Ballot winner Linda loves her London Marathon race

On Sunday I was lucky enough to run the London Marathon after winning a ballot place with Jersey Spartan Athletic Club.

I really wasn’t looking forward to running this, my training for the last month hadn’t gone very well and with a few other issues going on I really wasn’t emotionally prepared for it either.

The day started extremely early I woke at 2am and couldn’t get back to sleep, the excitement, the nerves and a brain that wouldn’t switch off.

I arrived at the red start at Greenwich around 9.30am where it immediately started raining.  Luckily I had bought a poncho the day before and put it on whilst waiting in the toilet queue for over 20 mins!
With my bag dropped off,  I then made my way to the start waves.   I was in wave 7 but decided to drop back to a later start Wave as I didn’t want to put myself under too much pressure to try and run faster, the goal was just to finish it, enjoy it and not a time.

The run started off really well I felt very comfortable, running better than I thought I would and this time I actually took notice of my surroundings and especially the Cutty Sark, which I always seem to miss 🙄 .  I’ve run London twice, the Big Half and the llhm and I’ve missed seeing the Cutty Sark at all of them 😂

Before I knew it, I was at the halfway point at 13 miles and running across tower bridge, feeling great and proud to be running this amazing marathon with 48,000 other runners.
The crowds were immense, so many people cheering and shouting, the bands playing, choirs singing, spectators giving out sweets, the encouragement from everyone is amazing.
I was on course for a sub 4.30 marathon, right up until mile 18 by Canary Wharf when I got a stitch, the underside of my arms were hurting (ended up with chaffing) and the mixture of the fluids and gels I had taken just didn’t agree with my stomach. The last 8 miles consisted of a couple of miles of good running then a couple of miles of having to take walk breaks to try and adjust whatever was rubbing on my arms & to recover from fluid & gels all to which added extra time to my finish time.

And then just when your mind is playing games with you saying you can’t go on, you see the embankment following the Thames and you know you are nearly home, Big Ben, around the corner to Birdcage walk, a sudden adrenaline rush, Buckingham Palace and finally The Mall and to the finish line.
I can’t tell you how emotional it is to see the finish line after 26.2 miles and 4.5 hours of running, I finished the marathon with a sprint finish to the end, whether it was a sprint finish I don’t actually know, it certainly felt like it 😂 and then you get this amazing medal.

The London Marathon is something I have watched on tele since I was a child and always said that one day I would run it and be part of it, I am extremely lucky that I have had the opportunity to run it twice, once for charity and then again this year with a place with the Jersey Spartan Athlete Club, thank you, it is the most emotional, exhilarating experience.