LONDON - Marathon

Marathon fever hit the city so we went out and joined them. Steve had put in a ballot entry along with 100 000 others and missed out along with 70 000 others. After watching the start of the elite womens and wheelies on tele we headed outside and picked our spot at 9miles.
We really didn't have too far to go as the route runs alongside the quay where we live. The buildings at the end of the road are our place. Just in case the runners were starting to feel a little tired at this point the water station people had some 1950's rock music at full volume.

There was an Aussie (Benita Johnson) in the elite pack and she went to the same school as Claire. In the next picture which is of the leading women, Benita is tucked in at the back. The runners in white are the pace runners which drop out at half way.

The men set off around 45min after the women so we did have a wait to see them come through. It is always amazing to see how effortless they make it look, and then to realise how fast they are actually running.

The corner that we were standing on did see some excitement. A couple of the pacers missed the turn and the police officers turned into race marshals. One of the wheelies lost a wheel as he turned, no injury but we don't think he continued racing either. Once the men had passed us we jumped on the tube and headed into Westminster to the 25mile mark (and positioned ourselves outside Big Ben) to pick them up near the end. Benita finished in 7th and the women's event was won by a chinese competitor.

Aussie competitor Benita Johnson at 25 miles.

Zhou, winner of womens event.

For the men's race all the media had been focussing on ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie but he bailed with a stich (i know, soft....) at around the 20mile mark. The men's pack was still together towards the end and we were wishing we had gone further towards the finish line to witness the sprint finish. The eventual winner was Lel (in the red singlet) in a 3 person sprint.

After watching the race and seeing some of the normal people on TV we are contemplating it next year. Now we know the trick of gaining an entry is to join one of the charity teams. We also thought we would start off with a 10km in June. The sweltering 25 degree heat (remember it is London and they train through winter and single digit minimum temperatures) took it's toll on many. Some people that thought it would be a great idea to run in a novelty outfit had their own battery powered fans inside the suits. There was even one competitor doing it in slow motion. He was expecting a finish time of 10days. All these people got a place in the race, and all Steve wanted to do was run a normal race.

We are now waiting for the Tour de France which this year starts in London, and also goes past our front door.