London Marathon by Laura Babynec

London Marathon 2012

Thanks to Astley & Tyldesley, I was given a second opportunity to run the London Marathon again this year. My Dad had also secured a club place so we decided to run together.

Throughout the training, I felt a lot more confident than last year as I had become a much stronger & faster runner. Also, I had learnt a lot from last years training & I think that the knowledge & experience helped me to do well.

So our training started in January & the next few months would consist of eating pasta, pasta and ……………………. more pasta!!! My Dad & I were consistent in our long runs & from the times we produced, we knew we should be hitting the 19 mile mark at around 3 hours. Having said that, it can all change on race day!

The day before the race I had mixed emotions but felt a lot more relaxed & calmer than the previous year. I think I was worrying more incase I had forgot any running gear but it probably didn’t help that I packed my case 3 days before! Having said that, it was actually my Dad who forgot to pack his waist bag to carry his gels!.

On race day, me & Dad bumped into Michaela & Carole on the way to the tube station as they were staying in the hotel next to us & so we all got the train together to Charings Cross. Carole left us at Charings Cross as she was on a different start so the three of us then boarded the train to Blackheath. Thankfully, we managed to get a seat on the train and had some time to rest our legs.

We arrived at the start in good time, so we weren’t rushing around sorting ourselves out but it was soon time to make our way to the start & then we were off!

The first few miles or so can be very frustrating as you always end up running at a slower pace until everyone has spread out and then once you finally get into your own pace you get slowed down again! Saying that, we were doing quite well for time until we both needed a pit stop at 8 mile!

We went through 13 miles in just over 2 hours. The timing was slower than what we had done in training but I think it’s expected. At 13 miles I felt my legs starting to ache & I was quite surprised as I didn’t expect them to ache so soon but I carried on at the quickest pace they could carry me.

I felt a lot more better than last years run but I think it was because I had my Dad running with me. At times he ran a bit ahead of me but he always waited until I caught him up & I was thankful of that as he gave me the encouragement I needed for me to carry on.

The last 6 miles seemed to go on forever & I was relieved when we were running down Embankment and it was even more pleasing seeing the 25 mile marker.

We both crossed the finish line together in a time of 4 hours, 39 minutes & 17 seconds. I’m more than pleased with my time as I managed to knock 40 minutes off last years time.

During the marathon & for a while after I was constantly saying ‘I’m not entering next year’ but once you’ve ran a marathon you’ve then got the marathon bug!