LONDON MARATHON 14th April 2002

(My advice to anyone running the LONDON MARATHON is to stitch your name to your running vest…. to find out why read on.)

Anyone who has taken part in a London Marathon will know that it is an experience, which endures in the mind and memory. After months of training and preparation the day of the race comes and is over so quickly. Whether one hits one's target time or not, after a marathon one is always on a high. It takes weeks to come back down to earth. Relations, friends and colleagues are bored with my stories so I've turned to my typewriter in an attempt to get the excitement out of my system.

I have now run 10 marathons, five of them were through London. I can honestly say that, but for one race (1997 London), they are all as fresh in my mind as if I had run them last week.

My first in 1993 was memorable because it was my first marathon. Eamonn Martin won the men's race and I was as fit as I have ever been. I was also at least a stone lighter (equivalent to 7 bags of sugar) than I am today. However, in the excitement, my tactics were naïve and pathetic and I hit the wall at 18 miles and struggled home in 3 hours 40 minutes.

1996 was the year the sun came out on marathon day. We had had a winter of snow and sleet and the first day of spring co-incided with the day of the race. I remember everyone scrabbling around for sun cream, hats and shoulder cover at the start. We all got burnt. My memory though is of spotting Dave Jackson in a Macclesfield Harrier's vest at about half way and us helping each other to the finish in just less than 4 hours. We've been good friends ever since.

My run in 2000 was technically the best, though not my fastest time. I achieved a good steady pace throughout the race with a second half split quicker than the first half. It was the first time I had used energy drinks and at last after 8 marathons I'd discovered the way to do it. To cap it all, while acknowledging my family at mile 24 a colleague spotted me (my family were holding up a banner saying "GO VICTOR GO") and we finished the last mile together at sub 7-minute mile pace.

So what happened this year? For the first time my enthusiasm for the training was on the wane and so I did not really put in the miles. Try as I might my weight stayed stubbornly at 82kgs (Twelve and a half stone). I had run my usual four twenty milers, to Marple and back so I knew I would get round. I had a 1hour 30minute Half Marathon at Wrexham under my belt though my 1hour 33minutes at Wilmslow was demoralising. I felt this was going to be my last marathon. I was really not up for doing this again.

So with that in mind I set off. If it was going to be my last, I was going to savour it…. and what a great day we had. The weather was perfect, dry, coolish and most importantly no wind to talk about. You probably all saw the front-runners on the race on the TV. Well, I'm proud to have taken part in a race in which Paula Radcliffe finally showed the world what she is capable of and in which the Men's World Record was broken. And I haven't even mentioned Haile Gebrselassie!!! I think the race in general was faster than in the previous few years. I achieved my fastest time for 7 years and yet was placed lower than when I finished 10 minutes slower last time out.

However, what made this race for me was the support I was given just because for the first time I'd put my name on my running vest. This year I was running on behalf of Macmillan Cancer Relief and they provide a bright green vest. I finally decided to take advice given ten year's earlier, which was to put my name on my vest. Well, the support was magnificent and the memory of so many people, complete strangers, shouting with passion for me to keep going will stay with me for a long time yet. I reckon that that little bit of late night stitching the night before the race was worth 10 minutes or more in the race. (However, if you are running for Macmillan don't tell your friends to look out for the green vests as various other charities, notably NSPCC and Barnados use green vests too.)

In terms of the running, I don't know why it feels so difficult at the start of a marathon. I can go out and run 12-15miles along the canal path or on roads and feel light and fresh but once you get into the London Marathon crowd the legs feel heavy and I get this feeling that my quadriceps are about to go into spasm. So it was for the first few miles. (On the TV commentary I think it was Steve Cram who explained this phenomenon by saying that it is difficult to run slower than your normal training pace. This was a problem for Paula Radcliffe for the first 13miles!! Some problem! ) From miles 10 through 18, however, I felt fine. The Macmillan support team at 13.5 miles gave me a lift. By the time I got back to them about an hour later at 21.5 miles it was all I could do to wave gently despite the fact that they were going crazy.

From about 18miles onwards you have to dig deep. The brain thinks like this; "don't stop, focus on stride length, don't panic, relax and enjoy". All around people are pulling up but there is no time to worry about them. "Concentrate on keeping a clear lane, you are going to finish, only the equivalent of a short morning run will bring you the to the end".

My wife and daughter were at Cleopatra's Needle. I was incapable of thinking straight; "I'm on the embankment. Have I passed Cleopatra's needle or not? Oh no, I can't go back. There it is. Where are they? They normally sit on the lions. Oh, relief there they are…photographs and hugs and kisses. No sub 7-minute mile this time, just keep the legs going". 200 yards later there was Dave Jackson, my buddy from 1996, shouting for me. He didn't get into the race this year but has come down to support the 14 Macclesfield Harriers who are running this year.

And then just as final touch as I rounded the final bend into the Mall alongside me was another Macmillan runner. Louise I think or was it Pauline? I can't remember what it said on her T-shirt. We had been exchanging places for 25 miles but she had not yet uttered a word to me (I am old enough to be her Dad and look a bit frightening in my running kit!!) But she says…" come on Victor we are going to finish this now." And we did and I was thankful that my name was on my vest. And I'm not sure if I will run it again next year.

Victor Crawford