The Final London Marathon Update!

I was joined by the chap at 6pm and we had dinner in the Bistro in the hotel as I was lucky enough to have £50 food credit to spend each night! I opted for scallops to start and, of course, a burger for main! The chap had soup to start followed by steak. We were totally blown away by the quality of the food and couldn’t wait to eat there again on the Saturday night!

As we had finished dinner quite early we went for a stroll down by the Thames down to London Bridge and back along the other side of the water. It was such a lovely night! We were both still so in awe of the view that as soon as we got back to the room we started to photograph it all over again!

Saturday morning brought a lush breakfast and a trip to the Excel Centre to pick up my running number, that made the whole weekend seem so real! The panic set in and I knew I had to get up the next day and run as well as my little legs could carry me!  As part of the Expo I got up on stage to talk about why I was running the London Marathon and how much Anthony Nolan meant to me! I was a nervous wreck!

We spent Saturday afternoon admiring our view before heading out to meet some friends for drinks… Mine was a diet coke! Dinner after was divine as before! We had a fairly early night as the alarm was set for 5.30am on Sunday morning!

As that dreaded alarm went off I felt sick, sweaty and in a mass of panic that I’d forgotten something! I dressed in my running kit knowing that the next time I took it off I would be a marathon runner and have a lush medal to prove it! Breakfast didn’t sit too well with my super nervous stomach but I managed to fuel myself up for the big race!

Meeting the Virgin Money Giving Team at 7.15am to board the bus to the green start line was such a mixed array of emotions! There was sheer delight at meeting Jenson Button, utter panic when the chap had to leave me and then a flutter of excitement as we boarded the old school London bus! The green start line is where the celebs head off from so spent a good hour seeing who I recognised and keeping my mind off the run! My phone was going crazy with good luck messages! The moment then came that I had to line up to start, I’d never felt so nervous in my entire life! At 10.10 we set off, there was really no going back now!

The race itself brought a ridiculous amount of emotion; I cried through pain, I laughed at costumes, I cried with happiness when I saw family and there many sighs of relief when I hit mile markers. As you can see from the above photo, which was only about a mile in, I did thoroughly enjoy the experience! There were times when there was minimal support along the streets due to tunnels and I found that not having that there really made a difference!

I had amazing support from my friends and family; the chap was at mile 3, the parents at mile 9, a few different groups of friends between miles 12 and 14 and then I hit the wall. The pain in my dodgy knee was unbearable, so I cried a hell of a lot! There were issues with stations being closed due to overcrowding so my family were having trouble getting to see me hobble past, so I got myself into a right downer! When I finally found the chap at mile 21 I don’t think I’d ever been happier to see him, this meant there was more tears! At this point the Ibroprofen I’d taken began to kick in so this meant I was able to run a little more which was ideal!! I was surprised by a huge cuddle from a family friend at mile 23, and a long line of 7 family members at mile 24 that reduced me to more tears.. I shall spare you the photos of my crying face! The support station from Anthony Nolan were out of this world, I’ve never so much incredible support all in once place!

But then the end was in site, when I saw that 25 mile marker I knew I’d be over that finish line within a decent time and be back with my family and being fed! I sped up and hit the 800 metres to go banner and started to cry yet again… I was shocked I had any tears left! I paced myself until I got to the final corner which was about 300 metres to, I saw the crowds, and hit full on sprint, I wanted this to be over as by this point I’d been going for over 6 hours!!! I could hear my parents going crazy, and by the time I crossed the finish line all I could manage was a sigh of relief!

I’d been running with a GoPro and couldn’t wait to see what I’d actually managed to record, and of course, I wanted my medal! It’s a lot heavier than you think it’s going to be. I met my parents briefly before being taken to the Anthony Nolan after party… look how happy I am…

I was asked if I’d ever run the marathon again, I promptly said no, but a few weeks later i’m now considering 2017, but only if I can be part of Team Anthony Nolan again as they are pretty damn incredible!

I’m going to stop waffle now, but I will leave you with one last photo, I think this could be my favourite of the weekend…

If you would like to sponsor me you can do so here.