The Flora London Marathon
I would love so much to tell you I competed in the world's greatest marathon this morning. Alas, no. Not yet. I'm not ready for a full marathon yet - pretty close, mind you.
What I can tell you, with a great deal of excitement, is that I travelled up to the London marathon expo with Anthony and Gary on Friday. It was a fabulous day out and gave me a real taste for the event.
We drove up in Gary's car (very plush) and I told them with some confidence that the best place to park would be in a cul-de-sac in Osterley and catch the tube from there. Unfortunately the powers that be in the area have wizened up to the likes of me and have introduced parking meters since my last visit. Oops. No worries however - plenty of spaces in the tube station car park.
We got to the expo just after lunchtime and Anthony picked up his race number for the big day. His excitement was palpable and if all goes to plan, all three of us will be picking up our race numbers next year - just think how cool that will be.
We had a quick look round before partaking of the pasta lunch - very tasty it was too. It provided me with a timely reminder of just how good pasta can be if you take time to prepare a good sauce to go with it, and how I must find some good recipes - pasta is going to play a big part in my diet over the next few months. On the stage behind us, James Cracknell was giving an interview about his ambitions for the big day. How exciting to be rubbing shoulders (well, almost) with an Olympic gold medallist.
We then proceeded to spend time (and a lot of money!) visiting the various stands at the exhibition. There were some bargains to be had - I got a great deal on some singlets, a new pair of trainers for my shorter runs and a 6 month subscription to Running Fitness magazine for £13.50 which came with a free running coat worth £40! Fantastic - knowing me I'll be cancelling the direct debit in time to get maximum value for money as well! These companies must hate people like me!!
I didn't do as well as Anthony however - by the end of the day he was carrying so many bags he looked like Alicia Silverstone in Clueless, just without the mini-skirt, legs and all-round cuteness - sorry mate.
Highlight of the day was arguably meeting the great Steve Cram and having my photo taken with him. I got a lovely compliment from him to boot - "you look like you're running (on Sunday)" were his words to me. Unfortunately I had to disappoint him but I did update him on my progress to date and my plan to run a full marathon in September.
I also visited the justgiving.com stand and got some good advice. Realistically I am not going to get a place for 2007 through the ballot system, so my best bet is to get one of the charity places. I have an idea how I can increase my sponsorship - all I'll say at this juncture is it's a good job I stopped for a chat.
It was great to spend some time with Anthony and Gary and as the day drew to a close I treated them to a coffee in the cafe overlooking the docklands. I hope we spend more time together in future as the friendships develop.
Eventually I had to part company with them - Anthony had to get home to Jo and baby Ben, and Gary had had an early start, but I had decided to avail myself of the opportunity to go to the theatre while in the capital. I plumped for a repeat viewing of the excellent "Blackbird" in the end - the subject matter is pretty unpleasant and frankly implausible (a man in his late fifties is confronted by a 27 year old girl he had sex with as a minor 15 years ago) but the acting was out of this world and the dialogue razor-sharp. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who enjoys the theatre:
www.seeblackbird.com
Needless to add I had a couple of well earned pints in The Lord Moon of the Mall before heading home. Please don't mock me - it's hard work being on your feet all day and I needed some liquid refreshment.
I felt inspired on Saturday and headed off for a 15 mile run. The only problem was, I was still tired from the day before and it was a real plod to say the least. I half-planned to drive up to London today to watch the race but unfortunately I was so wiped out after my run I fell asleep in front of the TV and couldn't sleep properly after that, so I didn't get up until after 10 today. So it was too late to go up, but I did watch a fair bit of the coverage on TV - I never thought I'd be this excited about the marathon.
Never mind - I still got a good taste for the event and am now determined to make sure I am on the start line in 2007. What a turn-up for the book that will be.
Finally I'd like to say a massive WELL DONE and GOOD ON YOU to every single person who completed the marathon today, not least Anthony Davis (for very obvious reasons!) as well as David Morgan and Susanne Dansey, whose blogs I have followed with interest. I look forward to joining you in 2007.
