Part 4: London Marathon – The Race

Friday, 17 May 2013  |  Favorite Posts, Race Reports

RACE REPORT: Virgin London Marathon 2013

Date: Sunday, 21 April 2013
Gun start: 10:00 AM

RUN FOR BOSTON

“This is it.” I thought. After months of training under the excruciating heat in Manila, here I was with a laundry bag on top of my running clothes to keep me warm from the chilly start. I couldn’t help but smile.

All the runners around me were chatting with nervous excitement. I couldn’t hear the announcer anymore. But, when the announcer asked all 36,000 runners to pause for a minute of silence to honor the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, everyone fell silent. The bombings at the Boston Marathon, just a week before London Marathon, had made an impact on the world, but it had struck a nerve even more with us runners.

The marathon is a celebration of the human spirit. People from all over the world train their minds and bodies for months to run 42km on a single day to prove that they can defeat pain, suffering, and fear, that they can achieve their dreams, and that they can be better than themselves.

The people who ran Boston Marathon left their homes on that day hoping to run and celebrate life. Little did they know that some of them would lose their lives or limbs due to a senseless terrorist act.

In that silence, I, perhaps along with thousands of other runners that day, pledged to run for the victims. With black ribbons on our shirts, we ran for those who wouldn’t be able to run again.

THE START

Within a few seconds, the race had begun. I didn’t hear a gun start. There was no booming sound to signify the beginning of the race. There was a gradual movement of the traffic as runners made their way out of the assembly and into the roads.

That slow start was probably the slowest I would ever go during the race. The roads through the little town of Greenwich, with its quaint restaurants around us, were narrow and kept all of us runners in close contact. It seemed that all the runners around me had planned on going at a quick pace. I wished I could’ve gone at a more conservative pace, but honestly there seemed to be no choice!

I ran at a 5:45 to 5:50 pace along with the rest of the crowd and just felt relieved that, based on how my body and legs felt, I knew I could sustain the pace.

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Hydration was provided in bottle form both for water (Nestle Pure Life) and sports drinks (Lucozade). This was both a pro and a con for me. It was good because you could take the bottle along with you during the run and dispose as you please. But, with every station, I found myself staring down at the ground ensuring I don’t slip on any of these bottles. It was quite a treacherous situation for this accident prone runner (Think Berlin Marathon and Disneyland Los Angeles flying off the road accidents in the past! LOL.)

The large difference with the runners in London Marathon was this: they rarely stopped to drink! I kid you not. At each station, they would grab the bottle and drink as they ran. All of them. My plan of taking walk breaks at each station went out the window by the first station. I just couldn’t find a place to slow down or stop on the road. In my mind, I found it hilarious but I also panicked. Could I possibly survive a 42km without taking any walk breaks at all?! I’ve never done that before.

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– What the?! Don’t ask me what I was doing here. Suffice it to say I looked crazy-happy –

The number of spectators that came out on the streets to cheer for runners was a pleasant surprise for me.  They lined the roads from start to finish!  There was never a moment of dullness or silence. They cheered loudly and whole-heartedly yelling the names of runners who had labelled their shirts. I didn’t write my name on my shirt, but luckily—not once, but twice on different portions of the race—I had run along with runners named Jaimie, so I heard “Go Jaimie!” or “You can do it, Jaimie!” often enough to egg me on! LOL

One of my favorite portions of this race was crossing the Tower Bridge at around Km 19.  There were a lot more spectators and cheerers in this area (not that the number of spectators who came out to cheer for us was lacking!) but this was definitely a high point of the race.

KM 21

I hit my 21k split at 2:07. I was happy with my split. Not too fast, not too slow. Body check: how did I feel? No pain anywhere in the body. Even better, I felt strong and focused. Stronger than I had ever been in the past.

The run from 21k to 32k went by quickly. I didn’t even notice passing St. Paul’s Cathedral at Km 24!  I do recall the fantastic cheering from the spectators and the beautiful sights and scenes around me.

By 32k, I was starting to slow. My legs were starting to tire and both my calves were threatening to cramp, but my mind kept me going. I repeated my mantra (stolen from Noy Jopson’s Facebook status): “Pain only hurts.” I said this to myself over and over again as I recalled the times I had been through worse in a race. It’s true you know. When you’re going through something difficult whether in a race or in life, you just remember a time in the past when you experienced worse and overcame it. And so, I remembered Ironman 70.3 Cebu, the heat, the pain, the exhaustion. With that, I knew I would get through this.

