My Forum

My name is Alex Milne, I am 20 years old and this was my third (consecutive) London Marathon. The last two I ran went horribly wrong. The first one I was aiming for 3:10, finished in 3:30. The second one I wanted sub 3 and finished in 3:22, with a halfway split of 1:28!

However this one was a totally different story:

The first 10 miles passed fairly quickly and I paced them well (stuck to 5:55 pace which was my aim). I passed halfway in 1:17:48. Even at 15 miles I was feeling great and still on my pace.

By 18 miles I was starting to feel my legs getting heavier, but I could still run at the pace I wanted to. I think the wall hit me at 20.5 miles. It got progressively worse as I got closer to the finish. All my muscles were in pain, my vision was completely blurred and flickering strangely, I was feeling sick and my hands had gone tingly and numb!! I just forced myself not to stop and walk as that was one of the main goals that I had in my head, otherwise I wouldn't have counted it as running the marathon properly.

I eventually crossed the line to my relief in 2:39:26 (my aim was sub 2:45) which was a PB by 43 mins! I half collapsed and had to be looked after by a first aid team for nearly an hour until I had 'recovered'. However, I did get an amazing massage!

All in all, I'm not sure if the amount of pain I went through was worth it, but it's amazing how quickly the mind forgets what happened. I told myself, 'never again', but now I'm not so sure.

I'm very happy with my time and I was the fastest out of all the 18-21 year olds! Still can't believe I did it. One of the best days of my life.

LOOK, READ THIS ONE!!!

Name:

Alex Milne

Running History:

I have been running for just over 1 year now and I do not ever want to stop. I actually started running to train for the 2008 London Marathon which I eventually completed in 3:30 and raised over £10,000 for SIA and a paralysed friend of mine. It was a truly amazing experience. Since the marathon, I have been running a few 10Ks and have got my time down to 36:38. I am only 18 years old and currently a student at Imperial College.

Reasons to train me and predicted time:

I did not do as much training as I would have liked for the 2008 marathon (only one 20 mile run), which meant that I slowed down a lot from 20-26.2 miles (was on target for 3:15 until mile 20). I think I will be able to run sub-3 for the 2009 marathon, possibly even sub-2:45 with the correct training. I don't know many people I can talk to about marathon training; I have read lots of books on it, but it is just not the same as having one to one coaching. My ultimate goal after many years of intensive training would be to compete in the olympics as I believe I am devoted enough an to make this possible. This is why I need your help.