Race Review: London Marathon 2022

London! This was exciting for two reasons: 1) It's THE London Marathon, and 2) I was previously planning to do a marathon on the 2nd October anyway, however I got a last minute charity place for London with Street Child. The Marathon I was intending to run? 40 laps of a local business park. By myself. Hmm….

Training leading up to London: 
Uncharacteristically (I'm normally bloody injured with something or another), my training in the lead up to London had gone well. I was hitting big times (3x 20min efforts averaging 3:30/km), and everything pointed towards an amazing race. 

Buuttttttt… Two weeks out, potential disaster struck. My right hip, something which has given me trouble in the past, randomly flared up on a run. Nothing too bad, but certainly didn't fancy lugging myself round 42.2km with it feeling like that! 

Not wanting to miss another Marathon (I was previously booked onto Seville 2022 but had to pull out of that), I immediately sought professional help- getting a sports massage from a massage therapist at the amazing Pure Sports Medicine, Canary Wharf. Side note - for anyone who hasn’t had a sports massage before, they’re bloody painful. It’s essentially paying £100/yr to have someone dig their elbows into your muscles.

It felt better after, however ended up tapering for the race more than I'd have liked in order to not aggravate the injury further, and booked another massage for the London Expo using their discount code. Whilst not as long or useful as at PureSportsMed (tbf it was £85 cheaper…), the massage therapist was friendly and it definitely helped prepare my hip.

London marathon expo

Okay, so having previously been track athlete, I'm not normally used to having to go out of my way to collect my number. You turn up to the race, you go to the marque, you get your number, done. 

Similarly, I don't understand why they can't just post it to you - I suppose its so they can sell you merch. Of which there is loads, obviously. Side note - since you have no hope of getting into the London Marathon ballot anyway, the best way to get London Marathon merch if you really want it is to donate your entry fee. This means if you’re unsuccessful your fee goes to that years chosen charity, whilst you get a (relatively) cheap running jacket.
I suppose this shows me for the cynic and misery guts I am! 

But the London exhibition is amazing! I went on the Friday, and immediately collected my race number and pack without having to queue, before journeying through the venue. 

I immediately did the one thing which I told my coach I wouldn’t do…. the Kipchoge treadmill! I couldn’t resist. The treadmill’s massive, and extremely well cushioned, so I didn’t worry too much about my hip. But they set you off for 400m at the same pace as Kipchoge’s Marathon WR - 2:55/km.
The hip held, and off I went to get photos and listen to the two talks I'd wanted to attend - Mo Farah, and Haillie Gebhrisellasi. This is what I made my poor wife leave the last day of our first anniversary early for - two talks by legends of the game that were… CANCELLED! FFS.
I promptly left.

Race day:
Woke up early (I say woke up- I'm not entirely sure I ever got to sleep!), and scoffed a Peanut butter and banana sandwich, along with maurten 320 caf drink about 3 hours before the race, before taking a relaxing epsom salt bath and watching some clips of previous London Marathons to try and learn the course a little. ~ In my head I felt like the Derice from Cool Runnings - staying in his hotel room visualising the course. Sadly, i’m not that cool.

My wife and I set off towards Blackheath on the trains which, in all their wisdom, had decided to strike that day... shocker. But after a while one did indeed bother to turn up, taking on board hundreds of London marathoners and their support crews. 
Walking out of Blackheath Station, you instantly know that you're not going to get a warm up jog in. The place is HEAVING. Thousands of people being directed up to the start area means you really have to fight for any warm up space at all. 
Eventually, I found a small patch of grass and began duly knocking out my drills as my wife watched on- probably wondering why 40,000 people are voluntarily putting themselves through the misery of running 42.2km when they could be indoors doing literally anything else.
Eventually I conceded that it would be better if I just went into the athlete area and tried to warm up there - so promptly left my wife to begin her journey around London following me using the app, and got to a good place in the pen ready to be called up to the start line.

A buzz starts forming around the start line as we realized the Elite men have now set off, promptly followed by the Championship runners, and then, eventually… ME!
Crossing the London Marathon start line was certainly a surreal experience. I’d imagined it for so long, but been doubtful in the last two weeks i’d make it due to my hip playing up.
10m, 20m in front of me I saw my running buddy at London City Runners - Oscar. I knew he was aiming for 2:45, whereas I was simply aiming for under 3hrs, and so despite my urge I let him go and focussed on my own pacing. This is tricky. You’ve got the adrenaline of starting a race, but not just any race, the London Marathon, coupled with thousands of people in the first km cheering you on - it’s hard to not start off quick!

1st km - 4:08/km. Okay, feeling good (obviously… if i was feeling shit after 1km something has really gone wrong…) but recognise that I might want to reign it in a bit to spare myself for later on.

2km - 4:12/km. A lot of weaving in and out of people as the various waves meet at around 1.4km, causing major congestion. I despise this, but appreciate that it’s part and parcel of the event and keep my head down.

