I was extremely pleased to be allocated a club place for the inaugural Virgin London Marathon, although I knew my training would need to increase considerably to get round, let alone run a 'good' time for my first ever marathon.
I realised what I had let myself in for when Steve Field sent his 'suggested' training programme which was somewhat daunting - I decided to only look a week ahead at a time! It started on January 1st, fortunately with a rest day.
Sixteen weeks of training later, with nearly 800 miles 'in the bank' my kit bag was packed & I was apprehensively ready for the big day. The Chiltern Harriers coach arrived at Little Chalfont at precisely 6.20am and shortly after we were off, discussing the weather forecast and when to eat the final banana/bagel or in my case a Darvells flapjack! Just after 7.30am we had arrived at Blackheath having driven past the 2012 Olympic Park, had a quick team photo taken, wished everyone good luck & made our way to our respective starts.
The atmosphere in the Blue area was similar to waiting for a rock concert to start - everyone was sitting down eating & drinking, watching the big screen with a buzz of excitement in the air. I made my way towards the holding pens quite early & just then the wind picked up, the rain came down & I along with many others took cover under a gantry, which didn't help as it had no roof! I got into my pen and couldn't believe after all the talk of 'heatwave on Sunday' that I was standing shivering in the rain.
Shortly after 9.30 we all walked up towards the start with old t-shirts/sweatshirts flying left & right as everyone prepared themselves for the run. I got going in just under three minutes, and although the first mile was slow, managed to keep going & got into my rhythm quite easily. The atmosphere was fantastic all the way into the Isle of Dogs and the noise from mile 22 was incredible, although by then I was concentrating solely on getting through each mile - in other words struggling!
I would like to wholeheartedly congratulate all the Chiltern Harrier runners - there were plenty of really good performances which showed a lot of determination - well done everyone.
Many thanks to the Chiltern supporters as well, it really does help to hear you!
Two years ago, I was struggling to complete a 10k without too many stops - last year got round Berkhamsted & Reading half marathon's with some difficulty. My point being - YOU CAN DO IT!
2011 Ballot opens 4th May...
Martin Allen