By Imran Patel

Being my first marathon it was an amazing experience. You have to do it to understand the feeling of finishing a full marathon – it’s just awesome.

The 26.2 miles alongside 36,000 people is anything but easy. However, good training pays off and you can finish the course in good time. My personal target was to finish in under 4hrs – I did it in 4hr 25min; taking the circumstances into consideration I was still pleased with my time.

We set off for London on Saturday morning and went straight to the expo-centre in the docklands to complete our registration. Here we met up with representatives from Get Kids Going, the charity we had chosen to run for. The more I learned about the charity the more pleased I was that we had chosen it.

The day itself became long and tiring with the vast part of it dedicated to travelling from one place to another. By 12am I was in bed at our hotel, but the tiredness could not over power the excitement of running the marathon in the morning. This led to a night of tossing and turning and before I knew it the clock said 5am- our agreed time to get up.

Getting There

Following breakfast we set off to catch the tube to Greenwich Park- where the race begins. It was obvious with so many people heading in the same direction traffic of all types was going to be an obstacle in its self, but the journey to the venue was truly torturous.

The nerves and tiredness seem to drain your energy whilst the hotel breakfast be

gins to signal the tummy runs, all in a tube carriage packed to the hilt with others probably feeling the same way you do.

From the tube station the walk to the start is a couple of miles. Once arriving we handed over our bags and belongings to collect later and proceeded to the starting line.

The atmosphere is quite unique. People are excited and at the same time nervous. You hold a n

ervous smile and convince yourselves ‘it’s ok, I can do this’ in an attempt to reassure.

At the side stood an army of portable toilets with runners forming long queues in wait. If you’ve managed to hold your nerve till now this would break it. The sight of the queues themselves are scary, the sudden need to join them is terrifying, but it had to be done.

Finally the moment I had been working hard towards over the past few years arrives and the Ti

mex clock perched above the starting line displays 10am; time for my London Marathon to begin.

 

The Race

With the sea of bodies in front of me it wasn’t until 10:25am that I eventua

lly crossed that starting line and the race for me really began.

The best advice, which all professional runners recommend, is that you start of slowly and pace yourself over the course. Up to Tower Bridge, which marks the half way line, I kept a good steady pace.

The plan was to build up the pace after the 15 mile mark and increase it at around 21-22 miles, before using what reserves were left – if any – over the last 4 – 5miles.

You have to use tactics when trying to overtake the runner in fron

t. As you can imagine it isn’t easy to run past people when all you see is a sea of bodies.

After the half way point it became difficult for me because people kept coming in my way. Then you have other hazards like water bottles on the floor, people slip and fall. So you have to maintain your concentration and stay focused.

By the time I reached mile 22 I was really feeling the pain. My longest run in training had been 21 m

iles so I was now entering un-chartered territory and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. With all the tiredness and sweat pouring down, this was a barrier faced in a battered state.

But thanks to the water and Lucozade stations you feel refreshed and tap into a little more energy. The cheering crowd shouting support lifts those tired legs and urge you to carry on. I got through to mile 24…just two miles to go.

At this point I kept telling myself this is where people start giving up and walk the rest of the way.

Cramp, aches and pains and a tiredness you have never experienced before begin to break you physically, mentally and emotionally.

I had been running for the past 4hrs, cramps had embedded themselves in both my legs but I wasn’t going to give up. Determined to run right to the end; mile 25 brought the Houses of Parliament in sight and I knew the finish was close. A sudden spark of fresh energy partly by the supportive crowd, partly by the scenery including running onto the parade in front of Buckingham Palace, allows you to unleash a final dash to the line.

 

You forget the pain from here and I began cruising to the finishing line with a crowd going wild making you feel a like real winner.

I had done it. After all the hard work, mini-marathons, stops and starts in training, I had completed the 26.2 gruelling miles of the world renowned London Marathon.

The Team

 

My thanks and credit goes to my team, w
Together we raised around 20k for Get Kids Going which helps children with disabilities become active in sports and activities by providing specialist equipment.ho supported me throughout with coaching, advice and motivation. Aziz Patel running his third marathon, Hamid Patel in his sixth, Elyas Patel like me in his first marathon, Harun Umerji and Ismail Patel running their second. Sajid Taylor and Mohamed Kidya from London were also part of the team running in their first marathon.