3km - 4:00/km. Okay, still feeling good but i’m surprised at the pace given it was an uphill km going past the Queen Elizabeth hospital towards Woolwich. Remind myself to take it a bit easier and continue running to feel.

4km - 4:02/km. Flat / downhill section - lovely little break from the uphill KM just gone by. Stick true to my word and lay off the pace a little, running a 4:02/km. I’m still feeling very comfortable, and know a steep downhill section is about to come up ahead as we turn to run down towards the Woolwich Ferry. A man dressed as a bride passed me. I got pissed off.

5km - 3:52/km. No one has overtaken me! Remaining pissed off, I sped up, angered at the thought of someone in a wedding dress beating me to the finish line.

6km - 3:57/km. Still now one has overtaken me.

7km - 4:04/km. Loving life, feeling very smug, no one has overtaken me.

8km - 4:09/km. Getting used to life as someone who just runs past others without being caught.

9km - 4:14/km. Run past some more people, purely for good measure.

10km - 4:11/km. Not caught again here either.

15km - 4:03/km average. Some smartass tried to overtake me so I had to speed up. Pride over anything.

20km - 3:55/km average. Genuinely think i’m now in the wrong race and I should’ve joined the championship for shits and giggles.

25km - 3:54/km average. Ego is almost becoming too big to carry. Might need it’s own bib number at this rate because i’m essentially now two entities: my ego, and my body.

29km - 3:51/km average. It’s becoming harder to catch people now as the field is getting more and more strung out. I have to increase the pace to begin catching those in front as they’re all now running around the same pace as me.

DISASTER. Canary Wharf. What had turned from ‘hmm, my hip feels a little tight’, turned into ‘FUCK- That’s bloody painful’. But I was going well! To that point I’d averaged 4:02/km, and had just put in a 38:44 10km. I felt I could continue the next 13km in a similar pacing which would’ve given me a finishing time of 2:47.48. Beyond my wildest expectations of what was possible that day. But I was in pain, and took a few precious seconds to stretch out my hip and mentally prepare myself for what would now be 13 very painful kilometers.

30km - 5:12/km. Fair. I had just stopped for a little bit (30 seconds) and was now (what I felt like) jogging. I couldn’t expect to be putting out 3:52/km’s now. People (unsurprisingly) overtook me. My ego deflated.

32km - Jogging. Surely I can’t actually be going quickly can I? 4:30/km average for the last 2km. Wow - if this is what jogging with an excruciating hip feels like i’ll take it!. I knew the sub 2:50 time had slipped away from me, but I was now painfully aware that with 10km left to go I needed to run 4:55.4/km in order to run under 3hrs. More people overtake me, again, not surprisingly. I’ve resigned myself to it, and begin focusing on getting through the next 10km.

37km - 4:42/km. I’m struggling. I’m trying to carry on, but with every step, twist, turn my hip hurts more and more. I know with just 5km to go, and being now on the bank of the river Thames, that I can make it. The crowd are willing me on- i’ve got this.

38-39km - Shit got real. Going down a little underpass along the Thames i knew my hip was about to give way… and sure enough, as I began to climb it went. And it went bad. Alongside my hip being blindingly painful, my leg cramped up. I couldn’t straighten my leg, nor put at weight on it. FUCK. To make matters worse, I was standing still in the middle of the road, and had to get to the other side where the crowds were to get any respite and not block any other runners. I hobbled / hopped / crawled over, and found the nicest people waiting for me. I immediately downed a gel to give me energy and electrolytes, whilst chugging on a bottle of water kindly provided by the spectator. Meanwhile, her boyfriend? Prodding and massaging my painful hip / arse in an attempt to help me get on my merry way. 5:23/km & 6:49/km. About 2min48s of standing still. I’d been on the road for 2:45:39, and to have any chance of scraping under 3hrs I needed to average under 4:29/km for the next 3.2km. How on earth was I going to do that? I couldn’t walk!

42.2km - 4:39/km, 4:20/km, 3:57/km. I’D DONE IT! 2:58:39. How did I go from not being able to walk, to finishing so strongly? Adrenaline. Adrenaline and the crowds. I 100% believe that I wouldn’t have been able to make it through if the crowds weren’t there- I would’ve had to call it a day. But the cheers, support, and knowing I was so close got me through right to the end. The most important thing? I beat that guy in the bloody wedding dress right on the final stretch!

Directly after the race, I met my amazing wife who’d been following me around London using the London Marathon app. She’d managed to get photos of me in about 5 different areas of London! She handed me a couple of protein shakes which I forced down myself, before we headed to The Ned Private Members Club in Bank where I went for a post-run massage and spa session.

The London Marathon is an event unlike any other. The prestige, atmosphere, and crowds make it an incredibly special marathon - should you ever be able to run it. Will I run it in 2023? No, I din’t get a ballot entry place. 2024? Maybe, but only if I secure a place through championship entry (1:12 Half Marathon or 2:40 Marathon).