The excitement, pain, euphoria and aftermath

I still walk like a crab after a day and half on completion of my 4th marathon; my 1st in London. I did not sleep well again the night before and was probably too excited leading up to the big day. Weather at the start couldn't be any better, with the sun warming up the morning chills. Greenwich park was packed with runners, families and friends alike, all eager to contribute and share a bit of the amazing atmosphere that this event has stirred up the entire city on a lazy Sunday morning. Not wanting to be too far behind the starting blocks, I only did 10min of warm-ups before I parted with Jiamin and 'fought' my way to the starting point (I still ended up crossing the start line 10 min after the first runner sprinted off). The course was excellent, mostly flat roads, with a few gentle slopes breaking the norm, that loops round Greenwich/Tower Bridge/Canary Wharf/Embankment/Buckingham Palace.

It was a comfortable initial 20km and I really started to warm into the rays of the piercing sun. The graph shows that my best 5km timings was when I turned from Tower Bridge to Wapping. That was also when the weather turned for the worse and it started to pour with significant headwinds as well. That really broke my momentum and by the time I reach the 20mile point, my hands were so numbed from the cold that I couldn't feel my fingers.

The last 6 miles was probably the longest that I have run, but the cheers and encouragement from the crowd was simply fantastic and that really helped to push me on all the way to the finishing point along Green Park/St James Park(My expression in the photo tells it all - Photo courtesy of Tyom). I also said to myself that I wasn't going to fall behind 'Mr Juggler' who was literally juggling 3 balls from start to finish - as we were perpetually running side by side for a good 3 miles! Crossing the finishing line was simply amazing although seeing 'Mr Borat' with his costume after put a very bad after-taste to the entire thing (he was wearing the infamous green suspender/thongs, and his modesty was barely covered!).


All in all, I was really happy that I was only 2 min off my target time of 3.30hr (PB), and achieving my 2nd objective of not stopping at all throughout the journey. As of today, I have raised £1471 for PlantLife and £195 for WaterAid, and hopefully, can see a few more quid to come in from anyone who has missed the my initial donation drive (Click on the right to donate online). I was extremely glad to see the guys from Multimap turning up to show their support at Embankment as well even though the weather wasn't at its best. And most important of all, to thank my girlfriend who surprised me by turning up from New York the day before my run to continue her endless support of what I do; and spending the weekend with me even though she is so busy with her work across the Atlantic.

As of now, my pain continues, but my thought ponders on my next run now that I have ticked London marathon off my list...