The Event
The London Marathon is one of the biggest running events in the world, and is one of the five top world marathons that make up the World Marathon Majors competition which has a $1 million prize purse (Berlin, Chicago, Boston and New York being the others). It has been held each spring in London since 1981.
Set over a largely flat course around the River Thames, the race begins at three separate points around Blackheath and finishes in The Mall alongside St. James's Palace.
Whilst it is a serious athletic event, with large prize money attracting elite athletes, public perception of the race is dominated by club and fun runners, the latter sometimes in ludicrous fancy dress and often collecting money for charity. These make up the bulk of the 30,000+ runners and help to draw crowds of half a million on the streets.
This year’s event was held on Sunday 14th April 2008
My Training
My training began in the cold January days. Now, I realise this only gives me just over 3 months of training. This really is the bare minimum time you should allow for training for such an event. I started off with a few small 3 mile (5 km) runs and gradually built up the distances every week. I would be running around 3-4 times a week. Again, a bare minimum.
By the end of February, I was reaching half marathon distances for the first time. In March I competed in two half marathon events (Hastings and Paddock Wood) and used the other two weekends for longer runs - one consisting of 15 miles (24 km)and the other a mammoth 18 miles (29 km)!
I completed the Paddock Wood half marathon two weeks before the London Marathon and decided that this was to be my "taper" period. I had a few knee pains after Paddock Wood which gave me a few concerns but finished the last two weeks with some very light training.
My Race
I had waited 5 years to finally get my place on the start line. Between 2004-2006 I had not been accepted through the ballot, as so many people are not. In 2007 I was accepted but injured my knee 4 weeks before the event and had to postpone my place until this year, 2008! Finally, I would make the start line!
So, what were my targets? First and foremost, obviously I wanted to make it to the finish line. Secondly, I had set myself a target time of getting under 4 hours. Anything under this time, and I would have been ecstatic!
I was up very early on race day and planned to get an early train to London. I wanted to get there with plenty of time to spare and didn't want any stress on the way up. After final preparations before leaving home, I was off on the 5 minute walk to Tunbridge Wells railway station. As the train pulled in, several other runners who were also competing got on the train with me to join all of the others that had been collected on the way.
After the train arrived in London, I had a short journey on the tube which took me to my designated start area. The event is so big that there are three designated start areas which all merge on to the same route after a couple of miles or so.
I made the start area with plenty of time to spare which gave me time to make my final preparations. The weather was fairly cool with sunny spells - almost perfect conditions! After the usual mad rush to the loos before you are called to the start line, I made my way into the crowded area of people ready to embark on a unique experience! There was still around 30 minutes until the start and in that time I managed to slip through the crowd to get a good position fairly close to the front.
It wasn't long before the race began! You really have to control yourself in those first few miles! It is so easy to get carried away with the atmosphere and adrenaline running through your body. I felt like I was running so slowly in those early stages but in reality I was probably still running a little too fast. After all, I had to remember, this was a marathon, not a sprint!
Amazingly, I saw my friend Greeny after the first couple of miles through the huge crowds of people that were lining the streets. Actually, I heard him first - hardly surprising if you know him!
Some of the family were watching the coverage of the marathon on BBC1 back home and it was at Cutty Sark that I was first spotted at around the 6 mile (10 km) mark. It was also at this point that I felt the same pain beginning to come back into my knee. I was just hoping it would hold out for the next 20 miles (32 km)!
I have to say that the first few miles is something that you'll never forget if you do a London marathon. There is just so much noise from the thousands and thousands of people watching along with all the music and carnival events.
At around 10 miles (16 km), things were still going well. My knee hadn't got any worse and I was trying to control my pace as much as possible but I could see dark clouds forming over head. Rain was on the way! And so, it proved to be the case! Just as I was getting to Tower Bridge and the half way point, the rain started.
However, my attentions were distracted by the state of the weather as I progressed across Tower Bridge. This is the most popular place for supporters to watch the race and the noise and support here is absolutely phenomenal! I passed the crowds very close by as I hoped to get a glimpse of Minna, Samu and my mum who had come up to watch me. However, there are so many people here, it was just impossible to find them! Saying that, I did see my friend Paul (from work) here who was shouting like a madman! I looked at my time at the half way point
(1hr 48 min) and realised that my 4 hour target time was still on!
