London Marathon: Leading Up To Race Day

Before I start, I have to give you the back story. Forgive me if you’ve already heard it. It’s what makes the London Marathon extra special to me. It reminds me that life is about seizing opportunities, making choices, regrets and second chances.

Over 20 years ago, the Caveman and I got married and just weeks after, we moved to the UK. He was tasked with opening the European branch of his company. Me? I mostly “retired”. I kept a few select freelance assignments, and took up English riding. What better place to do it? I was running back then, but 7 miles was the furthest I’d ever gone. I mostly ran 3 or 4 miles at a crack.

One weekend, as we strolled around London, we came upon a man out in front of a sporting goods store, giving out applications to run the London Marathon. Back then all you had to do was register. There was no lottery or overseas ballot, plus we were residents of the UK anyway. I hung onto that application for a long time, but ultimately I couldn’t summon the courage to pull the trigger. The marathon frightened me, rightfully so. I doubted my ability to increase my meager 7 mile long run sufficiently. So I let the opportunity go.

Fast forward all these years and you know how virtually impossible it’s become to snag a spot in London. Truly I was ready to go the charity route and had my fundraising strategy in place. Then last fall I got that incredible email. I’d been selected for a spot via the overseas ballot, known in running circles as a unicorn spot, because of how rare and elusive it is. The shock and disbelief took a long time to pass, but when it did, all I could think about was the second chance I got. Perhaps this whole marathon thing was working out in it’s own perfect way. Rather than having London be my FIRST marathon, 20+ years later, it would likely be my LAST. How cool is that?

London Marathon: Getting to London

After one last appointment with Dr. Miracle on Wednesday where he aligned my pelvis and K-taped my leg, I flew out of O’Hare on Thursday morning. I prefer the day flight because sleeping on the overnight one is not my forte and I’m basically wrecked the following day. I landed at 10:45pm London time so I basically went to my hotel, hit the hay and started fresh and rested on Friday morning. The worst part of getting in so late was the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station no longer runs, so I had to suck it up and take a taxi which ended up costing me $107. Ouch.

Friday Morning

I had brunch plans with Char, an Australian friend who’d run the Paris Marathon just weeks prior. Before meeting her though, I decided to do a brief shakeout run in Hyde Park.

Hyde Park could not have been more beautiful. Conditions were perfect.

About halfway through my loop around The Serpentine, I spotted none other than Char and her friend Luca running toward me. Seriously what are the chances?

Here we are again, cleaned up after brunch. It was so great to see her!

The Expo

I may have teared up a bit when I got to the expo.  After all this time, London was happening!

After brunch, I began the long trek to the expo, which was closer to the starting line. London is a point-to-point course and I was staying close to the finish line, as I typically do. I took the underground and changed trains no less than 3 times to get to the Excel Center, but eventually I made it.

I got my bib and timing chip. I’d have to earn the shirt at the finish line.

They cycled us through the official New Balance Race Gear section first, as per usual. It was bedlam, also as per usual. I beelined to the jackets and was encouraged to see plenty of mediums on the rack, alas they ran quite small and of course the larges were wiped out. I tried to make a mens’ jacket work but to no avail. Sigh.

As for the rest of the official marathon gear, it left much to be desired. IMO the London Marathon logo is pretty unattractive and they basically just stamped it on the shirts in white. Lame. I grabbed a couple of t-shirts and got in the very long line to checkout.

The rest of the expo was crowded and chaotic. Because charity is a huge emphasis in London, there was a strong charity presence at the expo, similar to Tokyo. Because I was not looking forward to the 3-train odyssey to get back to my hotel, I relaxed and stayed awhile, listening to Martin Yelling’s course talk as well as some other presentations.

Finally I sucked it up, headed back to the light rail, transferred to the underground and found my way back to Westminster.

London Marathon Eve

The Royal Mall, as they set up the finish line

Saturday I slept in, grabbed a late breakfast then strolled over to Buckingham Palace to bum around the finish line a bit. There were super high winds that day and tree stuff was blowing everywhere. Plus I didn’t wanna be on my feet all that much so it was a low key day. Later I grabbed a Pizza at Prezzo, did my flat lay and watched a very…shall we say…risque….English game show called Naked Attraction before heading to bed, only to be startled awake at 12:45 am by the hotel fire alarm. What the what?? Since I was on the 7th floor I figured I’d better get moving downstairs, so I grabbed what I thought I’d need (running shoes, Garmin, purse/passport, jacket) in the event I couldn’t get back to my room and joined the masses and we hoofed it down 7 stories.

Again I can’t seem to turn this pic but you get the idea. Bedlam in the middle of the night before the marathon.

Fire trucks came, although nothing appeared to be burning, and we waited outside a good 30 minutes before we were allowed to re enter the building. I’m sure climbing 7 stories of stairs the night before a marathon was not the best idea, but what choice did I have. As if having my wits scared out of me once wasn’t enough, shortly after 2am the fire alarm sounded yet again. This time it only rang for maybe 30 seconds before shutting off so I stayed in my room. Ugh.

Eventually I settled down and slept until about 5:30 am. Similar to Boston, the London Marathon doesn’t start until 10:10 for the elites. My wave was scheduled to go off around 10:30, leaving me a relatively leisurely morning. As luck would have it, the train I was to take out to Greenwich Park for the start left out of Victoria Station, which was directly across the street from my hotel. Super convenient. On the train I met Pandora, who was British and running her very first marathon. Our train for the Blue Wave pulled into the tiny but beautiful hamlet of Blackheath right on time at 9am.

Me and thousands of other runners strolling through Blackheath

Potty lines were incredibly long so I checked my gear before queuing. Greenwich Park is a huge, open expanse and it was cold and blustery. I’d packed throwaway clothes but for reasons unknown, opted not to wear them. Instead I put on one of the deluxe rain ponchos I’d brought and I must say it did the job. I waited and waited as the potty line moved at snail’s pace, watching the clock because my corral was due to close. When there was only 10 minutes left and still 20 people ahead of me I gave up and figured I’d have to run with full bladder.

Then I discovered the Women’s Urinals I told you about in my Runfessions. Many of you asked how they work. They basically give you a cardboardish “implement” that you pee into while standing up. The “implement” basically directs the flow to a urinal. Let’s just say my voluminous deluxe rain poncho served me well in keeping all the private bits covered.

After that we all watched the elites go off on a jumbo screen and we were herded into our corral and walked over to the start. After waiting over 20 years, this was finally going down for real.

Stay tuned for the race recap! Have you raced in another country? Ever been evacuated? Did you enter my giveaways here and here?

I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down. Join us!