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London Lady Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 I haven't yet told you about what happened when I last ran the London Marathon 2 years ago. A guy I know at the running club has run the marathon several times. His wife always goes to watch, and she always stands at the same place so as he runs by they have a quick kiss and everyone goes 'Ahhh...'. Old Annie liked the sound of this so she and AM went along last time watch, and the arrangement was that I would give her a kiss and everyone would go 'Ahhh...'. She was a bit vague about exactly where she was going to be standing. We agreed that it would be just after Tower Bridge. On the day I ran over Tower Bridge and the crowd was 12 deep. I kept looking but I just couldn't see them. The route loops back on itself so you come along the same piece of road. I still couldn't see them. I was worrying by now. Maybe they decided not to come, maybe there'd been an accident, maybe they'd been mugged. I had my name written on my shirt so that I'd get a bit of support from the crowd. It worked. People were shouting at me all the time. It's amazing what a lift it gives you. On thing you should know about long distance running. After several miles as tiredness sets in some superfluous functions temporarily close down. For me the first to go is any interest in the female form. Which is a crying shame since I'm surrounded by sweating, sporty women in skimpy shorts. My brain also starts to loose some of it's sharpness. I begin to be unable to work out how fast I'm going, how long there is to go. Back to the marathon. By 22 miles I was completely knackered. All I could focus on was putting one foot in front of the other, to just keep going. People were still shouting encouragement at me, but I was too out of it to even acknowledge them. Eventually I got to the end in around 4 hours. Not bad. I was still thinking about Old Annie on the coach back. Just what had happened? When I got in she was there. But she was rather cross. They had been unable to get a good spot at place we'd arranged. But they managed to find a place around 22 miles. They'd seen me run by. AM had shouted my name and jumped into the road in front of me. All I did was keep my head down and plodded on. I hadn't even noticed them. They're going again this year. They're going to be at the same place near 22 miles. At least I'll know when to look for them. I not sure I'll have the strength left for much kissing though. By the way my number is 11036.
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