By Katie Webster – aka “Superwoman!”
London Marathon is truly a special race, this year was my second at London and an emotional one too, as this was my first once since I last ran it in 2017 and before I became ill. I was lucky to have been given a Good for Age place (deferred from last year) and with only three weeks since running Manchester Marathon it was fair to say I knew it would not be a PB but I wanted to enjoy it and that I certainly did!
Before the race started I met a French man who was very nervous and was hoping for a 3:30 similar to what I thought I could maybe do so we chatted as we walked to the start, wished him good luck and then waited for our Jim Ruddick to share the pre-race nerves and excitement. I met with another running friend for a picture and then set off to enter the pens and get myself psyched up to the start line, knowing there would be many people looking out for me. You see I chose to run this, as I am all my other marathons this year, dressed as WonderWoman, inspired by a superhero run and encouragement from my friends. It certainly helped me round as the crowd shouted “Go WonderWoman”.
The atmosphere never disappoints, it is just one big street party all the way round from start to finish the crowds are electric. I saw my first supporter at around 6 miles which really made me smile and before I knew it I had reached Tower Bridge – the halfway point. I knew I would feel proud at this point, as this was where the “Maggies” supporters were and I was so pleased to see the wonderful people I knew cheering me on. Just after there I spotted our former members Sam and Jen Upton who had both volunteered as marshalls and that was a lovely surprise to see them and have them cheer me on, it really spurred me on. With only 8 miles left to go this was where the race really started and it becomes as much mental, as it does physical, digging deep, I felt a little pull in my leg and had to slow down at mile 21 and those last miles really were painful but determined to finish it was all I wanted, more friends to spot and get me round, it became emotional at mile 23 and tears ran down my face but with just 800m to go, I spotted my two closest friends who spurred me onto the finish, I had never been so pleased to see that medal!
I ran in aid of Maggies Cancer Centres who are just amazing people and centres. This was my 2 in 5 with 3 more to go this year. I felt extremely proud to have finished in 3:40:16 and qualify again for next year. Perhaps I will get 3:30 next year…..watch this space!
Thanks to Katie for writing this blog!