John's Marathon Battle

My husband John ran his 25th marathon last week in London. It was his toughest one to date, not because of the hot weather, which never helps, but because he's been battling injury for over a year.

He damaged his Achilles tendon and running even short distances became impossible. He started a rigorous regime of physiotherapy and would occasionally set off for a run, confident the problem was fixed, but would limp home not long after leaving.

It was with baited breath that he began his winter training for the 2014 London Marathon with a group of friends from the Orion Harriers.

Fortunately all went well and John sailed through the marathon last Sunday, using his new GoPro camera to film an up close and personal account of the event, which you can view here:

If the plug in doesn't work, here's the link: youtu.be/2iTcywx2T9s 

I was a spectator on the course, lucky to get a great vantage point at one of the elite runners' drinks stations manned by the Orions. One of the drinks belonged to a VIP:

John's Olympic Volunteer Memories

John and his running club, the Orion Harriers, were among the 70,000 "Gamesmakers" who helped to make the Olympics such a success.

John didn't get inside the Olympic Stadium: his duties were in central London at the men's and women's marathon, the race walk and the road cycling.

He took his duties to the public very seriously, "working the crowd" at every opportunity and taking photos of people.

Here are a few of his pictures. 

Here's where it all started, a rainy morning a few weeks before the Olympics. The Orions have been issued with their uniforms. John's in the back row, in the middle, with a cap on. Photo taken by me!

Doing the "Mobot"

 

A well earned drink

 

   

 

Getting their hands on some souvenirs

Marathon Eve

Tomorrow sees the London Marathon and J will be running. It's his 24th marathon or something like that. He is excited by the weather forecast: mild with showers. I am less excited, remembering a marathon three or four years ago when it poured and the green dye from my raincoat soaked through to my skin. Umbrellas are too hazardous in such dense crowds.

I will be perched on my shooting stick in the elite runners' drinks station at 35k, opposite St Paul's Church at Shadwell church. It's a great spot because I get to see the runners twice, on both sides of the road. I'll be trying to spot the members of the Orion Harriers, John's running club, to take pictures as they whizz by.

I was reminded of an amusing story that I heard when I was working at BT International a few years ago. It was at a time when mobile phones were new, rare, and the size of bricks. Their battery life was about an hour. BT Cellnet, as they were called then, decided to give every London Marathon runner the opportunity to make a call to a loved one after finishing the race.

The problem was, they built a bank of kiosks housing the mobile phones which involved climbing some steps. Unfortunately most of the runners were too exhausted to make  it, and gave up before scaling all the steps.

It's a far cry from nowadays when many of the runners are speaking on their phone as they rush by, or taking pictures of the crowd.

Blood sweat and tears

The 2011 London Marathon was hot. Too hot for many of the runners. Even the spectators got a bit hot under the collar. But it was all in a day's work for J as he ran his 23rd marathon (and eighth London Marathon).

As in previous years, I was fortunate to be able to park my shooting stick at one of the elite runners' drinks stations, manned by John's running club The Orion Harriers.

Opposite St Paul's church in Shadwell, this is a perfect position because not only do I get an unobscured view, but I see the runners twice.

The first task for the marshalls was opening the box of drinks and setting them out on the right tables and in the right order. The elite runners have their own special bottles, some decorated, some with a gel attached, some only half full. Here's one of the most attractive bottles (left).

The elites run past at such speed it's quite difficult for them to grab their drink as they barely pause, but very few bottles were dropped.



The elite runners dealt with, it was time for the "ordinary" runners, in their thousands. J trains diligently for the marathon, six days a week, and his training includes hill running and speed work. He tests gels, different shoes (and socks: he was wearing his long compression socks) and anything that will help him to the elusive Personal Best. This year he also lost quite a lot of weight. Every pound counts.

It all paid off. Not a PB this year because of the weather, but nonetheless, J still finished in the top 200 for his age group. Here he is at looking remarkably fresh, indicating that another Orion runner was not far behind (Kym). 

When we saw him for the second time, at 35km, he was lively enough to spray us all with water he'd been keeping for the purpose.

