In February, with some encouragement from a couple of good friends, I decided to enter my first marathon, in Berlin, having wanted to run one for a few years now. I found out later on that it is meant to be the flattest and the fastest marathon course, although just to get round was my initial target.
My Dad was a big motivation for entering, as he had been a keen runner and completed the London marathon many times, finishing in 2 hours 40 minutes one year. He sadly died of gastrointestinal or GI Cancer 2 years ago, 3 months before his 60th birthday and I wanted to run the marathon in memory of him. I decided that if I was going to go through all the training I would also try and raise some money for ‘BRIGHT’ the charity that supported him through his treatment.
BRIGHT is a charity set up in 1996 to support vital research for patients with gastrointestinal cancers treated at St. Luke's Cancer Centre in Surrey. They fund research work to find the most effective cancer treatments, obtain specific equipment to improve treatments and outcomes as well as promote clinical excellence and awareness of GI Cancers. This work is vital to those people fighting this particularly aggressive Cancer as well as the families that support them something that I and my family were really grateful for as it had given us a few more precious months with my Dad.
Sarah, Gemma and I set about our training, fitting it in around busy lives in different corners of the UK. Although I had a good level of general fitness, the ‘long’ runs were something that I anticipated with trepidation and we tried to run them together for the added moral support.
Photos: BMW Berlin Marathon 2011 - Gemma, Caroline and Sarah
I’d previously known very little about compression technology which seems to be used by many athletes in endurance sports but I found that using the Compressport calf guards really helped particularly with recovery after the longer runs.
With the months of training complete, we reached Berlin on Thursday evening all prepared with new bright orange Compressport calf guards to match our charity running vests. The size of the event struck me first, not only at the Expo when we registered but at the start line. I’d never been out for a run with 45,000 people before, particularly not to the sound of ‘Chariots of Fire’! I had goose bumps as we got ready to set off.
Kept steady by Gemma’s GPS we dived in and out of the thousands of runners trying to keep to our target of 4 hours or under, cheered on by loads of spectators and the drumming of lots of local bands. The good weather had brought out lots of people to support, which was a real help, but the clear skies and bright sunshine were quite draining on my stamina. The second half of the race was really hard work, I had to distract myself from burning thighs and sore feet with thoughts of the finish line, but I was determined to finish.
The last two miles were the worst but as we turned on to 'Unter den Linden', the final straight with the Brandenburg gate in our sights, the pain seemed to ease. The last 800m were lined with so many people cheering and clapping, you couldn’t help but get a buzz. I crossed the line just behind the girls in just over 4 hours, pleased that I had made it and that it was over . . . until the next time!
Click here for more information on Bright
Click here for information on the Berlin Mararthon
