Tim Boswell's London Marathon Blog by tnmboswell

I think I’ve got a couple of blogs left before closing this particular chapter.  Firstly, what happened after the race, and secondly the stats from the day itself.

Once crossing the finishing line, you walk up a small ramp to have your timing chip removed, followed by a moment of pride as you have your medal placed around your neck.

The number 30 celebrates 30 years of the London Marathon, but at least one of my nieces thought it was a special medal for me for finshing in thirtieth place !  It’s then on to collect your goody bag containing a space blanket to keep you warm (there was plenty of sunshine for that, though), a drink, food and your finisher’s t-shirt , and then it’s a short walk to collect your kit bag. 

I hadn’t really thought that my kit bag was particularly heavy when I dropped it off at Greenwich Park, but 26.2 miles later it felt like someone had dropped several  bricks into it.  I had to stop a couple of times for a rest as I tried to drag myself and two bags up the Mall towards the meet-and-greet area at Horseguard’s Parade.  We’d arranged to meet at the letter ‘X’ in this area, thinking that the area surrounding the letter ‘B’ would be quite busy.  We hadn’t banked on the ‘W’, ‘X’, ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ areas being lumped in together though !  I eventually managed to meet up with all the family to compare notes on how the day had been.

As with all of their runners, I’d been invited to a reception hosted by Macmillan at the nearby Foreign and Commonwealth Office,  so I left the family behind once we’d swapped stories of an exhausting day for everyone.  There were some lovely touches at the reception – not least of all a group of cheerleaders to applaud you down the steps as you joined your fellow runners and their supporters.  I signed up immediately for a leg message and grabbed some very welcome food and drink as I still couldn’t stomach the prospect of yet more energy drink and water.  There wasn’t long to wait for the massage, and it was a very welcome 20 minutes of relaxation, de-stressing and getting the weight off your feet !  I even managed to resist falling asleep !

It was a lovely sunny afternoon and to make the most of it, my Mum suggested  a trip on the London Eye.  I’d feared it would be really busy but we queued for 15 minutes at the most and enjoyed some lovely views over the capital in what turned out to be really clear conditions.  Far cry from the gloom cold and rain of 6 hours earlier !  We all went our different ways after our ‘flight’, so I walked back to the hotel (if nothing else, I was getting a decent warm-down), grabbed a quick shower and headed into Covent Garden for food and drink with Martin and Lucy.  Never before did a cold beer taste so good !

I’d feared barely being able to walk on Monday morning, but while my legs were sore – they’d certainly felt more painful at times during the training period.  After Sunday morning’s sensible approach to breakfast, Monday was simply a blow-out !  Sausages, bacon, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, beans, potatoes, a croissant, tea, grapefruit juice ... I had the lot.  Still, at least it was guilt-free given the previous day’s exploits.  The rest of Monday morning brought about further sightseeing at the Monument and at St.Paul’s Cathedral before a lunchtime train back from Marylebone to Warwick.  I’ve read plenty of times that walking down stairs is one of the trickiest things to do the day after a marathon.  I thanked my lucky stars that I wasn’t suffering too badly when I saw one tube station had its ‘down’ escalators closed for repairs !

 I was back home by 2.30pm, having opted for a taxi back from the train station rather than seeing the sights of Warwick.  Once back, I quickly set about personalising the fridge magnet that had come with the marathon magazine a few weeks ago before reliving the whole experience over again by watching every second of Sunday’s TV coverage.