I had a frustrating night sleep...worried more so than anything else. I was awake at 2:30am wondering if I had done everything I needed to do in preparation for the big day ahead. I managed to get back to sleep at 4:30am to wake to the alarm at five...adrenaline was to the extreme! I was up eating oatmeal and talking to the hotel receptionist while the hotel was completely quiet. I prepared my toe with a toe sock to protect the area of the missing nail. Perry met Mark and I to walk down to the start...nerves settled in.
Thanks to the AL.E.R.T. which prepared t-shirts in support of me! It was such a big surprise. Mom and dad had them too and sent a photo wishing me luck in the morning. I loved the shirts!
The first half of the marathon was easy. I guess it was just like another training run which I had done so many times. The supporters on the sides of the road were amazing and having my name on my shirt was great! My eyes filled up on a few occasions when people I didn't even know were cheering me on.
The second half of the run was a mental and physical battle, at least from mile 16. The last 4-5 miles were most difficult as both feet were tremendously sore. Mark met me on the last mile and ran it along the other side of the barrier. The crowd were unbelievably loud, blowing whistles, and saying 'only one more mile!'. Honestly, I didn't want to know at this point that there was another mile... I was exhausted, hungry and hurting...I only wanted to know there was one more metre or just one more step.
Crossing the finish line I lifted my arms as I saw Perry at the finish line wearing his yellow shirt and pointing his camera at me. He walked with me to get a foil blanket, a banana, my finishers t-shirt, a banana, my finishers medal, my bag of stuff from the start, a banana, a drink, another banana and then to see Mark. I couldn't speak. I needed food and the four bananas I ate before seeing him were making their way up...I guess I ate them too fast. Luckily and happily I was able to keep them down. It was great having them both at the finish. I sat down in the middle of a busy crowd waiting for my body to get a kick of energy to walk to the charity tent. In the mean time, Mary and James called Mark's phone to congratulate me on finishing. They were there from the beginning to support me during the run but couldn't stick around for the celebrations as they had prior commitments. It was unbelievable to have them there.
Once I got to the Teenage Cancer Trust charity tent everyone was so welcoming and to see my supporting team Lindsay, Carolyn, Calida and Pete was definitely cool. I had lots of hugs from everyone. I settled in for a free sport massage while everyone else helped themselves to free food and beer. It was great a great day and it was fantastic getting the support from everyone near and far. The cards, text messages, e-mails and phone calls were overwhelming. Thank you to all of those who donated money to TCT. I raised a total of £646.91 = $1019.61 CDN!! (The account is still open and will be until May 10th).
Nearly 15 000 people were registered to run but with the hot weather warnings for the day just a little over 8000 people ran. I finished in 4 hours 56 minutes. It was longer than I expected but I was happy to get it done especially with an injury. I'm happy to do another one perhaps the Shanghai marathon in November 2012. It's not set in stone but it is an idea...anyone care to join me?
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