London Marathon number 7 is in the bag (made up of 6 in London and 1 ran virtually).

But wow, what an emotional rollercoaster of a weekend! A trapped nerve (I think?) saw me barely able to walk on the Saturday after a week of back problems and I didn’t see how I could even make the start line, let alone the finish?! I was this close to ringing the charity and pulling out. I was so downhearted.

Thankfully the problem eased overnight and I headed to Greenwich (with a planned 49,999 others) to set out to do a London Marathon that has been 24 months in the making…..because Covid.

The result? One of my favourite marathons ever and around £2k raised for Muscular Dystrophy U.K’s Team Orange. An honour and a privilege to have played a small part in it. After Saturday’s problems I was exceptionally nervous and doubtful with jelly legs until 8 miles, long after I’ve normally settled down. The thought of seeing my family at 12 miles kept me going and gave me the boost I needed though. A boost that would keep me jogging consistently (but slowly) to 21.5 miles. From then on it was about self preservation and a run/walk strategy before the glory of The Embankment, Birdcage Walk and The Mall.

I finished in front of Liz’s gaff within my 6.5 hour target time at 6 hours, 20 minutes AND the all important 11 seconds. Not bad for a fat bloke sliding ever faster towards fifty years old eh?

Thank you all so much for your support. If you haven’t donated (and would like to), you still can here:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/andrew-smullen

And finally; a pic of me, my cousin (bagging her 18th consecutive LM medal!) and my mate Ian who got me into this mess by applying on the sly for his first and badgering me to join him!

Of course, it goes without saying that this will definitely be my last London Marathon,…certainly until 2022.

Over and out.

Andy

Tubby Runster (Insta & Faceache).