Having escorted him on many of the world's top marathons, including Berlin, Paris, Toronto, New York, Chicago and Boston, I can say hand on heart that London is the best. The most spectators; the most noise and eencouragement; the most friendly atmosphere. There's nothing to beat it. So well done to all the runners, including the ones who really struggled in the heat, and see you all next year! (And before you ask, I will still be snapping and not running!).

It's snowed a bit, we're not prepared as always, get over it!

I was getting increasingly irritable at the BBC footage from St Pancras station. The reporter was doing his utmost to provoke good natured passengers who had been waiting for hours in the cold.
"What do you think about the way the UK has handled this?" he probed relentlessly, but the charming Europeans refused to give way. "Has it ruined your Christmas?"

Every time a train breaks down, we're told by peevish passengers that the train company should have had space blankets and drinks on board. Well seeing as snow is entirely random, not guaranteed, and hits these islands for, oh, two weeks a year, tops, what about passengers being more prepared instead, on the off chance?

Then there are the airports.Yes they could all invest hugely in snow ploughs and de-icing rigs and goodness knows what else. But there isn't that much money sculling around, is there? Can you imagine if BAA did just that, and then their profits went down and there was no snow. The newspapers would of course have a field day, and start trotting off statistics about the likelihood of snow.

The last thing that really bugs me is when people start talking about Finland and other countries, and how well they prepare. Yes, they have winter tyres, snow chains, the full Monty. But they also know that they WILL get snow for several month. It's a dead cert. So they have to prepare for it. For us it's like a roulette wheel at Las Vegas.

Photos show those people made of sterner stuff, J's friends the Orion Harriers, on their Sunday run through Epping forest.

Guest blog: Carry On Embrocating. My second Amsterdam Marathon

I'm handing over the blog today to my spouse, the mysterious J, for his account of his second Amsterdam marathon (his 22nd marathon in total). J went with members of his running club, the Orion Harriers.

Take it away J.

This was my second trip to the Amsterdam marathon, scene of my 1st sub 4hr triumph in 2007.
Training for this run had been indifferent, so I had no real feel for my optimum pace for this race. Ideal conditions, cool with winter sunshine.

Good atmosphere at the start, Julie and I prepped together and got a good pen position quite close to the start line. Got off to a good start, let Julie go after a few minutes and settled down to an average 5mins per Km pace which was a pleasant surprise to me.

Kept close eye on HR (heart rate) but stayed with this pace, so again my performance on the day was well above expectations from training. Went through 1/2 in 1:46:37 well on pace for a pb (personal best), my aim was to keep in the low 5 to 5:30 Km's during the later stages and this was working well.

Around mile 24 got bad cramp in right calf and had to pull up couldn't keep going. Tried calf stretch and tried again -- no good, did some hamstring stretches which eased the problem and allowed me slowly get started again. After a few minutes gamely jogging back to pace the same thing happened to left calf - seized up, more stretches got me going again slowly. At this time I was convinced I'd blown any potential for a pb so settled in for a slow finish.

When I got to the 40km sign (only 2 km left) and saw the current time, I realised there was still a chance to get close to a pb. Legs were by now not doing well with cramps coming and going over the last 2k's, tried to raise pace all the way in, very emotional including talking to myself ovr the last k to keep the effort going. Once over the line not sure of eventual time, when I checked my Garmin it showed 4 secs outside a personal best -  very disappointing. So lost around 4 mins to cramps and stretches, overall got to be delighted with this run and the time - didn't look anywhere as good as this in training. my 3rd 3:43 marathon on the trot....

Epping Forest Festival

Itr's Groundhog Day again: the annual Epping Forest Festival. We strolled over after lunch and it seemed even busier than usual, even though the sky was cloudy. It's a fair that showcases the forest at work and at leisure, and all the groups who are attached to the forest: conservationists, woodland burial grounds (!), J's running club The Orion Harriers, horse riding schools and so on. One omission this year was the jousting. I wonder why?

There was falconry

Plenty of woodland crafts

Tractor rides

J visits the Orion Harriers

Horse rides

The joy of running

We're back home after J's endeavours in the London Marathon today. His time was a very commendable 3'43 which puts him in the top 15% of finishers. It wasn't a personal best but the weather was a little too warm.

