Big Stadiums and Other Stories

Last Sunday was the first of two major sporting events happening for me this April. Brentford’s first visit to Wembley Stadium since 1985 ultimately ended in defeat with Carlisle United winning the Football League Trophy. The most disappointing thing about the day was that Brentford didn’t play as well as I’ve seen in other big games this season, the performances against Everton and Birmingham City in the League Cup were some way off.

Every football fan becomes a great manager after a defeat, I won’t bore you with the one or two things I’d have done differently with our starting line up.

It’s also easy to wonder how much the big occasion played a part. Carlisle were making their return to Wembley following a 4-1 loss in the same competition a year ago, and although there will have been alterations from that team, knowing what playing in a stadium that size, and in front of over 40,000 people is like, not to mention wanting to right the wrong of twelve months ago, must have been a help.

Brentford will just have to emulate the Cumbrians in 2012.

With the game kicking off at 1:30 PM, jump forward two weeks to marathon time and I expect to have finished running by then, and will have had more than enough chance to soak up the atmosphere of the day.

One of the things which sets the London Marathon apart from many others is the vast number of spectators. Unless you’re at the very top end of elite sport, this race presents a once in a lifetime chance to experience an atmosphere usually reserved only for a select few.

Those that have run the London Marathon have said the atmosphere is something I won’t forget. I do however have one previous experience of competing in front of a large crowd.

In 2002 I ran for England at the Manchester Commonwealth Games, in an event titled 100M for Elite Athletes with Disabilities, a bit of a misleading name really since this was purely a sight loss-based competition. There was a wheel chair 800M race as well and probably some swimming stuff, but luckily I wasn’t having to keep up with those on wheels, or get wet.

The Commonwealth Games had previously included a couple of disabled competitions as demonstration events, but Manchester was, as far as I’m aware, the first time they’d counted towards the medals table alongside the likes of Paula Radcliffe, Dwain Chambers and Ian Thorpe.

Being the only English athlete in my race, the loudest cheer was reserved for me, despite a mere handful of people in the 35,000 strong crowd having a clue who I was. I didn’t get out of my first round heat, fellow English competitor Andy Curtis (blind British 100M record holder) made the semi final.

The marathon will be very different from that July day in Manchester for many reasons. Although the numbers watching both on the streets of London and on TV will be higher, it will be far harder to pick out individuals with the volume of runners taking part. This means anyone who might get stage fright can hide.

I don’t think my start in the City of Manchester Stadium was my usual flier, but that won’t be an issue in Blackheath. In fact, I’ve no idea how long it will take me to get over the start line, let alone the finish!

This is one of the things I like about distance running over sprinting, if something doesn’t work out in the early stages, there’s more than enough time to put it right and still achieve the goal you’re aiming for.

With the 100M, it’s all over before you know where you are. Thinking back, the actual racing bit of the Commonwealth Games is a bit of a blur. Things I do remember include:

Thinking what a friendly bloke Mark Lewis Francis was, despite having just busted his hamstring.
Loving the fact you could eat at any time throughout the day and night.
Swapping T-shirt with one of the Bahamas 4X400M relay team because their kit was the coolest looking of every country. This was done the morning after the last night of track and field, and they’d done rather well for themselves. He and his team mates were a touch rough around the edges having spent most of the night in a nearby bar. The T-shirt hangs on my bedroom wall, I can’t wear it for it comes down to my knees and could be rapped around me twice!

Returning to the crowd, my other memory was from the stadium on the last night. It seemed every finalist who was English were inspired by the atmosphere, producing the sort of gold rush the organisers of 2012 will be hoping to replicate. Those staging this event performed a master stroke by putting the words to ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ on the big screen, with each medal ceremony being treated with a “come on folks, let’s out sing our last effort” attitude.

Pretty much every athlete left in the ground did a lap of honour at the end, with ‘Simply the Best’ followed by yet another lung busting ‘Land of Hope and Glory’.

All I can say is, if the Manchester City fans give their vocal chords that amount of welly should their team reach the Champions League next season their players can’t fail to be inspired.

This Week's Miles: March 13th

Having not run over last weekend, this week began with an 8 miler on Monday night, which took a shade over an hour to complete.

Tuesday sore another steady run, only 6 miles this time. I say steady, that was the plan, in fact this became a session with 3 lots of 3 to 4 minutes of tempo running, sepperated by recovery jogging.

As I finished I became aware of cramp at the bottom of my left calf, the one which I had trouble with before the Wokingham Half Marathon in February.

