London Marathon 2003

A London debut by Lynne Harris

Back last year I got it into my head that I should do something exceptional as it would be my 55th year on this earth. I chose to sign up for a 700 mile bike ride from the south of France up through Paris finishing in Le Harvre, with a detour to ride up Mount Ventoux just to make it a real challenge. Not enough of a challenge thought I and started to set my sights on The London Marathon. Getting in was a challenge in itself as I was rejected through the normal ballot and then rejected by Leukaemia research so all my hopes hung on a place from Farnham Triathlon Club. They came up trumps and the little slip, heralding third time lucky, was delivered just before Christmas with a little note suggesting I start the hard work after Christmas. I did just that and followed a schedule from a book called "4 months to a 4.5 hour marathon".

The training was gruelling and there were times when I threw all my toys out the pram and cried in despair but I stuck with it. My life became running, sleeping and eating with little time for friends and family. I got a virus and thought it was the end of everything because I missed one of my long training runs, but was able to fit it in later in the week. It seemed a long time with lots of training and then all of a sudden 13th April loomed large. Friends and family came up to London and had worked out where I would be at any given time, managing to turn up within 5 minutes of my arrival in 4 places!

The day started for me at 5.30am when I got up and forced scrabbled eggs on toast down my throat before meeting up with my friend Martin. We had done quite a few training runs together and I felt comfortable with him as he kept my pace down and steady. The train to Waterloo was packed with hyper marathon runners, first timers and multiple timers all sharing their fears and concerns. Have I done enough training? What about the wall? Should I use nipple patches? And what about pee stops? Being but a few. We bonded on that train and all headed off to Blackheath together for the start. It was a good 10 minutes before we actually stepped over the start line from the starting signal, such were the crowds but the banter was fantastic. At 9 miles friends and family were there as promised and both Martin and I felt good. At 15 miles friends and family again and I was still feeling good with Martin tailing off a bit and me hanging back. At 18 miles I had to stopped for a pee and queued at a portacabin as this was the only choice (I did do a few bushes and garden walls when available!) Martin went on but I soon caught him up as he was struggling quite badly. I left him to it and carried on and at 21 miles saw friends and family once more, grabbing a drink from them but carrying on and feeling ok. At 24 miles I hit 'the wall', never known anything like it. I started to alternate between running and walking but every time I walked the crowd would shout out 'go on Lynne your almost there, (name on T Shirt very good idea) and I would feel obliged to run. At 25 miles friends and family gave me the final boost and I manage to lift my feet and run the last mile to the finish line, even encouraging a few other walkers on the way. By this time I was trying to deny the pain in my limbs and the blisters on my feet, not to mention the total exhaustion I was feeling from running on an empty tank. They tell you about the euphoria you will feel when you cross the finishing line but to feel it you have to be there doing it. It was fantastic, worth all the long months of hard training, the exhaustion and the tears and tantrums when the going got tough. All of that was gone in a flash and I even forgot my vow to never do this again! If someone said would you do a marathon with me? I do believe I would.

The crowd were fantastic as were the other runners, so supportive and encouraging. I was so moved by the whole event as it soon becomes obvious that many people are doing this because of personal tragedy. A big THANK YOU to Farnham Triathlon Club for giving me the opportunity to be there, I do feel truly privileged.

A personal best by Andy Norris

It was a fantastic day. I ran a good time of 2 hours 39 minutes for 129th place, but would have loved 2 hours 36 minutes, which would have been a top 100. I was on course for 2 hours 34 minutes with 5 miles to go but began to cramp up, having gone off too quick - I felt too good to be true and I had lots of energy left at the end, but my legs had turned to jelly and I suffered for it in the last 5 miles. Next year though ..... 2 hours 30 minutes hopefully! Other highlights were passing Zola Budd in the first mile, getting my face on TV at the start (just 5 metres behind the start line!!), and seeing my Dad stood up on the wall above everyone on Tower Bridge waving his arms madly. My next target is the London to Brighton double marathon in the Autumn which really will be un-trodden territory, and of course London again next year ... who would like to join me?