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The First Of Many?

Jenny Peppiatt reports

"Never again" were the thoughts going through my mind the night before the 21st   London Marathon.  Nervous doesn't even begin to describe the way I was feeling about the 26.2 miles I was going to attempt to run the next day. I got a surprisingly good night's sleep, probably due to the fact that I didn't sleep much the night before as I was so worried about Sunday.

It was an early start for all of us, the day looked to be fairly bright - I was praying that it wasn't going to rain and luckily it didn't. I found comfort from talking to others who seemed as nervous as I was.  Then started to relax as Bob tried to convince me that my number was lucky as it consisted of combinations of 28.  At the time  I wasn't convinced,  but I think that there could have been some truth in it all along.  The supporting team were fantastic through out the day.  Consisting of Mum, Pam, Ginny, Bob and Mike, from preparing for the race to the after care at  the end they were more than helpful.

Getting ready for the start at Greenwich was an interesting experience by itself, I thought the toilets at Reading festival were bad, all I can say is - I was wrong.   Trinny was absolutely brilliant, she was so excited, her enthusiasm rubbed off on me and I started to look forward to the run.

Once we began, I absolutely loved the race, the atmosphere was fantastic and I was surprised at how quickly the miles seemed to pass.  The number of people who had made an effort to support the marathon impressed me. I have no doubt that it was the constant cheering, bands playing and general good, feeling that got me round.

My sights were set on the 12 mile mark as this is where Bob had told me the group would be, just before though I found comfort in another familiar face - Frank Bruno!  I have to say this was the most congested part of the race he had so many people wanting to run with him.  Seeing the Windle Valley supporters gave me a real lift, which was boosted further after a big shout from Tony just before Tower Bridge.  At this point I felt like I could run forever and remained relatively happy until about 20 miles.

By the time I reached the 20-mile mark my hips were aching and I could feel my arms rubbing on my vest (obviously that's where I should of put the Vaseline my mum bought, not left it on the side at home!).  Spurred on by the thought that it was just a 10km left I kept on going.  At 23 miles I had a burst of conserved energy and felt good again, this was enhanced when I saw Bob and the gang along the Embankment, followed by another big cheer from Tony there was little doubt in my mind about not completing the run.

The last two miles hurt a lot and I could well believe my Dad’s comment at the finish when he said that I had turned a "funny colour", as I felt awful.  The final 800m eventually arrived looking back it was a bit of a blur, I was exceedingly tired and wonder how my legs got me over the finish line.   

Seeing everyone at the end was one of the best moments of the day.  To the people who came up to support - without you I have no doubt in my mind that the 26.2 miles would certainly of been a lot harder - Thank you.  Congratulations to the other runners that took part - Wendy, Barry, Dave, Janice, Angela, Trinny and Chris, I hope you enjoyed your day as much as I did mine.

I would like to thank the club for giving me the opportunity to run and I really appreciate all the advice and support I received through out the training and the race itself. I had a fantastic day, which I will look back on with fond memories.  As for the question of whether I'd do it again, now my aches are starting to wear off the answer is a "probable yes."