My London Marathon Experience by Jerome Timbrell
Well it’s done, 4 hours 43 minutes and 10 seconds. It very important not to forget the 10 seconds!
On April 25 I was lucky enough to be given my place at the end of November and had five months to train for the marathon. The deal was simple: run for BOSPA and raise as much money as you can whilst increasing the public awareness of the charity.
So far I have raised in excess of £1200 and I extend many thanks to those who sponsored me. BOSPA is not the easiest charity to raise money for, as many people regard obesity as a self imposed problem that can be resolved with a little self control. I know from bitter experience that this is not the case and once you are caught in the obesity trap it is extremely hard to escape.
I followed a training plan from a magazine and gradually built up my weekly mileage to about 40 miles a week, with a long run on a Sunday. I increased the Sunday runs up to a total of 17 miles. The training plan stated that I should be looking at doing a 22 mile run about three weeks before the marathon but I had a little set back about seven weeks out. I set out to run to my local BOSPA group, around 17 miles from home, a distance that I had been happily running on the running machine at the gym. I didn’t realise that running on the road uses different muscles than the gym. I now know this as at mile 14 the pain in my legs was unbearable and I ultimately ending up phoning a taxi and arriving at the meeting by cab (somewhat embarrassing).
In terms of raising the profile of the charity I was featured on my regional ITV news programme, had two articles in newspapers and was on BBC Radio Somerset twice. We are currently speaking to The Guardian about a feature as well. I had the back of my running shirt printed with the phrase "in 2008 I weighed 22 stone -a gastric bypass and BOSPA saved my life"
The race itself was a wonderful experience. You realise that you may have had a low expectation of your finish time when stood next to you at the start line is a chap with a fridge on his back!
I settled into a good pace of 10 minute miles fairly quickly and for the first 15 miles this was no problem at all. At mile 15 I started to slow slightly but not significantly. My concern about mile 17 and hitting the wall was unfounded. I had bulked up on carbohydrates over the preceding three days and this saw me sail pass mile 17 fresh faced and bushy tailed, so to speak.
The wall did come though and that pleasure was at mile 22. This is a common occurrence for runners so I felt reassured that I was not at a significant disadvantage having had the bypass. I wasn’t sure if the pain was fatigue, dumping through taking on too many carbohydrates on route or if I needed to go to the loo, crazy as it may seem. I opted for the loo and to see what happened at mile 23. After walked for about 3 minutes the pain settled so I pushed on and in fact my pace increased, finishing the last two miles faster than the first two. Crossing the line was a fantastic feeling but I was struggling to breathe so needed some timely advice from the St Johns official. A couple of minutes later I was collecting my medal and finisher pack.
Chrissie from BOSPA and my wife had arranged for a small band of supporters to come along on the day, which really helped motivate me as I ran around the course, cheering me along at miles 6, 13, 17, 19 and 24. They had a great day and felt that they had done their own personal marathon from all that moving around the city. Their support really helped especially at mile 17 as it kept me going for another 5 miles before the dreaded wall and at mile 24 where it spurred me on to the finish line.
One common question I get asked is what famous people I saw en-route. Unfortunately I am not as celebrity orientated as many so may well have been running next to global mega stars but would not have known. I did however see pass Richard Branson at mile 16 as the butterfly wings he was wearing made it easy to spot him.
After the race you are supposed to take a week or so off from running to let your body recover. I went for a gentle run after a week and found that my knee was painful when running. I sought advice from a sport therapist. I have had three weeks of physiotherapy and am looking to get back on the road soon.
Where next for the BOSPA runner? In September this year I will be running the Berlin marathon. I have a sound fitness and knowledge base now and am looking to improve on my time over the next four months. In September 2011 I am also looking at running the Toronto marathon on the day of my fortieth birthday.
The one thing I have taken from the training for the marathon is the realisation that we all have our own personal marathons, be it walking up stairs or running 26 miles. My belief is that the important thing is to acknowledge that having the bypass need not be a disabling operation. Mine has empowered me to achieve something I never thought was possible.
I completed the London marathon as the first charity runner for the British Obesity Surgery Patient Association (BOSPA). With 36,983 others I lined up to tackled this enormous task. The experience was fantastic, especially as I had a gastric by-pass in October 2008 and have subsequently lost over 10 stone.