Matt Completes Marathon

London Marathon 2006

The skies were grey and damp but it did not stop over half a million spectators lining the streets of London. The condition worked in all the runners’ favour.

The men’s race had a very close finish with the Kenyan runner Felix Limo beating Martin Lel to the finish line by two seconds. The winning time was 2 hours 6 minutes 39 seconds.

I, on the other hand finished in a little under twice that time in 4 hours 1 minute 6 seconds, taking a full 30 minutes off of my last time.

The atmosphere was fantastic with people cheering and shouting encouraging words all the way round. It really helps to grind out that last bit of energy. I did not hit the wall as hard this year but that last mile felt like 5 miles and I was so grateful to see the finish line.

Once I crossed the line, I quickly went from a run to a slow limp. However, when the medal was put around my neck, it made all the cold dark nights of training worthwhile.

Once again I would like to thank all the people who have been kind enough to sponsor me in aid of Cancer Research. I raised over £400.00.