There’s a great buzz around the club at the minute. We’re right in the thick of Spring marathon season and have already had runners take on Paris, Manchester, Brighton & Boston. Well done to all of you who took on those events.
On top of all that, we have London this weekend and it’s always an exciting time in the running calendar. Not only do we have a big club representation of runners in the capital again, we will have the usual massive Team Crusaders support crew dotted all over the course to give their vociferous backing as ever.
This is one of the things I love about FCRC, the amount of time people give up to support each other. This perfectly demonstrates what ‘Running Family’ is all about. You may be running on your own but you always know your club mates have got your back.
It seems crazy but I really do get nervous for people running on race day, probably even more than when I run myself. I know just how much time & effort has been put into the preparation to achieve goals I desperately want peoples’ race plans to come off.
I find it strangely exciting when there are tracking options on marathons. It’s great fun watching the feeds on Facebook with everyone’s updates and comments.
Even though the runners can’t hear us, it almost feels like we are all playing a part in helping them run well. You can sense the pride & respect people hold for club mates as we all know that the classic distance of 26.2 is such a massive achievement.
My own marathon story goes something like this:
‘What? You’ve never run a marathon Neil?
‘No’
‘But you’re a good runner / you’re really fast!’
Being a good runner has nothing to do with the ability to run marathons. I may be fast over 200m or have some decent PBs but these are in a completely different league to taking on the full 26.2.
I’ve always wanted to do a marathon but if I’m honest, I’m scared of attempting one. Maybe it’s the fear of failure. I know! I should practice what I preach and apply a positive mindset.
There always seems to be an excuse: it’s never the right time (is it ever?); too much time training away from family time; I want to do it justice & be running injury free for a sustained period; it’s going to hurt, what if I actually die!!
Another thing I’m a bit scared of is the expectation that would come with it. It would be assumed that I could do a quick time. The fact that the furthest I’ve ever ran is 16.5 miles means I just don’t know what it will feel like and I don’t know how my body will react (another excuse … I know, that’s where the training comes in!). On one website it predicts 3:06:11 based on my race times – this seems a bit ambitious for a first timer, or any timer for that matter.
I regularly grapple with these thoughts and I guess until I sign up and finish one I’ll never put these nagging doubts to bed.
This is why I have the utmost respect for everyone who has run or is due to run a marathon. Whatever the time, it’s an amazing achievement and I’m sure the pain is very quickly forgotten when that medal is around your neck.
So, my current thinking is – I’d like to do a marathon where there is no time pressure, something local would be nice and ideally it would need to be flat…Portsmouth Coastal marathon I hear you cry.
Maybe, just maybe, I’ll see you on the start line in December.
Good luck to everyone running London on Sunday. I’ll be there cheering you all on at around Mile 23. Give it your best shot and make yourself proud.
Neil
Thank you for all of your support Captain! It gives such a huge boost to have FCRC support on a marathon route, leaves me smiling for at least another mile. The marathon is as much about the journey as the actual day, if you do decide to do Portsmouth I hope you enjoy, but, beware marathon running is addictive!