London Marathon Race Report - 21 April 2024
Heather Morgan
What an experience! What a day!
The weeks of training to get there, the hundreds of miles in my legs, the adjustment to fuelling on the go, the anxiety of how to get to the start, the uncertainty about what to wear, the worrying about the queues for the Portaloo’s – all of this seemed to take over my every waking moment and then I was on the start line!
The next five hours and 25 minutes of my life passed in a blur of sensory excitement. After about five miles I had a real “pinch me” moment when I turned to Tess and said “we’re running the London Marathon!” “Er… yes I know!”
Somebody told me to run the first 10 miles with your head, the next 10 miles with your training, and the last 10km with your heart. On reflection this was brilliant advice as it breaks down the run into chunks which made it seem less daunting and prepared me for when the going got tough in the last 10km.
Let’s not forget the pain. Yes, running a marathon does hurt. However, pain is temporary. In the closing stages, I just had to remember that “forward is a pace”; it hurt as much to walk as to run, so I ran!
It was wonderful to see family and friends who had come down to support us, especially the brilliant Nikki, Dawn, Netty and Vicki from CMRC. We saw them four times, most importantly in the final few miles when I wanted one of them to take my place! They don’t allow this, so their pep talks at this point got me through to the end.
I will always remember the shouts of our names from random strangers, the smell of Lucozade, Deep Heat and bacon sandwiches, the taste of that first full fat coke and salt and vinegar crisps at the finish, the brilliant signs that people had made around the course (Pain is just the French for bread) but most importantly the pride and love I felt being able to complete the run with my daughter Tess.
I hope that if CMRC are successful in getting a London Marathon place to be offered to club members, that you are all excited and inspired to go into the club ballot. If I can do it then anybody can!
