked in, try for the PB. It started to get very lonely from 21 miles. Even though I was surrounded by runners, I was passing many walkers, and people who were really struggling more than me with the pace. This point is where runners in a group or with pacers really counts. You need, well I do anyway, to be pushed, pulled and helped along, and running in a group we all do that for each other, and at this point I really needed
that as the doubt demons set in.
Mile 24 8:32
Ouch! I knew I was slowing and struggling, but I hadn't realised it was that much, i needed to refocus and pick it up. Just over two miles left, how hard can two miles be, right?
Mile 25 7:04
Better, nearly there. Where the feck is this finish line!
Mile 26 7:35
The last gasp, keep the legs going at all costs, 385 yards to go, sub 3:05 still possible.
Coming around the last corner, as the clock counted up towards 3:05 I had no sprint left. The theme of this marathon was 'hand in hand'. At the very first London marathon, the two leaders had an epic battle throughout the entire race, and neither could lose the other. As they approached the finish line side by side, they grabbed each other's hands and crossed the line together, joint winners. The organisers suggested that participants did the same. As I reached the line, I looked to my right at the runner beside me. We held out arms aloft as we crossed the line together, and it really was a great end to a great sporting event.

Brian C came in behind in 3:14:27 which was a great result considering his recent efforts and injuries.
We quickly collected our bags and changed. The next part wasn't so pretty. We had cleverly decided to fly home after, and booked the 5:30pm flight from Gatwick. 3 tube stations, lots of stairs, walking, a train and an airport later, and we were on the flight. More walking and a car journey home, and I finally got to have a soak in the bath. A few celebratory pints in the local later, the end of a long but brilliant day.

To say my legs are sore today is an understatement. They are worse than after any other marathon, I blame the trip home. The last thing to do after a marathon is walk about 4 miles and do stairs!
Regardless, it was worth it. I could highly recommend London marathon, although people talk about the amazing scenery along the route, I didn't notice most of it, I was slightly preoccupied with other matters.

I always knew that trying for the sub 3 was optimistic. Going into. Dublin for the 3:09 I was 9st 12lbs, going into London I was 10st 8lbs. I was carrying just a little too much weight. I need to adjust the pace of some of my training too in an effort to perfect those last few miles.
But then, this was my last marathon. And so will the next one be.