Stephen’s Big Marathon
Running
the London Marathon 2014 for Invest in ME
Well the dust has settled so it’s time to reflect on my
attempt to run the London Marathon for Invest in M.E.
I have been trying for a number of years to enter this event
but I wouldn’t sign up to the bigger charities and that reduced my chances of
being selected and so I had been unsuccessful in gaining an entry place for
many years. That was until October 2013 when my acceptance letter dropped
through the letter box at Chez-Cox.
After breaking the news to the current Mrs Cox (she’ll love
that!) , she agreed that I would run in support of Invest in M.E. I say ‘agreed’
but really it was never going to be any other charity and ‘agree’ also implies
that I had any say in it. The aim was to raise £1000 and a page was set up on the
‘Just-Giving’ website to do just that.
Considering myself relatively fit (as in healthy) for
someone the wrong side of 54, I was sure it would be no problem. I am used to
endurance events having cycled John O’Groats to Lands End, Calais to the Med
and the length of the Pyrenees and still play football regularly. So with this in mind I started with a plan to
go running twice a week from Christmas and build up by adding one extra mile each week, that way I reckoned I would get up
to over 20 by April.
My first run was 5 miles, and over the next month or so I managed
to increase it to running 10 miles at each training session. However I wasn’t
able to go out as often as I would have liked so I wasn’t sure if my plan was
going to be enough. At this point I decided I needed to increase by 2 miles
each week. This was during what was one of the wettest Jan/Feb in memory and it
was a while until I actually ran when it wasn’t raining.
The other thing I found hard was the boredom. Running to me
was really boring, even with a radio/headphones. My route by now was a loop
that took me along the River Taff in Cardiff and down to the Barrage in Cardiff
Bay and then back on the other side of the river. At least this way I didn’t
run too much on the same, boring, bit of road.
A key milestone was getting over 13 miles (a half marathon)
and then over 18 miles (over 2/3rds of a marathon). In the end the most I did
was 22 miles and by the end of March this was twice a week.
At that point, the best advice I read was that you should
ease off in the last few weeks. So that was what I did. My thinking was well I
know I can do 22 so even if I have to walk the last bit, I will finish.
Throughout this time there had been a steady flow of people
making donations to the just-giving webpage. Having booked my hotel, final details came through for the
registration process, so all was set for the big day. The forecast at the start
of the final week indicated that it was going to be a dry day so that was
another thing in my favour.
So on Saturday 12th April I drove up to London
and took the tube to the registration exhibition. Having picked up my number I
realised that this was it, there wasn’t an option to back out. For a start the
donations had gone well past the £1000 target but also no-one would go against
Rosie now would they! I returned to the hotel and had an early meal.
There had been a real flurry of donations in the last few
days so I was chuffed that it had now surpassed the £1600 mark. Mrs C was sure
it could get up to £2k and for some
stupid reason I doubted her. (When will I learn!)
I awoke at 6.00 to get up and have breakfast. This didn’t
quite go to plan as the chef had not turned up. I contemplated making my own
breakfast when thankfully another kitchen employee arrived and soon I was able
to tuck into my porridge. After getting my kit ready I walked the short
distance to the tube and in what seemed like no time but was in fact an hour I
was walking out of Blackheath Station towards the start area. It was about 9:15
but already it was really warm. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and very little
breeze. I dropped off my belongings to the lorry that would hopefully take them
to the finish area and walked towards the start. It turned out that I would not
be starting next to Mia Farrow et al (sorry Mo Farah) rather I was at the back
of the blue start area. Most of the people around me were kitted out in running
vest and shorts and I became aware that I was going to feel a little warm.
There were loads of charities represented, the usual
biggies, but not one for M.E. that I saw. That did actually give me a bit of a
lift as I like a challenge (I am married to Rosie after all!) so it was me
against the rest of them, all 38,000!
I set my GPS watch ready for 10.00 and the countdown started
10,9……3,2,1 and that was it we were off.
Except we weren’t. We were actually going nowhere, such are the sheer
numbers doing this. Eventually we started to walk then jog a little and finally
after nearly 10 minutes we crossed the start line. The crowd in the grandstand
gave everyone a huge cheer and so I set off with one thought in my mind – I
must finish. Actually I had a few thoughts,
I want to get under 4 hours, I don’t want to walk and I don’t want to
stop, I wonder if anyone is watching out for me on TV or the route.
The first few miles went slowly and I soon realised that I
had little choice but to run at the pace of the pack. If I wanted to go faster
I would have to do some weaving in and out of the other runners. Some people
were doing this and it annoyed me a lot so I thought it better not to do it.
Anyway I reckoned that this strategy probably meant I would do a more steady
run.
After about 3-4 miles there was a converging of the other
start groups so that we were all now running on the same road. I tried to
imagine what this would look like from the sky as it snaked its way through
Woolwich. The noise from the crowd was amazing and most of the pubs along the
way had a live band or music pumping out. A lot of the crowd were singing the
theme from Batman. Now in my younger days I quite enjoyed watching Bruce Wayne
beat the crap out of the Riddler etc but this was a bit annoying. Then I saw
running alongside me a guy dressed as Batman and another as Robin. The thought
of listening to that tune for another 20 miles gave me a little impetus to move
up a few places. So I found myself behind Wally (or Waldo as I think he is
called in the States) so for the next few miles a lot of the shouts were “look
at that Wally!”.
