My experience of a solo marathon during a pandemic

My preparations and build-up training went exactly to plan, and I had a realistic pacing strategy to stick to. The key to pacing a marathon is to run each mile at the same steady pace. I arrived at the start and hid my kit bag - full of bananas and energy drinks - in a tree near some concrete bollards. I noticed one bollard was missing.

I began my marathon, feeling hyped, just like an official marathon. I started my GPS watch and set off at my target pace. The first few miles were a breeze. Sticking to pace is key in the early stages of a marathon, holding back despite the excitement and energy, to conserve energy for the finish. But even with perfect training, preparation and executing good pacing strategy, there’s still plenty that can go wrong in a marathon. Let me illustrate this by the following example.

Feeling light-headed just past the half-way point (mile 14), I stopped for an energy drink. I veered off the path between the gap in the bollards to get to my kit bag. With glasses misted up from the drizzle and unable to see, my foot fell into a square metal hole, where the missing bollard should be. It was briefly trapped, bringing me to a sudden stop. I staggered a few steps to reach into my kit bag, then realised I hadn’t sprained my ankle (or worse). Thankfully, that drink was worth it. It was the nectar of the Olympian gods, with magical properties, bestowing immortality to anyone lucky enough to drink it. A perfect antidote to my own brush with danger. My strength was restored.

A short while later, running strong with renewed energy I saw my colleague Chris and his daughter. They’d come on their bicycles to cheer me on. Chris rode next to me along the skiddy, autumnal, leaf-strewn path by the River Lea, chatting and providing encouragement and taking photos on his phone. We parted company a short while later.

From miles 14-19 I was running consistently to my pacing strategy. It began raining harder. When running hard, you generate plenty of heat so the rain was welcome and refreshingly cooling. Actual coldness only strikes when you stop. Between miles 19 and 20 I met up with Paul, an old friend and accomplished track cyclist. I handed him my running top as I was overheating. We’d arranged to meet up for the last 6 miles: the hardest part of a marathon. He agreed to be my pacemaker. I was running my fastest, hardest marathon and Paul was cycling the slowest he’s ever cycled in his life. I ran a couple of faster miles with him, encouraged by his company. I also had support from neighbour Ginka who had braved the driving rain to cheer me on.

A while later, we then met Shanavaz, who I met him a few weeks back when he was running the virtual London Marathon. I helped pace him for the last few miles, and he’d shown up to return the favour. They talk about hitting the wall in a marathon at the 20-mile mark. At 20 miles, I was still running strong, telling Paul I aimed to pick up the pace in the last two miles. But I was wrong. Those last two miles were really tough. I didn’t exactly hit the hit the wall: it was more like wading through treacle. It became impossible to maintain my pace for those last two miles, no matter how much encouragement from Shanavaz: the more he encouraged, the slower I ran. I was around a minute per mile off-pace. But knew my time overall was so good that it didn’t matter even if I dropped back to a slow jog. Only for the final 400 yards could I manage to sprint to the finishing line.

I was delighted to finish and get a new marathon PR by over 14 minutes, from when I was 37. We parted company with Shanavaz, who had given me a woolly hat for my birthday which I quickly put on to conserve heat now that I’d stopped. I walked with Paul to catch a bus home and briefly met Suzannah, his wife - also an accomplished track-cyclist who wished me a happy birthday.

When I arrived home, I uploaded my GPS activity and was delighted that I’d also smashed my fundraising goal for Solace Women’s Aid. A wonderful result on both counts.

Check out the links below:
My Garmin Activity
The Hackney Gazette article
Chief Exec's blog posting
Just Giving fundraising link
Solace Women's Aid