The London Marathon, what can be said that hasn't already been said, it's simply got to be right at the top of any runners bucket list.
One of the Abbott Series of Marathon Majors, it ranks right up there with being the best, not the largest as that accolade belongs to New York, but surely one of the best for atmosphere and organisation.
2017 was my third running of the great event, each time I have done so as a charity Golden Bond holder as I have not been lucky enough to get one of the hard to come by ballot spots. I know that many people find the idea of taking a charity spot an issue due to the need to raise a certain (often very large) anount of money to do so, but if you are willing to put the effort in, and remember it is for charity, then I would not discount it as a means of running in the event.
On a personal note the run didn't go exactly as I would have liked, a niggly adductor muscle which had bothered me for a number of weeks leading up to the day, flared up again at about 12.5 miles in and meant I had to really hobble round for the majority of the remainder of the run, but that will not cloud my review of the race.
Registration for myself was easy, as a charity bond holder, my details were supplied to the Marathon organisors by the fundraising team of my charity, and when the time came it was just a simple case of completing my personal details through the event website. plentiful social media updates and information throughout the build up to the day meant that nothing was missed during the lead up to the race day.
In February a "Meet the Experts" event held in Central London, prepared any first time runners on what to expect and what to do, and despite having done this before I still find it a great benefit to attend these days as well to pick up tips, meet other runners and benefit from reduced mercahdise!
Part of the pre pace build up is attending the Expo, where you collect your race bib, kit bag, timing chip and final instructions. Again I know that visiting the expo isn't to everybodies liking, but I find it enhances the whole London Marathon experience and I look forward to going, meeting friends, visiting trade stands and just soaking up the vibes. One tip, go during the week, it's crazy busy on the Saturday.
Race day itself is a tried and tested exercise and runs like clockwork, the three start lines are well organised and marshalled, getting to them was easy due to the great transport links that exist, and runners get free travel on the tube on the day up to about 6pm. Once inside the runner areas there was plentiful toilets, free water, tea and coffe and the wonderful buzz of excitement and smell of deep heat filled the air. Kit bags were loaded onto numbered lorries which would be swifly whisked off the finsih line to be waiting for you at the end.
Start pens were easy to find and despite the large numbers of runners involved there was not a long wait to actually cross the line after the initial gun fired, I took just 13 mins to get from my pen to the start, quicker than at some smaller events I have taken part in.
The three starts are in seperate areas of Blackheath, but soon converge, the Green start meets the Blue at around 1 mile, and then the Red starts joins in at about 5km. After the initail crowded start, runners thin out a little, but care must be taken where the starts merge as it can get a bit crowded and sometimes a few trips and pushing can occur, but on the whole it comes together as one race quite easily. One quirk of this however is that you may often find pacers from the differnet start zones close to each other with differing times on their flags, at one point I saw a blue 4hr pacer, Green 4.15hr and a Red 4.30hr pacer all within about 100 yards of each other.
The course is marked out with easy to see mile markers, and also at each 5km there would be a large marker and timimg mat to cross. There would also be slightly harder to see individual km markers as well.
Aid stations were numerous, water available at 5km and then every mile after that, with Lucozade sport drinks and gels available at 3 additional stations on route. These stations would be my only one item of concern however as they become very awkward very quickly with masses of discarded bottles on the course, which I know caused a few injuries amongst friends of mine from either tripping on or slipping on them before they could be swept aside, I wish runners could be a bit more considerate and try to discard them to the side of the course rather than just drop them where they run.
There are a few areas of the route where the sheer numbers of runners involved is hard to handle, and bunching often occurs, but most of the course is wide enough to cope just about, I don't think the race could handle any more than the 40,000 that ran this year.
Landmarks aplenty as you make your way around, with large, often 9 or 10 deep, crowds to cheer you on. Passing the Cutty Sark at 6 miles is always a fantatsic expereince due to the sheer number of spectators, and crossing Tower Bridge makes the hairs on the back of you neck stand up. You continue through the Docklands and Canary Wharf and back into the City to pass the Tower of London, down the Embankment, pass the Houses of Parliament and on towards the iconic finish in front of Buckingham Palace on the Mall, the final mile on Birdcage walk is so loud it carries the weakest of legs along to the finish with a final surge.
Once across the line, you are greeted by smiling marshalls who place the quality medal around your neck, always a nice touch I feel, and then you are efficently kept moving down the mall to collect your well stocked goodie bag, good quality finishers t shirt and on to the baggage lorries that have now arrived from the start line. There is a pride in the baggage truck marshalls in the claim that they make that you will never wait to be handed your bag back, spotters will be watching for you to approach and call your number to handlers who will have it ready to hand to you even before you get to them, and each time I have done it I can vouch for this.
Meet and greet zones are set up on Horseguards parade for the thousands of runners to meet their family and friends and this also seems to work well.
In summary, the highlight of my running year, and one I would suggest every serious runner thinks about doing at some time, if you don't get a ballot spot, consider the charity route, you really would not want to miss out on the experience.
Would I do it again after 3 finishs so far?, hotel is already booked for 2018, ballot or charity I will be there