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– Grin and bear it, baby! –

I put one step in front of the other. I didn’t stop. I ran. For the first time in all the eight marathons I’ve ran in the past, I ran all the way. It wasn’t something I had planned or even wanted desperately. After all, I fully believe in the value of taking walk breaks; walking isn’t a sign of weakness. But, during this race, I just felt the power in my body and mind to go, and go, and go. I believed in what my body and mind told me to do and I did it.

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– Passing the London Eye –

I ran past the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace.  Before I knew it, I could see the finish line.

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– The London Eye in the background –

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– Houses of Parliament. Is this a marathon or a tour? Maybe both! –

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– Big Ben meant the finish line was near –

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– Now that’s a monster runner! –

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– Buckingham Palace behind me (I think!) –

THE FINISH

I crossed the finish line at 4:24. It was the exact same time as my best marathon time at Condura 2010.

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– Posedown at the finish line, of course! –

After crossing the finish, I received my medal, had my Ipico chip removed, had my photo taken with the medal, and claimed my baggage all within 10 minutes. That’s how well organized this race was.

All around me, people were congratulating each other. I did learn to say “Well done!” to all the runners around me and not the usual “Congratulations” we all say in Manila LOL.

As I walked at The Mall and onto the Meet & Greet area by Admiralty Arch, I was overwhelmed with the atmosphere. Runners hugging loved ones. Everyone in a celebratory mood. And, oh, what a view!

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– Wow! –

I headed over to the Letter Z where hubby and kids agreed to meet me. I sat alone drinking my Enervon HP and eating the free apple that came with our goodie bag for a good 30 minutes until they came. By this time, I had already changed into warmer clothes.

It was nice to see my family greet me at the finish and to have the kiddos see first hand the magic that occurs in a marathon. I asked my son if he wanted to run this marathon in the future and he replied: Yes.

With that, the perfect marathon day came to an end.  This was undoubtedly the best marathon experience I’ve ever had. I have a rule that I should only run a marathon once, but, for London Marathon, let’s just say I can make an exception.

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– with my kiddos! –

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– Proudly showing off my 9th marathon medal. What’s next?! –

Previous: Part 3: London Marathon – The Race Start

Thank you so much to all the people who got me to London! Unilab Active Health for sponsoring the trip. Special thanks to my favorites Enervon Activ for keeping me energized during training and race day and Enervon HP for aiding in recovery. Thank you to Timex Philippines and Timex UK who snagged me a race slot.

 

Part 3: London Marathon – Race Start!

Thursday, 9 May 2013  |  Race Reports

Due to the large number of participants (36,000 running 42km, to be exact), the London Marathon had three different race starts: Blue or a “Fast Good for Age” competitor, Red, and Green. All starts were located within Greenwich Park and gun start was at 10:00 AM except for the Elites, Wheelchair category, and Paralympic participants who started earlier at 9:00 AM.

I was running alone and, like previous international races, most of my concerns over the race at this point revolved around one thing: getting to the race start in time. I was so worried about it (and it ended up to be such a fun, learning journey!) that I actually dedicated an entire post for it here in case you get the chance to run London Marathon in the future.

So, back to the story, for Green Start runners like me, I was told to exit Maze Hill Station.  This caused me a lot of stress because this station was not included in the Underground map of London!  Why oh why did it have to be so complicated for me?

The English concierge and the Indian bellboy at the hotel gave varying directions (waaah!) and, the morning before the race, I found even more advice on a thread in Runner’s World forum!  Just 30 minutes before I left, I decided to follow the tip on Runner’s World which advised me to exit Greenwich Station and walk a full 20 minutes to the Green Start to avoid the traffic at the tubes.

It was then that I worried even more:  20 minutes! Alone! In the cold! Before a 42km run! Ack! Ironic that after months of running hundreds of kilometers, I was freaking out over a 20 minute walk before the race.

