Ed Byrne, Steve and the amazing Mrs Ghandi

Apologies for this being a totally non-political post. I believe I am excused on this occasion (and anyway it’s my Blog!!)

On Monday I managed to run my first marathon in Dublin. It was an amazing event which it was a privilege to be part of. That said my knees and thigh muscles think otherwise.

I should start by saying that it was every bit as hard as everyone told me it would be. My strategy from the start was to find things to do to keep my mind off things. After the first mile or so I was going too fast (it is soooo hard not to do this) and overtook Ed Byrne (awesome Irish comedian) who was going at exactly the sort of pace I needed, so I asked if I could trot alongside him. So I had the privilege of running around Phoenix Park with Ed Byrne and a guy called Steve, chatting about various things. It was very interesting and served exactly the purpose it needed to (and made my daughter jealous). I hope Ed Byrne got the same from it otherwise, from his perspective, I was just a stalker!!

At 15 miles I was struggling – mentally I was fine, but physically my muscles were starting to hurt and I was thinking about how I had struggled after 20 miles in training. Non-runners probably don’t realise that running a distance event doesn’t get you out of breath, it is the strain on the muscles that causes the problems, and I could feel the occasional twinge that I was worried could be the onset of cramp. But that was when Mrs Ghandi stepped in and saved the day. Mrs Ghandi is, of course, a username of a lovely lady on Fetcheveryone.com – Britain’s greatest running website. Fetchies are easy to spot, by the nature of the bright red and luminous yellow running tops. For something like a marathon, those tops are a godsend – having people cheer you on makes a huge difference, and loads of people know and cheer on Fetchies. Mrs Ghandi and I started to chat and she explained her technique which was to run a mile, walk a minute and then run to the next mile marker, so I trotted along with her doing exactly that for about 8 miles until I was struggling to keep up; but I used the same method right up until mile 25 and then just forced myself to keep going, despite the pain, “high-5ing” the kids who were spectating to keep my mind off things.

You cannot imagine the feeling crossing the finishing line; relieved because it is all over and overwhelmed at the though of having finished, all the better because the race organisers had the forethought to have people hanging medals over runners heads and saying well done rather than just dropping them in a goodie bag – a really nice touch.

Finishing time – 4 hours 45 minutes 37 seconds. Slower than I would have wanted – but given that I have been plagued with an Achilles injury over the last 3 months which has stopped me doing any speed training, I am chuffed to have finished. It was also great fun to meet up with a few other Fetchies at Kennedy’s for a post race pints of Guinness (or two).

Marathons are hard, no bones about it - and not just the marathon, but the training that goes along with it - but the sense of achievement truly is fantastic. I am told they get easier, so I will be doing another!!

Thanks to Ed Byrne, to Steve and especially to Mrs Ghandi - who probably doesn’t know how much she helped me. Also thanks to the people of Dublin who put on a fantastically well organised event in a great City, to all those who turned out to support, give out jelly babies and other runners treats and also to the most amazing race stewards ever – it really makes such a difference.