London Marathon 2005

Pasta Party

London Marathon 2004

London Marathon 2003

Whilst most attention was rightly focused on Paula Radcliffe's new world record and the spectacular Men's sprint finish, 12 of our own club members were just as involved in the race, if slightly further back down the field.

Our big day started at 06:00, thanks to engineering works at Paddington Station which threatened chaos and severe delays as all trains terminated at Ealing Broadway. Thankfully an 11th hour appeal to Datchet Dashers resulted in the kind offer of places on their bus to Blackheath, a gesture which was most appreciated. 

At Blackheath we said goodbye to Jack Nisbet and Erwin Losekoot who made their way to the Red Start, while Gary Fiddes, Mike McCorkell, Peter Furness and Ian Robinson walked to the Blue Start. Quite aptly we met up with Sam Shimakage at the PG Tips "Tea House"  and spent the next hour re-tying shoelaces or queuing for the Portaloo. All this time the sun was rising in a cloudless sky and the increase in temperature led to a joint decision to discard thermal tops - something we would be thankful for latter.

Another joint decision saw 5 of us in start pen 3 and as luck would have it, it took less that 50 seconds to cross the start. The first mile was congested but after recording 9:30 on the watch we settled into easy 8:10 miles. Peter soon pulled away but the remainder stuck together for the first 20 miles and as result we exited Docklands in pretty good spirits while many around us were beginning to suffer the heat.

Further up the field the conditions forced Jack Nisbet to abandon chasing 3 hours and stop to chat with Jac Aldous and Kay Tarrant who were both helping out on the 23 mile Lucozade stand. On the push for home Ian Robinson passed Erwin Losekoot at 24 miles and couldn't help remarking it was probably the Hellensborough AC vest that was slowing him down. Erwin's reply can't be repeated here but it was definitely Anglo Saxon - not Dutch!

At 25 miles a tired Keith Morris posed for a photo (below) taken by Brian Matthews, just as the bottom fell out of hapless spectator Tony Newman's world due to the world falling out of the bottom of pigeon perched in the tree above him. A near-by Policeman apparently commented that this was in fact lucky - when asked why he explained because it had landed on Tony and not him.

Darren Redfern managed to slip by unnoticed, unlike Kevin Bell who caused quite a stir as no-one realised he had even entered the race. Mark Tannian and Corinna Taylor ran together and despite suffering severe knee pains Corinna bravely finished her first marathon to raise £1,500 for Whizz Kids. More to the point their combined finish times (which were slightly slower than predicted) resulted in Corinna winning the Sweepstake as she had guessed the slowest combined time. Surely not a fix!

Finally spare a thought for poor old Gary Fiddes, who on finishing decided to emulate his hero El Mouaziz and kiss the ground. After failing to get back up again it took two marshals to drag him to safety as a mass of finishers ran over him. 

Then came the long painful walk to the Golden Lion which was thankfully open this year, 3 pints of Adnams and a sprightly jog to Millbank to pick up the bus. Nice day...

Finish times:

Thumbnail Gallery

Jac setting up at the 23 mile Lucozade station	Gary, Peter, Ian, Mike & Sam	The flag has a magnetic attraction for Corinna
Still smiling at London Bridge	Corinna & Mark	Keith at 25 miles