After Tower Bridge, I came back to reality to face the prospect of what was to be a very tough second half of the race. The rain had got harder and was pouring down by now! I could feel my trainers were saturated with water and the legs gradually began to feel heavier and heavier.
By the time I got to the 15 mile (24 km) marker, my pace was beginning to slow. The markers between each mile seemed to take longer and longer and I knew that I was in trouble now. It was time to grit the teeth, get my head down and just keep going. I reached 18 miles (29 km) (which was the distance of my longest run in training) and was still plodding along. I set myself a target that I must get to 20 miles (32 km) before I stop and walk. By the time 20 miles was up, it was then that I first dropped into a walk. I looked at my watch and realised that I couldn't walk the last 6 miles (10 km) and get my target time. I still had to do some running!
By now the sun was out and it was actually beginning to feel quite warm. I was doing a mixture of pathetic jogging and walking and I was feeling wrecked! I think this may have been
what is so commonly referred to as "The Wall". The next 3 or 4 miles
(5-6 km) were by far the toughest of the race. During this time, I was trying to work out what I needed to do to get to the finishing line in under 4 hours.
The last two miles (3.2 km) seemed like an age. I had to pick up my pace if I wanted to get under 4 hours. I really was giving it everything I had! As I reached Buckingham Palace and The Mall, I turned the final corner and there was the finishing line 200 metres away! The clock was already in the early 3:59's and I watched as the seconds clicked away! This is where pure adrenaline took over! I have no idea where this energy came from but as soon as I saw the clock, that was it! I was off on a mad sprint! It looked as though I was going to make it with a few seconds to spare, but it is surprising how long that last stretch is! The closer I got to the line, the more I realised I had to sprint faster and to my relief the finish line was reached as I went under the clock at 3:59:59! Amazing! One second to spare!
As I crossed the line, I was running so fast that I had to dodge some of the other runners as I came bounding through! As soon as I stopped, my legs just buckled and I was helped by one of the officials to stop me from falling to the ground. I leaned against some scaffolding for a couple of minutes to try and compose myself!
I was processed through the finishing area with my legs feeling like jelly as I swapped tales with a couple of other gents who had finished at about the same time. They were both running their first marathons too!
What a race it had been! Even though I finished just one second under four hours, my official time was 3:59:25 as it had taken just over 30 seconds for me to cross the start line. I knew this at the time, but wanted any potential pictures of me crossing the finishing line to show the clock still under 4 hours!
I have to say that the route, taking in many of London's iconic landmarks, along with the enthusiastic crowds of thousands of people, the atmosphere of the many bands and music being played throughout the entire route made a special and truly unforgettable day!
But, would I do another marathon again? After a little reflection, my thoughts were "maybe not". I had conquered one of the ultimate running distances and felt I had nothing left to prove here. But I couldn't rule out another attempt at a marathon totally! You just never know!
Results
So, here is my result with all the recorded split times listed:
view pace graph| Name | CLEMENTS, STEPHEN G (GBR) |
| Runner No. | 19191 |
| Club | |
| Age group | M25 |
| TIMES | |
| 5 km | 0:23:54 |
| 10 km | 0:49:14 |
| 15 km | 1:15:34 |
| 20 km | 1:43:01 |
| half | 1:48:57 |
| 25 km | 2:10:58 |
| 30 km | 2:40:29 |
| 35 km | 3:15:12 |
| 40 km | 3:47:20 |
| finish | 3:59:25 |
| TOTAL | |
| Position (overall) | 11448 |
| Position (gender) | 9604 |
| Position (age group) | 1261 |
| Finish time | 3:59:25 |
Celebrities who raced and completed the marathon too:
| James Cracknell (Former Olympic gold medalist rower) | 2:59:11 |
| Tony Audenshaw (actor who plays Bob Hope in Emmerdale) | 3:01:55 |
| Michel Roux (world renowned chef) | 3:28:27 |
| Gordon Ramsay (TV chef) | 3:45:41 |
| Ronan Keating (singer from Boyzone) | 3:59:44 |
| Ben Fogle (TV presenter) | 4:04:29 |
| Amanda Holden (actress) | 4:13:22 |
| Phil Daniels (actor) | 4:49:11 |
| Kate Lawler (Big Brother winner) | 4:54:30 |