Sunday 22nd April 2018
I had the hottest time running the London marathon this year. Coming from Hong Kong, I thought I could withstand the heat but it turned out to be the toughest marathon I have run to date all because of the 24 degrees heat that I could not get used to and the hottest London Marathon in its 38 years history. So I decided to give up my hope to finish sub 5 hours. I already felt the heat from mile 1. First of all, I was over taken by the 4:30’ pacer, then the 4:45’ pace. I just kept moving. I knew I would get there.
To add salt to the wound, I had a sudden cramp on my left thigh from mile 18. I still had 8 miles to go. What should I do? I felt my left leg so stiff. I was thinking of stopping at the St. John’s Ambulance first aid station to see whether the medics could help me ease off my cramp but when I saw all of them were tied up with runners (it looked like most had suffered from heat exhaustion as I saw the medics putting ice pack on their foreheads), I decided to ignore my cramp and to carry on. I slowed down a lot with the cramp from sub 11 minutes a mile to over 13 minutes a mile pace. I even dropped to nearly 15 minutes a mile pace in the last couple of miles. I literally hobbled to the finish in 5:24’24”. As soon as I stopped after crossing the finish line, the cramp disappeared.
Even though it was the toughest day the hottest ever London Marathon and a brutal race indeed, the crowd was unbelievable. It was still worth it. The whole London Marathon experience is amazing and it is just sheer unique. In light of the unseasonal temperature, the organiser had removed the “official” cut-off time of 7 hours. They kept the official time-keeping clock running until 20:30 hours (10 and half hours since the race of the masses started at 10am). According to their website, 41,003 runners started and 40,255 made it to the finish. My overall pacing is 28347. It means there were still 11,908 runners behind me. Even though I was limping in the last 8 miles, I didn’t reduce to walking because once I started walking, I wouldn’t be able to go back to the running mode again. I overtook many walkers. My time was poor and I did suffer from the heat and my cramp, but the atmosphere, the organisation (although they did run out of water at the water stations between mile 8 and mile 10, this was because a lot of runners took more than one water bottle and squeezed the water to their head and neck to cool themselves down), the wonderful location, and most of all the sheer goodwill and humour of the Londoners make this a fantastic event.
I would like to offer my condolences to the family and friends of Matt Campbell who was only 29 years old collapsed and passed away at mile 22.5 miles from a suspected heart attack. It was not confirmed whether it was caused by the heat or not pending the post Morton. RIP Matt Campbell. He lost his dad only 18 months before the London Marathon and he was running the Marathon in the memory of his dad and to raise money to support his dad’s favourite charity Brathay Trust. It is very very sad.
Thanks again to the Comets Running Club for giving me the opportunity to run the London Marathon. This was my 11
th London Marathon and my 18th overall. Thanks for John and my sister Helena and our friend Patricia for cheering me on and helping me get to the finish line. You guys are awesome!!