Copyright © Jonathan Weedon, 23rd April 2006
What I can tell you, with a great deal of excitement, is that I travelled up to the London marathon expo with Anthony and Gary on Friday. It was a fabulous day out and gave me a real taste for the event.
We drove up in Gary's car (very plush) and I told them with some confidence that the best place to park would be in a cul-de-sac in Osterley and catch the tube from there. Unfortunately the powers that be in the area have wizened up to the likes of me and have introduced parking meters since my last visit. Oops. No worries however - plenty of spaces in the tube station car park.
We got to the expo just after lunchtime and Anthony picked up his race number for the big day. His excitement was palpable and if all goes to plan, all three of us will be picking up our race numbers next year - just think how cool that will be.
We had a quick look round before partaking of the pasta lunch - very tasty it was too. It provided me with a timely reminder of just how good pasta can be if you take time to prepare a good sauce to go with it, and how I must find some good recipes - pasta is going to play a big part in my diet over the next few months. On the stage behind us, James Cracknell was giving an interview about his ambitions for the big day. How exciting to be rubbing shoulders (well, almost) with an Olympic gold medallist.
We then proceeded to spend time (and a lot of money!) visiting the various stands at the exhibition. There were some bargains to be had - I got a great deal on some singlets, a new pair of trainers for my shorter runs and a 6 month subscription to Running Fitness magazine for £13.50 which came with a free running coat worth £40! Fantastic - knowing me I'll be cancelling the direct debit in time to get maximum value for money as well! These companies must hate people like me!!
I didn't do as well as Anthony however - by the end of the day he was carrying so many bags he looked like Alicia Silverstone in Clueless, just without the mini-skirt, legs and all-round cuteness - sorry mate.
Highlight of the day was arguably meeting the great Steve Cram and having my photo taken with him. I got a lovely compliment from him to boot - "you look like you're running (on Sunday)" were his words to me. Unfortunately I had to disappoint him but I did update him on my progress to date and my plan to run a full marathon in September.
I also visited the justgiving.com stand and got some good advice. Realistically I am not going to get a place for 2007 through the ballot system, so my best bet is to get one of the charity places. I have an idea how I can increase my sponsorship - all I'll say at this juncture is it's a good job I stopped for a chat.
It was great to spend some time with Anthony and Gary and as the day drew to a close I treated them to a coffee in the cafe overlooking the docklands. I hope we spend more time together in future as the friendships develop.
Eventually I had to part company with them - Anthony had to get home to Jo and baby Ben, and Gary had had an early start, but I had decided to avail myself of the opportunity to go to the theatre while in the capital. I plumped for a repeat viewing of the excellent "Blackbird" in the end - the subject matter is pretty unpleasant and frankly implausible (a man in his late fifties is confronted by a 27 year old girl he had sex with as a minor 15 years ago) but the acting was out of this world and the dialogue razor-sharp. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who enjoys the theatre:
www.seeblackbird.com
Needless to add I had a couple of well earned pints in The Lord Moon of the Mall before heading home. Please don't mock me - it's hard work being on your feet all day and I needed some liquid refreshment.
I felt inspired on Saturday and headed off for a 15 mile run. The only problem was, I was still tired from the day before and it was a real plod to say the least. I half-planned to drive up to London today to watch the race but unfortunately I was so wiped out after my run I fell asleep in front of the TV and couldn't sleep properly after that, so I didn't get up until after 10 today. So it was too late to go up, but I did watch a fair bit of the coverage on TV - I never thought I'd be this excited about the marathon.
Never mind - I still got a good taste for the event and am now determined to make sure I am on the start line in 2007. What a turn-up for the book that will be.
Finally I'd like to say a massive WELL DONE and GOOD ON YOU to every single person who completed the marathon today, not least Anthony Davis (for very obvious reasons!) as well as David Morgan and Susanne Dansey, whose blogs I have followed with interest. I look forward to joining you in 2007.
Copyright © Jonathan Weedon, 23rd April 2006
posted by Jon | 7:13 pm
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