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I Finished NYC Marathon!! Wow! So chuffed!
Nov0820083:09 p.m.
Just returned from New York having finished my first marathon at the age of 47 in 6.23 hours. When I rang my mum at the end she asked if there was anyone else finishing with me. i.e she thought I must have come last! Now I want to do another just so that I can prove I can run the whole way. I had a back injury in September which lost me 3 weeks training so my plans was to run walk the course as I already had a lot of sponsorship for Great Ormond Street . Although seriously tempted to withdraw (admittedly through sheer cowardice) I didn't and am so pleased I didn't. It was the scariest thing I have ever done and I have always pushed my comfort levels having travelled alone at a young age and regularly speaking in public. Out of a group of 23 of us there were only 2 women but we hadn't trained together. In fact I had pretty much trained alone all the way through.
I hadn't appreciated how stressed I would be in the lead up. I have been tearful, snappy and on the way to NY completely unable to hold a conversation with people. Sitting around in the bitter cold for 5 hours the morning of the run was tough but boy, did I enjoy the run. The view of Brooklyn as we came over the bridge at the start was breathtaking. I didn't notice the hills or where the hours went I was just so determined not to be the only one of our group of 23 to not finish that I just got on with it. 7 loo stops must be a record! My partner was at the 17 mile mark and that was ideal. During training my longest run was 11 before my injury and post injury my longest walk was 16, so 26 was completely unknown territory. Knowing from 13 miles that I would see him at 17 kept me going and I knew once I got there I would get to 20 and once I got there I would finish. I felt sore and stiff by mile 5 but that seemed to improve as time went on, is that normal? The whole trip was topped off by being in Times Square when the election result was announced. Fantastic!!
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Comments (2)
hilaryjohnson 'Well done! You did so well to finish when it was hurting from mile 5 - I take my hat off to you! I agree it was the most amazing experience - the crowds are fantastic and the atmosphere electric - I would definitely do it again! Waiting around in the cold was tough - I wasn't properly prepared for that. And wasn't it a great time to be in NY with all the election excitement as well? It will go down as one of my great life experiences. Feel proud! Hilary' added 9th Nov 2008
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phil78 'Many congratulations!! Absolutely fantastic to finish with the training interruptions you had.' added 17th Nov 2008
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