Round about 21 miles, when my legs were aching like they had never ached before, I wondered, why did I ever sign up to this?!

Well, I had always sat at home, like a good couch potato, watching the London Marathon on the TV and thinking "hmmm, could I do that?". So when I came across an application form in September 2003 in JJB Sports, I filled it in, sent my cheque off, and thought nothing more of it, given that there are usually 10 applications for every place.

Then I got the "congratulations" magazine in December 2003. Oops, I had been successful, that wasn't part of the plan at all. I had better do some training, and get some proper running shoes.

At the beginning I could only run for a couple of minutes without having to stop and walk. So I had to increase the pace slowly until I got used to it. I came up with a training plan, which I mostly stuck to (going out even when it was snowing!). I lost two to three weeks training in February due to an injury, which didn't help though.

I did the Redcar Half-Marathon in March, this was done in gale-force winds which was not nice when getting blown sideways along the sea-front. I finally finished in 2 hours 24 mins, but at least I finished, and ran all the way!

Unfortunately I didn't really have enough time in my training schedule to do more than 1 really long run of 20 miles or more. But my aim was really just to finish, and not to get beaten by too many Wombles (they can be really fast!).

Sunday 18th April dawned damp and drizzly. Staying in the Travelodge next to Telehouse in Docklands, I got an early DLR train to Greenwich, where the blue start competitors were massing. I had decided to go for a run 10 minutes, walk 1 minute strategy to try not to explode at "the wall" of 20/21 miles. So initially I was getting passed by quite a lot of people, but I was trying not to go off too fast.

The first half of the race, to Tower Bridge, wasn't too bad, the crowd support was fantastic and the drizzle kept you call. However the second half was pretty bad! Around 21 miles, I had to resort to "power walking", as I had evidently "hit the wall" and just had no more energy left in my legs.

The next 4 miles I split between jogging and power walking, and I think the power walking was actually faster... I had my head down, concentrating on going as fast as possible while trying to ignore my aching legs. The crowd were cheering everyone on - putting your name on your running vest really gives you a boost when people call out your name.

Getting close to Parliament Square I was able to start running again, and on the gentle downward slope into St James' Park I felt fantastic. I turned the corner in front of Buckingham Palace and there, thank god, was the finish line...

My split times show that I was more-or-less on-course for a sub-5hr finish (which is what I was secretly hoping for) until the last 10km when I just didn't have the long-distance training behind me to carry my legs...

distance	split
10km	1:09:19
20km	2:22:51
half	2:30:53
30km	3:38:57
40km	5:05:45
Finish	5:22:51

All in all it was a fantastic experience. Would I do it again... maybe, not just yet though!