6 October 2024

London never disappoints!

Last week’s travel took Liz, Pete, and I to the capital for one of the biggest marathons in the world, London.

With 48,000 entries, it was going to be a busy weekend. Saturday took us to the Excel to collect our race numbers. Once collected, it was time to see what was on offer.

With so many stands, it was going to take a few hours, but Liz was determined not to miss any! In fact, she entered that many prize draws for marathons. If they all come up trumps, she’ll travel more air miles than Alan Whicker. We then met up with Neil, who was also running and made plans for race day.

Race day was soon upon us, and I travelled solo as I was on a different start from the others. Before you knew it, I was off for my 75th marathon. Conditions were perfect, really. No sun, overcast with a bit of rain. I had planned for sub 3:30, secretly hoping for 3:15, but thought while I was there, I would give it a go.

I was so busy concentrating on the race that I never really took in the sights, but with such fantastic crowds and support, I managed to jump over the finish in 2:57:03. The hardest part was then making my way back to King’s Cross on public transport to meet the others for the train journey home.

Once again, London didn’t disappoint.

Mark Williamson

Harriers on tour! Results:

Mark Williamson – 2:57:03
Neil Pratt – 4:04:21
Liz Hardy-Cork – 4:04:21
Lynne Leggett – 5:51:00