With London Marathon day being five weeks today, at the time of writing, I’m not about to take any risks that might result in injury, either one which effects my preparation over the next month or worse, puts me out of the marathon altogether.

I decided there was far more to lose than gain from my usual Thursday night run, so stayed at home with what turned out to be a poor Manchester City performance in the Europa League for company. The last time I picked up a calf niggle I wrote about how Sunday morning’s aren’t the most exciting times of the week without running, neither it turns out are Thursday nights.

The rest and attention from the hot water bottle(the latter designed to loosen muscles without putting any pressure on them) did the job, and I was back out this morning. The route was planned with a number of get out points early on in case the calf played up, but an hour in and all was fine. Today’s effort ended up being the 20 miles that was hoped for at the start of the week, the distance covered in 2 hours 41 minutes (or there abouts). There was no pain or stiffness in the calf afterwards.

I experimented with Powerbar Gels again, this time using blackcurrent, which, whilst still not being what I would choose to consume, was a considerable improvement on the strawberry and banana one I used last week.

Aside from some running-based discussions, topics covered with Andrew today included Brentfords win at Charlton yesterday, Tottenham removing AC Milan from the Champion’s League on Wednesday and the fantastic victory for Quins RL at St Helens on Friday night – once I’m done with this marathon my rugby league away trips will be back on.

Instead of a day out in Warrington next Sunday, it’s the final race before London, or, if you prefer, the third of the four race plan. Cranleigh 21 is something of a pre-London favourite. It will also be the longest I’ll run before April 17th.

Total for this week: 34 miles.

Frequently Asked Questions

Christmas and New Year, the time for catching up with family and friends you’ve not seen for a while.

The days of “haven’t you grown!” are long gone. Comments relating to “looking well” with age and health in mind are of course many years ahead of me.

Work-based small talk inevitably comes near the top of the, what shall we talk about next list, but for me, there was of course another focus for discussion, or should that be, questions, this year.

I thought my next blog post should work through the things I’ve been asked the most over the past couple of weeks, website FAQ’s page-style.

I’ve already dealt with the issue of
how I run, I will do a separate blog another day answering the question of how it feels to run when you can’t see – mainly because it’s something I hadn’t given any thought to until I was asked last week. With this freakin’ weather rather disrupting my
football watching plans this week; I might have a bit of thinking time on my hands tomorrow afternoon. That is unless I’m still asleep after another night
in the company of the cricket. On that note, Ricky throwing a strop like a spoilt child who didn't get the Christmas present they wanted was most entertaining last night.

Anyway, here’s a few to be getting on with.

So who are you running for?

Its credit to the London Marathon as an event that the natural assumption of the majority is that anyone that enters is doing it for charity. I wonder, was I doing Brighton, Paris or Edinburgh would the same assumption be made?

My motivation for entering the London Marathon was purely the goal of completing the distance. Having done a few half marathons I felt it about time I went for the big one. My place is not tied to any charity and so I have the freedom to pick any cause in the world, or, not pick one at all. Either way, I have other, more important priorities right now.

Will you be running in a costume?

Absolutely not. This is about seeing how good a marathon runner I can be. A couple of years ago I did the Maidenhead 10 just before London Marathon day, and we saw a man taking his apple costume for a run and it didn’t look much fun to me. Were I to dress as something, or someone, given that I have to be attached to another person, the choice of costume should really take that into consideration, salt and pepper pots,
The Chuckle Brothers, a knife and fork, bride and groom, that sort of thing. Maybe something to keep in mind for a Christmas Day Parkrun, or maybe not.

Will you have run that far before the day?

It’s a fair question, the answer being no. Marathon running, so I’m told, takes it out of your legs, therefore the training and
pre-race race schedule has been planned with building up the distance in mind. The Cranleigh 21 four weeks before hand will be the longest race I’ll do.

Have you started training yet?

Ah! Now, you see, the thing is, ahem!

As previously blogged illness, injury and the snow has meant I’ve not exactly got off to the best of starts. That said, over the Christmas weekend I ran about ten miles, with no negative reactions from the body, so here’s hoping it’s onwards and upwards.

What is the world record for blind marathon running?

Something’s can always be relied upon, and it came as no surprise to me to learn that the world record is held by a Kenyan.

Henry Wanyoike is the speedster in question, his time of 2 hours 31 minutes 35 seconds set at the 2005 Hamburg Marathon still stands as the world best to this day. Of course I don’t expect to get anywhere near that, within an hour would be fantastic.

Next up for me, Tadworth Ten, weather and injury permitting of course.