It was down to London for the Marathon yesterday and despite watching sport all over the world, I’ve never seen a marathon. I’m showing my age a little now, but I actually remember the first one which I watched 30 years ago in 1981 as a six-year-old boy. I’ve always remembered that Charlie Spedding was the first winner. Fast forward to 2011 and I must say it’s a great spectacle to attend, so if you’ve never been I would really recommend going along. I was there to support my friend Steve Wood, a member of the Greenwich Tritons running team who was running in aid of MacMillan. This was Steve’s third London Marathon and late last month I spent a week on holiday with him and his lovely wife Hannah which gave a valuable insight into the slow pre-race build up to Marathon Day. Steve was 2-3 weeks away from the big London event and bashed off three 20-mile runs on alternate days while the rest
of us mainly ate ice cream and watched on in awe. The one thing that was interesting for me was Steve’s diet. It’s simply lots of food all the time – and when you start the day with a 20-mile run, there can be as much as 6,000 calories burnt. So it was good to hear that Steve was loading up with porridge and pasta ahead of his big day yesterday. Along with Lorraine, Hannah and her dad, Chris, we formed Team Steve and started near his home in Woolwich where we first saw the runners. This was at the three-mile stage and it was actually fairly easy to spot Steve. He’d given us rough times that he would be in certain places and he wasn’t far off. Those times were based on a sub 3 hour race. At Woolwich he seemed to be fine, but as we left him too it and took a train towards Canary Wharf, stopped for a drink and a chat, Steve was racking up the miles around the capital. Canary Wharf is the 18-mile stage and we watched the likes of James Cracknell and Nell McAndrew waltz through, Steve was keeping good time, although at Canary Wharf he managed to tell us it wasn’t going too well. Another mad dash on to the increasingly busy tra
ins and we popped up at Temple. Here Steve was just two miles from home as he ran down the Embankment. The heat of the day was taking its toll. Steve was doing well compared to some of the others. One guy stopped right in front of us, lurched from side to side and nearly fell over backwards. Compared to him, the runners we had already seen looking dejected on The Tube and those that were walking for long periods, Steve was going great guns. We walked from there along The Strand to the finish where we were joined by more friends and family. Steve emerged to a good reception from us all with a time of 3:17 and most importantly, clutching that marathon medal. Worse of all, he looked like he didn’t have a bead of swe
at on him! Well done Steve, super effort and we hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did.
It was down to London for the Marathon yesterday and despite watching sport all over the world, I’ve never seen a marathon. I’m showing my age a little now, but I actually remember the first one which I watched 30 years ago in 1981 as a six-year-old boy. I’ve always remembered that Charlie Spedding was the first winner. Fast forward to 2011 and I must say it’s a great spectacle to attend, so if you’ve never been I would really recommend going along. I was there to support my friend Steve Wood, a member of the Greenwich Tritons running team who was running in aid of MacMillan. This was Steve’s third London Marathon and late last month I spent a week on holiday with him and his lovely wife Hannah which gave a valuable insight into the slow pre-race build up to Marathon Day. Steve was 2-3 weeks away from the big London event and bashed off three 20-mile runs on alternate days while the rest 
of us mainly ate ice cream and watched on in awe. The one thing that was interesting for me was Steve’s diet. It’s simply lots of food all the time – and when you start the day with a 20-mile run, there can be as much as 6,000 calories burnt. So it was good to hear that Steve was loading up with porridge and pasta ahead of his big day yesterday. Along with Lorraine, Hannah and her dad, Chris, we formed Team Steve and started near his home in Woolwich where we first saw the runners. This was at the three-mile stage and it was actually fairly easy to spot Steve. He’d given us rough times that he would be in certain places and he wasn’t far off. Those times were based on a sub 3 hour race. At Woolwich he seemed to be fine, but as we left him too it and took a train towards Canary Wharf, stopped for a drink and a chat, Steve was racking up the miles around the capital. Canary Wharf is the 18-mile stage and we watched the likes of James Cracknell and Nell McAndrew waltz through, Steve was keeping good time, although at Canary Wharf he managed to tell us it wasn’t going too well. Another mad dash on to the increasingly busy tra
ins and we popped up at Temple. Here Steve was just two miles from home as he ran down the Embankment. The heat of the day was taking its toll. Steve was doing well compared to some of the others. One guy stopped right in front of us, lurched from side to side and nearly fell over backwards. Compared to him, the runners we had already seen looking dejected on The Tube and those that were walking for long periods, Steve was going great guns. We walked from there along The Strand to the finish where we were joined by more friends and family. Steve emerged to a good reception from us all with a time of 3:17 and most importantly, clutching that marathon medal. Worse of all, he looked like he didn’t have a bead of sweat on him! Well done Steve, super effort and we hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did.
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