On Sunday, like lots of people waking up in London that day I got up early, dressed in the clothes I'd laid out the night before, ate a carb heavy breakfast and felt nervous and excited about the hysteria and stresses of the day. That's right, I was going to spectate at the London Marathon.
I absolutely love the marathon and can't help but get caught up in the excitement of it all. The emotions, the happiness, the trials and tribulations, I just love it all and am guaranteed to shed a tear, whether I'm running running or watching. We'd traveled down to London for the weekend to watch my brother in law, Gavin run his fourth marathon whilst also keeping a beady eye out for many many others we knew running, and hopefully to catch a glimpse of Paula doing her thing one last time.
I was also looking forward to watching a marathon with my pro-supporter boyfriend and my sister, who are experts at watching and cheering me and Gavin on when we run. This is definitely their domain in the marathon and I felt like an impostor as Jamie negotiated the crowds, the trains and knew all the best spots, while I followed in his trail.
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| Paula Radcliffe whizzes by - she's in there! |
Paula didn't disappoint and we managed to catch a glimpse of her at both Greenwich and around the 17 mile mark, surrounded by a little pack of runners and looking like she was having a leisurely Sunday morning jog whilst getting a 2.36 marathon time!
The boys from my running club were all too speedy for me to see, but we did manage to catch Gav storming through both of our cheer points looking strong, which was both amazing and a relief. We also saw Lindsey at mile 17 who we were keeping an eye out for. She looked a little shocked as we both yelled our heads of at her, but she came over for a quick high 5 and went on her way, looking good!
The pressure as a spectator to see the people you're there to support is huge! And it's especially hard in London where the crowds are three deep, but it's such a high when you see them running, looking strong and you're able to give them a little boost in their brilliant challenge.
I was worried that I'd really hate not being a runner on the day, but I didn't. I loved supporting the runners we knew, and seeing the lift it gave them, as well as cheering on all the runners passing us. I did however, feel mighty jealous once the race was over and seeing everyone's medals but mostly, seeing the pride and relief on everyone's faces having finished the marathon and achieved their amazing goal. All in all, I'm all set to do the marathon again next year.
If you ran, huge congrats! You are amazing. I hope you loved every second.
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