My 2:20:16 was a more than four minute improvement of my personal best, which I had set two years earlier, also in London. Last year I was injured and ran a disappointing 2:30. With my injuries finally gone, I set out on a 'kamikaze mission' to a sub-2h20' time, joining a nice group of elite runners trying to qualify for British marathon team for the European Championships. We passed though the half marathon point in 1:08:52. I expected to hit the wall at some point, but that point never came. Nevertheless, I slowed down somewhat during the second half of the race and after 40km was only a handful of seconds ahead of my 2h20' schedule. With only 70m to go, I saw the clock switch from 2h19'59" to 2h20'00" and crossed the finish line in anger and disappointment.
My initial disappointment about those silly 16 seconds quickly faded and gave way to a sense of pride. 20th place in one of the world's most important marathons is not bad for a complete amateur like myself. On Wednesday, merely three days after the race, I had already recovered from the race. So I apparently haven't gone very deep, and should be able to run even faster. Perhaps I will already do this in September, in Berlin.
Split Time 5K 00:16:09 10K 00:32:34 15K 00:48:59 20K 01:05:22 HALF 01:08:52 25K 01:21:35 30K 01:38:12 35K 01:55:23 40K 02:12:41 FINISH 02:20:16 |  |
