Up early on Sunday 17th April 2011 and with very little sleep that night, we prepared ourselves for something we had been working towards for over 10 months – the Virgin London Marathon. The kits had been packed the night before and it was just a matter of shuffling down stairs for a bowl of porridge and a banana, washed down with a hot cup of coffee. Flicking on the television, the BBC Breakfast weather reported a warm day of 19 degrees, which was warm but not too hot and thinking that we were from Australia, we shouldn’t have too much trouble coping... Jess was less convinced.
Digesting breakfast, we hopped in the shower and
donned the running gear including the official Oxfam running shirt that would be later absorbing the salty sweat of 26.2 miles. Nervous and increasingly anxious, I pushed Jess to get ready quicker (much to her distaste) and soon we were walking to Charing Cross station where spotting runners with identical red VLM running bags only served to heighten our anticipation of what lay ahead. At Charing Cross station the scale of the day started to become clear as the vast majority of the people in the station were heading to Greenwich/ Blackheath for the start line. Discussions between strangers (very unusual for London) and nervous laughter filled the train carriage with a murmur that served to calm our nerves a little bit, knowing that we were not the only ones. However the rollercoaster of emotions soon climbed again when we would remind ourselves that we were part of something very big and also very personal to us – for we had worked for a long time towards this day... ‘Just another long run, just another long run...’
Arrival at Blackheath in Greenwich Park, the crowd was making a B-line for the assembly areas allocated by colours red, blue and green; we were in the red zone. Once we found a spot on the grass we sat down, toileted and tried to enjoy the entertainment provided by the big screen and the roving commentators in the ‘pens’. Soon it was 9:30 and after a last minute toilet break which would thankfully be our last of the marathon experience, we made our way to the mass start leading to Charlton Way.
An amazing sight of thousands of people lined up as far as the eye could see before the siren sounded for the beginning of the 2011 Virgin London Marathon. Standing amid the serious runners, cartoon characters and lunatics brought chills of anticipation, and in that moment 10 months of training flashed before my eyes – I can’t believe I’m here and doing this! The shuffle towards the start line was slow, but it gave us a moment to clam the nerves and excitement and focus on the task ahead, 26.2 miles. The uneasy conversations among strangers began again. “Good luck, all the best” was the general sentiment, deep inside many were panicking ever so slightly and we were no different. We could see the elite races on a big screen that was in the pens, now empty but for the few last minute dashers to the toilets while the line meandered through the entrance gates of Greenwich Park.