As before, I had a great vantage point at an elite runners' drinks station in Shadwell, manned by J's club The Orion Harriers. Some of the drinks (right) and one of them being grabbed by its owner (below.)

I was able to see J twice from this vantage point: first at 14 miles on the opposite side of the road, and then at 20 miles. He looked very fresh both times.

I didn't see the caterpillar of people including Princess Beatrice, or any of the celebrity runners (Lorraine Kelly, Natalie Imbruglia.)

Below is J's brother-in-law Don plus a couple of his Orion colleagues. More photos here.http://www.flickr.com/photos/14963062@N04/4553755143/

43/365: Medal Man

J will be running  in the London Marathon soon for the eighth time. It will be his 21st marathon.
In a strange phenomenon, he gets faster as he gets older. He ran the Great Bentley half marathon last weekend and achieved another Personal Best. If he runs London at the same pace, he could achieve 3 hours 30 which would put him in the top 30% of finishers and very high for his age.
He keeps wondering where the speed is coming from, but I think it's two things. Firstly, he's been watching his diet very carefully after losing a stone last year. I try to ensure he's getting enough protein and not just carbs, but it's a challenge because he's in Edinburgh Monday to Friday each week. Secondly, his running in Edinburgh involves a lot of hill work, so he's been building up his strength without consciously trying.

He also has the support of his running club, the Orion Harriers, and a lot of camaraderie. While it's sometimes a pain that raining takes priority over everything, I am very proud of his achievements. It takes serious dedication to be a marathon runner. He trains six days a week, whatever the weather and wherever he is.

On another note - comments - they may disappear again. I have signed up for the replacement to Haloscan and the old comments are being merged into the new Echo platform (I hope!.)

John's best ever marathon

We're just back from a short stay in Toronto, Canada, where J competed in his 20th marathon, the Toronto Waterside (not to be confused with their other one.)

He has been euphoric ever since having improved on his previous time by a staggering 10 minutes, and recording a new PB (personal best)of 3:43.09. To put this in context, he finished in the top 25% of the field.

What is particularly inspiring about it is that J continues to improve and get better times as he gets older. So there is hope for all of us!

He puts it down to diet (he lost a stone some weeks ago), training and conditions at the marathon. This one was flat and the weather was fairly cool.

His running club, the Orion Harriers, had been behind him all the way and there were numerous excited texts as the jungle drums got beating back home in Chingford.

For me the spectator, juggling cow bell and two cameras, it was not the easiest marathon to navigate. I don't think they were expecting many international visitors because the charmingly hand-drawn spectators' map didn't show any public transport links or even all the roads, so it was hard to work out a route. And on the day, many of the street cars or trams were diverted.

Fortunately I met up with Duncan, an old school friend of mine who has lived in Toronto for over 20 years. We managed to see John three times, at 10km, at 35km and at the finish. It was ironic that at 35km, we were outside Toronto's biggest scrapbooking store, miles from the centre, and it wasn't yet open so I had to leave it behind.

We rushed back to the finish as fast as the subway and a bus would allow, and J was already waiting for us in the H's, hopping around clutching his medal and talking to anyone in sight.

There were quite a few Brits in the hotel, many of whom had run the companion half marathon. All in all, an up-and-coming marathon according to J, that will grow in popularity.

Tomorrow: Disaster at Niagara as I recall the most mortifying moment of my life.

I am perched on a shooting stick

I'm in the forest sitting on a shooting stick (surprisingly comfortable) with a monopod between my legs, waiting for the runners to come by. Perfect weather for the Orion Harriers Summer Handicap, a five mile run. J actually won this two years ago and it was a proud moment when he collected the cup at the prize giving event.

But this year he did too well in another race (came third) so his handicap was reduced. I've advised him to be rubbish at all their other races so he gets the best possible handicap. He was fifth when he came past me, with a mile to go, so a good performance anyway.

