The London Marathon and the number 42

All week the forecast for Sunday was sunny and warm. Then yesterday that changed to heavy rain all day. So it was a pleasant surprise when I woke up this morning and saw that the forecast had changed to better conditions, and it was indeed warm and sunny all day in London.

Today was all about the magic number 42 …. 42 km to be run at the 42nd London Marathon ever held, and Gavin was running his 42nd marathon - with Luke, Adam and Meriel running to support him. It seems that 42 is a lucky number as Luke had an awesome first marathon powering along from the start and finishing in 3 hours 29 minutes, (breaking the 3.30 barrier), Meriel was super awesome in finishing her first marathon in 3 hours 34 minutes, and Adam, who was expecting to finish around 6 hours, (as due to his knee injury he has barely been able to run since July), finished in 4 hours 26 minutes. Gavin started really well and was keeping a steady pace at 5.15 minutes per km, but by halfway his hamstring injury flared up again and he decided to slow right down and rather just finish it comfortably - he finished in 4 hours 33 minutes and was pain free and could walk normally afterwards.

Tommy and Inca came home last night and the three of us got the train up to London this morning. We met Pip at the station and the four of us stood together supporting the runners. It was very busy and at times hard to spot our runners, so we were getting quite stressed at times thinking we had missed seeing them.

There were about 50,000 runners this year, it is the biggest fund raising event on the planet with over £1 billion raised since it started in 1981. The family team raised £13,000 for Whizz Kidz which is Gavin’s chosen charity, he has raised so much for them over the years.

It was an enjoyable day out, the support was amazing and there is always such good spirit at these events. Getting photos was not easy as it was hard to get a clear view of the runners at certain times. I have decided to blip this one of Gavin as he came past and was delighted to see Tommy and Inca there to support him (this was after 25 miles). Some extra photos of the runners after the marathon.

By the time Adam finished (as he started much later than the others) and we had managed to get through the crowds and barrier controls, it was 5pm and we realised that none of us had eaten all day so we had a quick, early supper at Wagamama before going our separate ways.

I am very proud of all of them and so relieved it is over and there were no serious injuries.