Trip Report
England
4/17 -4/29/90
London Marathon
London, England
Sun, Apr 22/90
Marathon # 51 – Country # 4
3:11:20
I had just finished my 3rd Boston Marathon in
3:24:24 on Mon and now the Sports Manager and I were flying to London to run my
2nd marathon in six days. I had run Boston ‘easy’ knowing that I needed to save
‘something’ for London.
We were using AA miles to fly for free and staying at a Marriott
hotel near Hyde Park for free using Marriott points so the trip was relatively
cheap. We left Dallas on Thu so that we would have a few days to recover from
jet lag and explore London before the race. We took a few tours of the city to
enjoy most of the tourist sites such as the British Museum, Tower of London,
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and of course Buckingham
Palace. I would get to see most of these attractions again along the marathon
course.
Sun was ‘M’ –day! The race starts at 10 am in Greenwich. There
are three start lines and the three routes merge near 3 miles at the Royal
Artillery Barracks. There are so many runners (35,000 +) fighting for space
that it is necessary to use elbows to keep your own space. I became trapped
immediately with the group of runners in my start corral and I had no choice
but to run/maintain the 7min pace of the group. We passed the Cutty Sark near
Mile 7 in 52:46 and a split of 6:57. We crossed the Tower Bridge near 13 miles
and I passed the Half in 1:36:30 and a split of 7:13. And I finally had space
to push the pace under 7 min/mile without knocking runners down. Around 18 miles
we ran through Canary Wharf, one of London’s financial districts. I reached
Mile 20 in 2:25:35 and a split of 7:21 and continued on past the Tower of
London near mile 23 in 2:47:25 and a split of 7:20. I passed Mile 25 in 3:02:20
and ran past the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben before finishing at the Mall
across from Buckingham Palace in 3:11:20. I had run negative splits and
finished 13 min faster than Boston six days earlier!
Nicole had been using the Tube to travel underground and
pop up at various locations along the course to cheer me on and she was waiting
at the finish line. She had met another woman (Sports Manager) doing the same
thing for her husband and they kept each other company.
After a hot shower we enjoyed a great dinner of fish and
chips - washed down with ale of course - in a 400-year old pub! We stayed in
London a few more days to explore more of the city and enjoy the Phantom of the
Opera in the West End. I loved that musical! Then we took a 4-day bus tour up
through the historic walled city of York in North Yorkshire to Edinburgh,
Scotland and returned via Liverpool. It was a short and busy tour since we had
to return home on the weekend.
One month after returning my left foot started to hurt. When
anti-inflammatories and cortisone shots couldn’t relieve the pain a MRI
revealed a small tear in the plantar fascia. The doc ordered me to rest the
foot and cross train. NO running – and absolutely NO racing! I had to cancel a
lot of planned marathons over the next five months. I had another international
marathon scheduled (and paid for) in Oct so my goal was to be ready for that marathon/adventure!
