London Marathon 2019

I had been meaning to write this up last night but after walking around 10 miles yesterday but was simply too tired when we arrived back late from London.

Being a spectator and pack mule for a marathon runner can be as exhausting as doing the run itself, and I’m not getting any younger.

@actifit has now reset my 26000 steps, so I’m not going to use it as the dApp for this post.

Getting a room the night before the London Marathon proved a challenge. You need to be close and yet not become bankrupt. We settled for the Travelodge at London City Airport, which at £150 a night seemed a bargain compared to some others.

The day before required a visit to the Excel center which is serviced directly by the DLR, except that stop was closed on the day.

@bingbabe was fretting about this visit and being too late for registration and though the queues were long, there was plenty of time.

Just to get a picture with one of these fancy backdrops require queuing up and plenty were doing it.

As well as registration, this was a runner’s exhibition, and next door happened to be a Magic the Gathering conference, though I didn’t spend too long in there.

Finding space on this wall to write something proved to be challenging. She partially wrote over someone else’s in the end.

I knew we needed to get to Maze Hill on the day so took this shot of the map. I’m familiar with the underground system and DLR, but when it comes to trains, not so.

From Woolwich Arsenal, it was a direct train to Maze Hill, except we got on the wrong train and exited at Blackheath. Twenty more runners did the same, and it was a carnival atmosphere walking the streets to the start.

I had attached this tracker to @bingbabe’s shoe, for the marathon. It doesn’t work on your body, so the instructions tell us.

After seeing her to the Red Zone, I had to depart as it was runners only. I made my way down to Maze Hill and noticed some runners coming past me.

They appeared disabled, but then I spotted this bunch of women approaching. On a whim, I took a snap thinking nothing of it (cover shot).

I didn't realise this bunch was the elite and eventual winners of the female athletes, just look at the names!

Maze Hill was lively, with Caribbean drummers, lots of street sellers, and local people hanging out of windows to cheer the athletes on.

I made the wrong decision to walk to Greenwich North tube so to avoid the trains, It proved to be some distance and next to the London Dome when I arrived.

We needed to check out of the room, and so it was pack mule time for me. Get back there, check out, grab all the baggage and lug it to Euston to leave in the Left Luggage.

The robbing bastards wanted £12.50 per bag for 4 hours of looking after them. I ended up leaving just one after expressing my disgust at their pricing schema and after a few questions such as, ‘did you pack this bag yourself’, and ‘what are the contents?’

Perhaps this is where customs officers at airports get their training before moving on?

With one backpack still on my aching back, I made my way to Green Park, the wrong stop again for the end of the run.

After walking around 5 miles, past Buckingham Palace, Victoria Memorial and through St James Park while struggling with mass crowds and being told, ‘you can’t go this way or that way’, I found @bingbabe at Trafalgar Square meeting her under Napoleons Column.

I think we were both equally knackered by then.

She had finished the marathon in 3:55:31, after a few stops, breaking her personal best of 3:59:51. Woo and congratulations!

After that it was a jaunt into Mayfair, to meet with the charity who had rented a room at the RAF club, and some food.

@bingbabe received a 30-minute massage while I tucked into some chilli and pasta that was reserved for the runners only. I think they felt sorry for me.

We had booked some first class seats at a good rate for the journeys, and someone needed that comfort on the way back north.

It looks like you get beds on these trains but it's really an optical illusion.