Finishing the London Marathon and making history...
It was six months ago when I stood in the pit lane at the India Grand Prix talking to the event sponsor, Richard Branson, about the marathon. The time has flown
by. Never did I think I’d feel so emotional about running my first Marathon. It
was the day before the event and my nerves kicked in. The more I thought about
it, the more I felt that way. Whilst pinning my number to my shirt, it hit me…
I’m actually running the London Marathon. All those months of tough training was
about to pay off. Good luck messages began coming through, making me realise
this was kind of a big deal. The support has been remarkable.
On race morning I was expecting to feel worse than I did the day
before. Fine, I felt absolutely fine. There was a mixture of both nervous and
excitement. It’s funny how when you tell people you’re taking part in the
marathon, they reply, “I’d like to do it. I think I’ll do it next year.” They
can only imagine what it’s like. I get to do it. I get to see it. More
importantly, I get to take part in one of the world’s most prestigious events.
As I arrive at the start. The atmosphere around London was wonderful.
Other runners shared their previous experiences with the first timers to help
calm the nerves. I made my way to the start line with the other thousands lucky
enough to be taking part. The race started at 9.45, I didn’t know what to
expect. There were so many people and it took a while before I could actually
run. Once the runners dispersed, I started to run… This was it!
“Come on Nim.” “Go Nim.”
“You’re doing great Nim.” These were just some of the words being called out as
I ran by. I turned to look a few times thinking my friends were calling out.
Until I remembered, my name was printed on my shirt.
It was all going so well, until my knee gave way at mile 7. It
became pretty difficult to run. I slowed down my pace trying not to injure
myself further. The crowd was so supportive and every time I felt like I wanted
to stop they just kept me going. At mile 20, my knee became more painful and
made me wonder how was I ever going to finish. The pain became excruciating and
I had to stop for a physiotherapist to massage my knee. At this point, he said
I shouldn’t continue. With only 6 miles to go, there was no way I was going to
give up.
I slowed down my pace but still had to stop twice. The closer I
got to the end I saw other runners walking, being carried away on stretchers
and even giving up. It was so hard. At one point I stopped to stretch and a man
in the crowd told me not to give up. He offered to walk alongside me and told
me to run as and when I was ready, even if it was slowly. He walked beside me
and then I started running again. “Good luck, you can do it!” he shouted. That
was motivating enough to make me carry on. The last mile and I forgot all about
my pain. The countdown from miles became yards. There was only a short distance
to go now. On reaching Buckingham Palace I could see the finish line just
around the corner. I didn’t know whether to smile or cry. I sprinted the last
stretch knowing I was almost there. In last few seconds of the race the feeling
was phenomenal. I had just made history and was so proud of my achievement.
As I walked down the mall, there were people lying on the floor.
A part of me wanted to do the same, but I was more excited about seeing my
family and friends. All of sudden I realized I couldn’t walk, my body became
stiff. This is when I thought; I won’t be doing this again in a hurry. They say once you’ve done one, it becomes an
addiction. It’s true! I’m now taking part in the Luxembourg Night Marathon… but
I think just a half will do for now…
Not only was it an achievement to take part in the largest
annual charity event in the world, but even more so to complete it. I may not
be an athlete, but this experience definitely made me feel like one.
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