London Marathon 2011 by Laura Babynec

London Marathon 2011 by Laura Babynec

It all started on that Monday morning when the ballot officially opened and I completed my online entry for the London Marathon 2011. I have to admit that I wasn’t really expecting to be accepted but I was still slightly disappointed that I failed to gain a place. Luckily, I got in with a club place.

My training started on Boxing Day with a 7 mile run around Pennington Flash in the snow and for the next three months it was going to take a lot of dedication to ensure I kept up with the training and I have to say that I quite enjoyed it.

So, after three and a bit months of eating nothing but pasta, no nights out drinking with the girls, early nights in bed on a Saturday and getting up at 7am every Sunday the big day was finally here.

On the morning of the marathon, I was nervous, worried, excited and a bit emotional so I was relieved when the marathon got underway as I could finally start to enjoy it. The sun was blazing which didn’t really help but I did get a slight tan though! I felt quite good for the first 13 or so miles but started to struggle from 18 onwards. My legs were in so much pain but it was quite a relief that I wasn’t the only one who stopped for the occasional walk.

I couldn’t believe how many people had turned out to support all the runners but it gave everyone the boost which was needed. I really wasn’t expecting this much pain!

With about 5 mile left I felt drained and had no energy left in me at all so it was such a relief seeing the 25 mile marker. Running across the finish line felt great! Knowing that I had completed months of training and a 26 mile run gave me a great sense of achievement and im so proud of myself!

Id love to do another marathon and will definitely be entering the London Marathon 2012. Overall, it was such a great day and I honestly don’t think I’d of made it through the training without my mum and dad pushing me along.

As some of you may already know,my mum had to pull out just before 17 miles,she’d really been struggling with pain in her knee which just seemed to get worse, after seeking advice she reluctantly made the decision not to continue, she urged me to carry on and I must admit I felt a little lost without her,but for her sake I wanted to make her proud of me,she is now taking it easy and hopefully will be back running very soon.

One last thing, thank you to everybody for their support.

From Laura