London Marathon 2012 – finshers and report

BvH London Marathon

Kathryn Doudican reports: Last year I decided that I’d like to complete a marathon before a significant birthday which will be in 3 year’s time this coming weekend! I decided to aim for the big one, entering the VLM ballot unsuccessfully before being lucky enough to secure a place through the club draw at Christmas.

I’d enjoyed the training, thanks to the company of many other members of the club, and was pleased with my performances on my pre-marathon races. Other than a couple of minor niggles I managed to reach the start line injury free, despite paranoia in the last couple of weeks that any twinge was a terrible injury or that I might be catching a cold.

I had two aims: not to go out too fast in the first few miles and to keep running no matter what. I began by running with the friendly Runners World 9 minute mile pace man and his orange lollipop. The first few miles were steady and comfortable as I chatted to others who had joined the pace group, taking in the atmosphere of the event, amazed by the amount of complete strangers who shout your name. There were however, a couple of points where the flow of runners annoyingly came to a near standstill.

It was good to see and hear Sue and Jo Ward in the crowds, and I felt really excited to run past Cutty Sark (a lasting image from watching the marathon on TV as a child) cheered on by Mark and my good friend Jo. I continued taking in the atmosphere, trotting along close to the orange lollipop until the heat started to get to me a little around mile 9; by Tower Bridge I had decided to reassess my goals, dropping back from the pace group to ensure that I enjoyed the experience and finished rather than pushing to finish under 4 hours, risking exhaustion.

Despite dropping the pace a little, I was surprised by how tired I felt at miles 16- 20 but seeing the 20 mile marker I told myself that there was only a Monday night run to go, giving myself a good talking to about finishing the final stretch without walking. At some point the crowds of runners slowed to a virtual stop for a few seconds again in what I can only assume was a bottle neck. At each mile marker I urged myself to run on despite feeling like I was wading through treacle at a snail’s pace (looking back at my splits I was still running at a steady 9 minute something pace).

I was boosted by seeing Linda, Nicola and the Flag around mile 20, Lesley Byrne a little later, followed by reassuring cheers from Mark and Jo at mile 23. Mark tells me that he was surprised by how relaxed I looked at this point but inside I was totally exhausted. I thought of my kids, the charity I was supporting and imagined how I would feel at the finish. At one point I even kept myself running by imagining the painful cramp that I would feel in my calves if I walked.

I reached a turning point physically, mentally and literally as I ran past Big Ben, feeling tiny and in awe of its size and beauty. Pushing on I knew I was nearly there although the “385 metres to go” sign which seemed to be 200 metres after “400 metres to go” annoyed me. I managed a big, slightly delirious but genuine smile for the cameras and finished in 4.03.23. I’m happy with that!

My thoughts on finishing are that 26.2 miles is a very long way and I respect anyone who has the endurance to complete a marathon. Many congratulations to all who have completed marathons over the last few weekends as well as to those who will do in the forthcoming weeks and thank you to those who came to support.

The list below is just those who were listed as a BvH member on the London Marathon results. If you know any more from the club who ran then do list them in the comments.

 

place overall place gender place category name category finish time
1952 1828 243 » WHEELER, ANDREW GERARD (GBR) 45-49 03:09:05
3679 3262 749 » Pearson, Stuart Anthony (GBR) 40-44 03:24:25
3816 441 279 » Rock, Sarah J (GBR) 18-39 03:25:27
7287 1322 797 » Walton, Jenny (GBR) 18-39 03:45:17
8508 6848 1420 » Gittins, James Robert (GBR) 40-44 03:50:56
8630 1684 998 » Delahaye-Slater, Julie Elizabeth (GBR) 18-39 03:51:26
9180 1826 1073 » Holden, Emily R (GBR) 18-39 03:53:42
9533 1914 1129 » Hampson, Becky (GBR) 18-39 03:54:59
11655 9155 1835 » Abraham, Nigel Hugh (GBR) 40-44 04:02:27
11846 2566 1502 » Doudican, Kathryn F (GBR) 18-39 04:03:23
14322 3298 641 » Thompson, Michaela (GBR) 40-44 04:13:42
20364 5399 3170 » Ward, Rachel Nanette (GBR) 18-39 04:36:49
23469 6588 803 » Wilkes, Maria Katherine (GBR) 45-49 04:49:20
29328 9119 1587 » Ribchester, Joanne (GBR) 40-44 05:20:10

19 Replies to “London Marathon 2012 – finshers and report”

  1. Congratulations Rita, Sue, and Bob too* In ten short years, the mighty BVH have gone from urban myths, to living legends.

    Next year we’ll probably win it, though you’re all winners, even if you were only watching on tv, or at B&Q or something, and don’t let any one tell you differently .

    On a more serious note(tm)

    As a fair weather Vegetarian….. I do not approve of veal tests

    * a.k.a, everyone including those watching on tv, etc etc etc,

  2. Congratulations to all the BvHers who successfully completed the 2012 London Marathon.You can be proud of your endeavours.
    Barrie Roberts

  3. Huge congratulations to everyone who ran. I felt very jealous watching it on telly in my flat. Just found Ewan Ross’ result as well, and he ran 4:01:40, so well done to him as well. 🙂

  4. Great work everyone! Hope you enjoyed what looked to be a superb day for running. Time now to enjoy a well-earned rest 🙂

  5. Well done Emily and fellow BournVille Harriers [ Emily’s Dad ].
    I was there. Trying to keep up!

  6. well done for all those bournville harriers who competed and finished the marathon some perhaps did not do as well as they would have liked others got a pb what you all need now is a few days rest then start all over again. once again well done

  7. Well done all – just found Angela Vince on results (I thought she should be there) 5.14.15. Great running everyone.

  8. Fantastic runs. Well done guys. Great Bournville turrnout, as always

  9. Well done to all bvh runners and an excellent set of results in warm conditions. great to see Stuart at the start and Matt supporting and to randomly introduce myself to Jenny as she overtook me!

  10. Well done everyone, as soon as you arrive home get your feet up for some much need R and R.

  11. wow
    andy wheeler is a legend!!

    a year ago or something he was not running at all.

    well done all, i hope you enjoyed yourselves