an extraordinary thing. But it did confirm that Lucozade sport is not the drink for me!I have spent the time since finishing with a huge grin on my face and am flashing my medal at every opportunity. What a fantastic event! A big thank you to all the runners

in the whole wide world.I soaked up the atmosphere and the crowds to the end with a massive smile on my face. The shouts of "come on Higo" from complete strangers was just fantastic. Marathon running is an event where you can do exactly the same as the world

holding red and green balloons on a stick - I even had time to kiss my daughter, Freya, at six miles.The best thing was finding the Runner's World 10-minute mile pacer. I stuck with her for 20 miles, and this helped me enormously. But then I hit the wall

, the encouragement, the street entertainment, the sights, the runners, my family and friends, the finish line, my medal, and the pain and joy!Thank you RUNNERS WORLD for your fantastic website! Thank you fellow runners for your support and good sense of humour! I

surely have gone to bed on Saturday night pleading: 'Whatever you do, Dad, don't get overtaken by a rhino'."John Brown, 4:50Many thanks to the Runner's World pacer. Sticking with the 11-minute mile group made my first marathon (at 57) a lot easier

instead of sitting behind the fence sipping tea)But after I debriefed I found I was fascinated with the whole world of marathons, like how many people do it. How there were 35,000 runners with a single shared desire, how much of a spectacle the whole thing