When I was a little girl I used to watch the London marathon with my parents. It was the time that the small telly was brought down from the kitchen and popped into my parents bedroom and a couple of primary school aged children would wedge their way between their parents, eat toast and watch the epicness that was the London Marathon.
Fast forward into my childhood and we accidentally ended up in London on marathon weekend. A weekend that saw Liz McColgan taking on the 26.2 mile distance.
The next year my Dad had the magazine drop on to our doorstep and an affinity with the London Marathon became cemented even more. A pilgrimage as a family to the capital on an annual basis. Same hotel, same drill, same pub for our evening meal on repeat. As I got older I joked that the pub closest to the hotel in Docklands, London actually had become our local pub. The pub that we frequented with the most regularity.
THEN fast forward to 2018. I wanted to run a marathon before my 40th birthday. Unfortunately COVID put pay to that but that marathon was going to be the beginning of the journey and I had my sights set on a Good For Age time. My dad had ran for many years in London on a Good for Age qualification and I wanted to achieve the same. Fast forward to my 2nd attempt at hitting that goal in Manchester 2022 (April) where Dad ran the marathon and secured a Good For Age Time for Vet 70-75. I had until 2nd October to get mine and we could then do it together (there’s a whole different blog on that).
Fast forward to April 2023 and we are ready for the pilgrimage to London but this time I get the whole experience. I knew that I was going to run every single step of the way with Dad and I knew that we would be all about the finish lines and not the finish times so I didn’t have to do the “uber restful” kind of experience of London so went for a hybrid. The whole London experience. A day out to the Zoo with the family on Saturday and then I got to the board the Clipper heading for Greenwich on Sunday morning. I’d waved that boat off the jetty sooooo many times before but this time I was on it. The London Marathon 2023 with my Dad was about to begin!!
What an epic experience!
I may never get to do that again and I’ve made memories to last a lifetime. Not only did I have the best day with my dad BUT my kids got to see Mum & Grandpa hitting those streets together.