At the 6 miles point we reached the Cutty Sark and the noise
was quite deafening. The crowd was huge. A wheelchair athlete was right in the
middle of the pack and I looked at the way he was turning the wheels, amazing
strength.
There were runners of every shape, size and age and of
course those in costume too. As well as Batman, Robin and Wally I saw:
Superman, Mario, The Honey Monster, a man carrying a set of
golf-clubs, someone dribbling a football (he looked annoyed when I tackled
him), Freddie Mercury complete with hoover (as in I Want to Break Free), a
bottle of beer, a Rhino, a phone box, someone with a tiger on their back,
someone with a fridge on their back and loads of others in clown outfits etc,
Practically no-one was running without their charity name
but no one had lettering as big as mine and plenty of people shouted out “Go
Invest in M.E”. Some people I passed were already walking, I think the heat
was getting to them. I was regretting not wearing shorts and if I hadn’t been
nearing half way I would gone back for them (not).
The route winded towards Tower Bridge and across towards the
half-way point. A Beefeater was perched on top of the wall at the Tower of
London and I all I could think of was Rosie saying “oh my gosh how can he stand
at the edge like that, you wouldn’t catch me up there”. It also made me think
about people being locked in the Tower but I don’t think the two thoughts were
connected (necessarilyJ).
We were running along the right hand side of the road and on
the other side there were the elite athletes nearing the final 4 miles. The
looked ‘done in’ to be honest but they were about an hour ahead, amazing.
We started to wind our way out into the financial sector
around Canary Wharf. Probably enough money made here in an hour to properly
fund some research and find a cure for ME! Life isn’t fair.
Some runners were at the side of the road, stretching their
leg muscles or even lying down exhausted. I was quite pleased that I was still
tootling along. However, I was nearing 17 miles now and started to feel a pain
in my left hip. I started to imagine that this was going to make me stop. I
knew that Rosie’s sister was hoping to stand at the side of the road at about
22 miles so I told myself to keep going until then and see how it was. The next few miles took us back along the stretch of road we
had been on from Tower Bridge and so there were people coming the other way.
Many were walking but the crowd was just as big and just as supportive.
We
passed Tower Bridge again and I moved over to the left had side of the road in
the hope of seeing Liz. In a mile or two I saw her and she saw me too. She gave
a huge cheer and I gave the thumbs up. As I passed her I realised that my hip
was no longer there, no sorry!, it was there but no longer hurting J.
I was now running further than I had run before but I could
see Big Ben up ahead. I hoped it was the real Big Ben and not someone dressed
up as Big Ben! This part of the course follows a bend in the River Thames so it
took a while to actually get close to Big Ben but just before I did I ran
through the 40 kilometre point.
From my cycling on the continent I knew 40k was equivalent
to 25 miles. Wow, it sank in: I was going to finish and I was going to do it
without stopping or walking. As I rounded the corner by the Houses of
Parliament one of the people in front of me had been reduced to walking.
Clearly his legs had gone completely to jelly and he looked really white.
Fortunately two people took hold of him and they started walking together. Good
for you I thought, cos I wasn’t going to stop now.
The next sign said 600 metres to the finish and I realised
that I had no idea what time I was doing. I headed towards the palace and
turned onto the Mall.
I could see the finish and started sprinting. No one else
was and people in the grandstand were shouting and cheering as I overtook a
number of runners. At this point I could hear the loudspeakers and they were
saying Liverpool were beating Manchester City, what a day: I was finishing the London Marathon and
Liverpool were still top of the Premier league, brilliant!
I crossed the line and stopped my watch, the time showed
3:57. I’d done it! I’d finished and inside 4hrs.
Then you are into the finish area and they remove the timing
chip and you are given your medal. It was heavier than I expected and nicely
engraved. A goodie bag is handed to you. This was intriguing in that it
contained an apple, a drink and an energy bar. But also a spray can of
deodorant!
After a photo with my medal, I phoned home and Rosie told me
all about the on-line tracking and twitter and face-book activity and also the
way the funding had gone. I was really taken aback by all the interest and
support and shed a tear or two sitting eating my energy bar. Not because of
what I had done but because I wished it wasn’t needed.
I walked out under Admiralty Arch towards Trafalgar Square
and the Tube. There were a lot of runners around, some flat out on the floor,
others barely walking but all proudly wearing their medal.
It took an hour or so to get back to the hotel and I was
aware of the amount of sweat and salt on my running top and face. I kept it on
though - more publicity for Invest in M.E. The drive home took a couple of
hours and I was welcomed by Rosie, Lucy and Thomas and a glass of Champagne.
An incredible 24
hours had concluded the last few months’ of effort. Donations were still coming
in and it seemed we were going to get past £2k. Once again Rosie was right…… (isn’t
she always ;) ? ).
Thank you everyone for your support both financially and by
way of encouragement. In the whole scheme of things it seems a small thing to
have done when compared to the impact of this dreadful illness on people’s
lives. However it’s another step towards getting proper research, better
understanding and ultimately a cure.
Stephen & Rosie Cox
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