I spent about 8 weeks increasing my fitness from non-existent to being able to jog for 30 min (3 miles) then spent 16 weeks from December training for the 26.2 mile marathon in April 2007.
After a lot of training and rapid improvements in fitness I found I could run 18 miles in 3hrs 10 mins. By my estimatation I could therefore run the marathon in a little over 4.5 hrs. Unfortunately I didn’t bank on it being the hottest event to date (about 21-23 degrees in the shade) and the effort of constantly skipping left and right to avoid the 36,500 other runners. So, in the end it took 5hrs 9mins and I only had to walk/jog the last few miles when the heat really took it’s toll.
The best part, aside from finishing without becoming a medical statistic, was the crowd who lined the entire 26 mile route with music, cheering, claxons, free sweets, oranges and spraying the runners with water from garden sprinklers. Seeing friends on the route also made the whole thing a fantastic experience.
Would I do it again? I’d try another quieter marathon to get a much better time or I’d do this one again just for the atmosphere. But I’ll do neither until I forget just how gruelling the 16 weeks of training was!
