25th April 2006
Hi everyone,
Firstly congratulations to everyone who took part in the London Marathon - runners and spectators alike. I hope you all enjoyed the day and achieved your goals.
I was frustrated watching the race but they were great races. Deena ran very strongly and deserved to get her sub 2.20 clocking. I was also very happy to see a great run from Mara Yamauchi setting a PB and going second on the UK all-time lists. She thoroughly deserved it, went out hard and bravely hung on running most of the second half on her own.
I also felt for Susan Chepkemei as her brave attempt to go with Deena meant she eventually lost second to an amazing run from Petrova. There was some contoversy about the pacemakers (and I will admit that having your own training partner there is maybe an advantage) but at the end of the day these women ran the race on their own legs and in fact the chasing group probably had no need of the men as they were pushing each other and working together.
When I had men to run with in 2003 I had never met them before and did not ever communicate during the race but can say that for me it felt like I was racing them just as I would have in any mixed race - I still felt the satisfaction as the first cracked and dropped back and the twinge of disappointment as I realised the other had outkicked me!
The men's race was very exciting to the end - great run by Limo but you have to feel for Martin Lel when it's that close. It was another consistent run from Hendrick Ramaala and a deserved PB, plus it was great to see Khalid Khannouchi returning from his injury battles to get strongly in the mix. Strange to see Haile suffer so much in the closing stages again - especially after he had been running so well in preparation. Did the memories of 2002 return to haunt him or had he just overcooked the training and racing a bit? He did say he was suffering in the conditions and it would have been a little slippery in some parts. Indeed it was very sad to see Selina Kosgei slip and bang her knee so badly at an early water station and I hope she is ok as that was a nasty fall. However, runners are well used to the rain, especially in Britain, and that light drizzle would have been ideal for keeping the runners cool while there was absolutely zero wind.
Conditions seemed absolutely perfect, underlined by the huge number of personal bests achieved, and of course I would have loved the chance to race and see how fast I could have gone too.
Finally some news about me, I had a small surgery last week to remove the neuroma and thickening on the nerve that was bothering me. It went really well and should give me no more trouble, it just had to be removed as it would never have settled on its own. Now I have just had to tolerate a few days with my foot up, hence why I was unable to be in London in any capacity for the Marathon. I'm getting about a bit slower than usual in my special shoe, which allows the small area between the two toes to heal. From next week I can start building things gradually back up to normal. Luckily Gary and my friends and family have been great in helping keep my mind off it and upbeat and I'm also happy in my mind that the neuroma has now finally been found and will not bother me again.
Next week I have a visit to a school in the Isle of Man as part of the Tesco Sport for Schools and Clubs scheme to help keep me busy and also I'll be in London on Wednesday for the first Race for Life 2006 at Battersea Park. Obviously I won't quite be running it this year but am really looking forward to being there and giving my full support to all those taking part, if you are there taking part come and say hi. It is an amazing and inspirational day and I would encourage everyone to support it in some way.
|
