This year was the biggest running field with over 38,000 running in this event. It is also the 35th Anniversary of the London Marathon. The first winners of London, Dick Beardsley and Inge Simonsen, who crossed the line Hand in Hand started this years race along with the first women winner Joyce Smith.
There were 5 Moray Road Runner vests on display at this years Marathon with:
Gerry Evans, Robert Bruce, Michelle Donaldson-Slater, Graham Harcus and Peter Shirley (Peter sent me some info on why he runs for MRR.)
I have included it here:
“I lived in Elgin in the early 90s, briefly as a junior Doctor at Dr Grays, then lived in Aberdeen til 2000, now live in London since 2001. Moray Roadrunners were so good to me and re-inspired my passion for running when I was there. (George Sim, Graham Milne, Don Ritchie, Mick Francis in particular) that it has been my club ever since.”
This is the first time I have run London and I must say it is quite an experience, from arriving at registration in the ExCel and seeing all the stalls, having to douse my credit card in water to cool it down from being used to much, it is a phenomenal experience and one I would recommend.
I wasn’t sure what to expect at the start but on the Sunday morning I started making my way to Blackheath for the Blue Start. I got talking to some other runners and we travelled together, it was very easy to get through to the Blue Start and once I was in, I had a walk around, grabbed a coffee, got changed, used the toilets several times and watched the elite start on the big screens. Soon it was time to get into the allocated pens for the start.
Once in the pen I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get across the start but it took about 6 minutes. I have to say this is an incredible race at no point along the route was there any quiet places, we were continually bombarded with music, spectators shouting encouragement, singers and well-known landmarks. I found that the miles flew by without me really noticing them, my favourite points, were turning the corner to see Cutty Sark and also when we approached Tower Bridge. I caught up with Scarlett Courtney, from Outrun in Fochabers around 13 miles, we had a chat then I carried on, just as I was approaching Westminster I spotted a MRR vest so I introduced myself and it was Graham Harcus, again we had a brief chat before I carried on.
This marathon was really enjoyable and I think I smiled all the way round. As I got towards the end on the Mall I even managed a burst of speed to finish off. I stopped my watch and saw I had run 26.7 miles, that’s what happens when you don’t follow the blue line.
I would recommend anyone to experience this marathon as it didn’t feel like a marathon but an enjoyable 4 hours out in London. Bring on the next one.
| Place (M/W) | Place (AC) | Place (Overall) | Finish Time | ||
| Gerry | Evans | 4808 | 44 | 5550 | 3:27:04 |
| Robert | Bruce | 9999 | 1470 | 12790 | 3:56:43 |
| Michelle | Donaldson-Slater | 1414 | 830 | 8006 | 3:39:25 |
| Graham | Harcus | 11846 | 1089 | 15499 | 4:06:14 |
| Peter | Shirley | 2578 | 415 | 2787 | 3:08:44 |
Report by: Robert Bruce