I'm not sure how J would judge my performance with the camera, normally his role if he doesn't run. I thought some of them were quite good but he muttered very darkly about how I had positioned myself near horse poo and he had to edit it out of every photo. And some of the runners weren't in focus (sorry Ann) but I blame the camera for that. More photos here.

As always J turned to me at the end and said "they're a nice crowd aren't they? You should join," which is his eternal plea, but there is one drawback: I would have to run. And after being told that I run like Tiny Tim, ie on tip toes, this is as likely as a snowstorm in June.

Heart warming achievements

Well done to everyone who took part in the London Marathon, from the supreme elite athletes at the front to the fun runners/walkers at the back. John did well, finishing within his four hour window, and his "posse," a group of ladies from the Orion Harriers he has been coaching, all did extremely well, one of them steaming past him in the final mile. The posse were kind enough to give me a bunch of flowers later, but it was them who did all the hard work. I've had a lot of fun hearing about the training from John and some of the exchanges:
- "Can we start at 8.30am instead of 8 and can we do 14 miles instead of 18?"
- "Who's going to tell John?"
During the downpour, as I anxiously scanned the thousands of runners to spot John, a mile from Tower Bridge, I expatiated on the nature of running. Running creates special people. We all know the health benefits; we read about it everyday as the fat idle journalists lambast Britain for obese teenagers, transfats, drinking wine in pregnancy, large measures of wine and type 2 diabetes. But what I have discovered is that once running gets into the pysche, people not only become fitter but they become more well rounded; more advanced as people.
I got talking to a 75 year old veteran member of the Orion Harriers, Ken, who has run all 27 London Marathons. I asked him if he would be having a rest period now (even J does) but he laughed and said no, he would be doing a swimming marathon for charity later this week.
And then you consider Buster, the 101 year old, running a marathon at his age. Amazing when most teenagers could not even contemplate it.
I suddenly started to feel guilty, that I've always been half hearted when I've tried running, and decided that I should try again. With that in mind, I'm now signed up for the Adidas women's challenge 5k in September. Three miles is hardly anything, and I could probably do it now, albeit very slowly, but I hope the race experience will spur me on to better things. It would be very cool to run London next year and have John enduring the misery of being a spectator for once!

The elusive goal is reached

At the weekend we were in Amsterdam for the marathon, John's 16th and the penultimate marathon in his world's top 10. This is a list compiled by Runner's World and now he has only Chicago to run, next year.

John has been training hard to reach a particular goal. He runs five days a week and his schedule includes runs and races with the Orion Harriers, half marathons, a training week in the Algarve and losing a stone.

He didn't achieve his goal in Boston, back in May, although he came close. In fact the weather conditons were so bad that the elite runners were all slower than their normal times.

But in Amsterdam, the goal was achieved. It was a great moment sitting in the Olympic stadium and receiving his excited phone call as he crossed the finish, and then seeing him jumping for joy among the thousands of plastic clad finishers as they milled around in a haze of embrocation.

It's a huge personal success for him because he's had to change his mindset and the way he runs a marathon, plus he's getting older. The training he did in the Algarve this year was instrumental in the change. He learnt how to monitor his pace instead of his heart rate.

I've followed him around the world running various marathons - Berlin, Stockholm, New York, Honolulu, Rotterdam, Paris to name a few. I've seen him at quite a low ebb after poor performances in Stockholm, where he ran although he was unwell, and Berlin, where it was very hot. So it was great to see him jubilant and joyful. He seemed to recover much faster too. I've seen him walk down staircases backwards in the past, and limp at the airport, but after Amsterdam he was even quite chipper when we had to walk back to the hotel (30 mins).

Now the goal is achieved I don't think he will stop running for one minute, and I wouldn't want him to because running keeps him fit and stress-free, but at least the pressure is off in terms of personal bests. Next up is London, hopefully, if he gets a place, followed by Chicago in the autumn. And I'm trying to talk him into Tokyo.

Have I ever thought about taking up marathon running? No chance --- the runners are generally small and wiry, built for speed (which is another reason why it's harder for John as he is tall and well built). Plus I couldn't contemplate dragging myself out on a cold or rainy dark night. No, it's the swimming pool for me and my beloved aqua sessions!