First marathon, trained really hard. Got to the day, very excited. I was hoping for a sub-4:00, which from my half-marathon times was possible.For some reason ended up in Pen 9, which seemed strange as I put 3:45 on my application form. I was also

The London Marathon felt more like an obstacle course than a race. I spent half of every mile looking at the floor trying to dodge the half-empty discarded water bottles. After every Lucozade gel station the floor was like an ice rink where

marathon...I arrived at the start of the VLM 2010 with loads of missed training, a very sore foot and absolutley everyone telling me I should not run. Even my boss told me that if I hurt my foot more it would be self-inflicted and not to expect any sympathy

This was my 8th London marathon for United Response. Having spent a month in hospital from mid-February to mid-March, and having had back surgery at the beginning of March, I was waiting until the beginning of April before committing myself

I decided way back in 1999 that if I was going to do a marathon, I wanted to do the London Marathon. My illustrious career as a Sunday League football player was coming to an end and it was clear that Arsenal had missed their chance to snatch me up

morning, I should have been confident with both the total mileage I had put in and the quality of some of the sessions. I was aiming to get round in 3:30. This may seem optimistic for a first timer, but my best half-marathon time is 1:30 and my slowest

After a few years of running 10Ks and half-marathons, the next challenge was the big one: a marathon. Six months ago (when I first received confirmation I had a ballot place) I was made up and devised my training programme carefully. I felt like

died early in 2010 we decided to run the Marathon together. We joined Reading Road Runners and recently cycled to a hot yoga class twice a week for extra flexibility! I think it all contributed to making the day brilliant if gruelling nonetheless. We

, an even split, 2:05 for the first 13.1 and 2:09 for the second half and I think this really helped. It was hotter than forecast, but not than I had expected, it's always hot on marathon weekend in London! Running through Canary Wharf it was like an oven

Celebrating the fact that I had won a place via the public ballot, I had trained hard to achieve a sub-4:00 time. I was overjoyed at recording two half-marathons during the training both under 1:50. A few minor injuries over the 16 weeks were nursed