Joy Furmidge Runs the London Marathon
for the Isle of Wight Diabetic Society
13th April 2008 - Joy writes:
… back in October 2007 the hard training started to prepare for Sunday 13th April, 2008...
When the day arrived it was very surreal. I was up at 7am to eat breakfast and left the hotel at 8 am. There were 35,000 runners competing and I think they were all on the same tube train as me! I arrived at Greenwich Station and headed off to Blackheath Common to find blue start. Once there I deposited my kit bag (with number on it 24873 in the back of a lorry for me to collect at the finish) and headed towards the start and lined up…
9.45am came and the race started ... it took me 9 minutes 55 seconds to get through the start! Then the run began. The plan was to run 11 minute miles and aim to finish in a time of 4 hours 47 minutes. It was rather warm and I ran the first mile in 9 minutes 30 seconds, which was much too fast, so I had to slow right down to make sure I got back on course. At 6 miles the heavens opened with a torrential downpour. I ran in that for a couple of miles, then sunshine again. All the time keeping an eye on the clock…
I saw my husband, Dave, and my friends, Jane and Graham, at 12 miles and that spurred me on. I started to hurt at 13 miles so I took two paracetamol. I saw my son, Sean, with three of his friends and my grandson, Harry, at 15 miles - and that was a tremendous boost…at 19 miles I took another two paracetamol! I got to 23 miles and then thought ‘right another half hour and it will all be over…’
Round the corner from the 25 mile mark I saw Big Ben which said 2.35pm so I knew I just had to keep going to get in inside the five hours and I think I actually started to run a bit quicker. Running down Birdcage Walk there was an ‘800 metres to go’ board….so I kept thinking ‘Buck House down the road - round the corner then 385 yards to go’. The thought went through my head: ‘I've done the 26 miles don't let me collapse now and not make the 385 yards!’
At the finish you tread on the carpet and your time is recorded: 4 hours 52 minutes and 47 seconds. So I actually ended up doing 11.10 minute miles! I finished in 24,959 position overall (which meant there were another 10,000 behind me!),I was the 6,292nd lady home and was 135th lady in my age category!
I then started to walk - as my legs didn't want to stop - and some person hung a medal round my neck and ushered me into a tunnel where they cut the chip off my shoelace (which records your time). I got my goody bag - retrieved my kit bag from the back of the lorry and then went to find my family… walking quite OK. Today is quite a different matter though – especially going downstairs – which can only be done backwards!
I want to thank everybody who sponsored me for the Isle of Wight Diabetic Society (which has amounted to £1,600). I hope you enjoyed sharing my marathon experience and would just like to say NEVER AGAIN!