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– My marathon gear all laid out the night before the race.  Thanks to Unilab Active Health for the shirt and arm warmers (which I wasn’t able to use because it wasn’t too cold), Timex for the cap and the Timex Run Trainer which was being charged at the time I took the photo, Toby’s/Runnr for my CWX compression tights which I absolutely adored, KSwiss for my 3rd pair of Kwicky Blade Lights, Stride and Stroke for my Spibelt and armband which I’ve used the past 3 marathons –

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– Sports drink at the race was not Gatorade so I bought Gatorade a few days before the race. Gatorade 01 for Pre Race fuel, Gatorade 02 for during the race, and Gatorade 03 for recovery. What can I say? I’m a loyal user! –

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– Took this shot at the Underground days before the race. Planned closures of Tubes on Marathon day.  It added to my stress. Waaah! Confusion! –

GETTING TO THE START

At 8:00 AM, I bid the hubby and kids goodbye and stepped out of our hotel in South Kensington to near perfect weather. Correction:  PERFECT weather!  The temperature was around 10 degrees, just enough for one jacket without any throwaways on me. As I walked alone through the streets of Kensington, I couldn’t help but smile. I almost had to hold myself back from the excitement of running the London Marathon in these awesome conditions. Aaah, the London Marathon! This was one of my biggest dreams. Here I was on my way to fulfilling it!

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– Shot outside my hotel. The amiable doorman who took it said that I had to come home for another pic with my marathon medal. I said: Of course! –

I befriended two Red Start runners from our hotel and walked along with them to the tube. We talked about New York City Marathon which one of the runners had run in 2010 just like I did and he said “Don’t worry about this race then. This is just as organized as NYCM.”  With that, I bid them goodbye and went my own way.

I presented my bib to the guard at the station and walked straight into the tube headed for Tower Hill. (On marathon morning, all runners just present their bib at the tube station and get free access to the tube until 5 PM on the same day.  Cool, noh?) There were not too many runners in the tube just yet, but I met Amy, another runner who just like me, was traveling alone from another city, and she too was worried if she was on the right train headed for the starting line.

At Tower Hill Station, we were appeased. Here, all around us, were marathon runners. As we boarded the tube, some of us to Cutty Sark or Greenwich Station depending on our colors, a voice over said “Welcome runners of the Virgin London Marathon.” Phew, I was safe. No way I’d lose my way now. I felt like half the battle was over.

We were packed like sardines in that tube, but it was thrilling. A whole train of runners with various backgrounds, different stories to tell, all looking forward to the same thing: 42km through the streets of London. Totally amazing.

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– All aboard for the 42k! –

I exited Greenwich Station and walked out into the cold along with all the other runners around me. The atmosphere was alive and energetic. Runners were laughing and chatting as we all made our way into Greenwich Park.

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– Short walk to the Park –

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– All these people are runners! Wow! –

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– Marshals and Security everywhere as promised by the organizers soon after the Boston Marathon bombings –

The gate to Greenwich Park was almost like entering Buckingham Palace. Wow. Thousands of runners were inside this area making their way to their race starts. It was exactly 9:00 AM, one hour to race start. I took my banana from my bag and ate it as I walked. All runners ascended towards the different race starts like ants marching up a hill. Everywhere you looked there were runners. It was surreal.

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– First thing I see upon entering the park. WOW. –

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– Climbing up the hill. Seriously, I got tired here and I worried that I was overexerting myself in my “warm up” LOL –

The red start was right ahead. After a 10 minute walk, the blue start was in front of me. It took me another 15 minutes to get to the Green Start. Total of 30 minutes walking alone in the cold.  I laughed at myself for worrying about this in the first place.  This was fun.  It was an adventure.  I would love to do something crazy, scary like this every year of my life.

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– Followed this pacer heading to the Green Start. I actually saw him all throughout the race –

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– Finally! I made it! –

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– Spotted Fred and Wilma at the marathon! Yabadabadoo!-

When I reached the Green assembly area, feeling like a pro (naks!), I opened my bag to begin my pre-race ritual. I drank my Gatorade Pre-Race Fuel which I purchased at the race expo. I pulled out my plastic bag of gel and water to be consumed 10 minutes before race start. I drank four capsules of Optygen from First Endurance for that extra boost of energy.  I removed my fleece jacket, dumped it back into the bag (to be worn after the race) and pulled out my laundry bag with pre-cut holes for my head and arms and wore this to keep me warm before the race start. I checked in my baggage and lined up for the toilets.

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– What’s a runner to do while lined up for the portalets? Selfie of course! Er, sorry for the “bagong gising” look –

By the time I was done with the toilet (which was the longest queue I’ve ever encountered!), I only had 10 minutes left for race start. I stood at the assembly along with all the other runners awaiting the race start. I turned on my Timex Run Trainer and connected to GPS.

What was going through my mind at this time? I thought about how the morning went. How everything went perfectly well from the weather to the journey I took towards the starting line. And, deep inside, I knew that the race was going to be awesome. I just knew it.

Previous: Part 3 – London Marathon – A Wedding, Shakespear, and a Run
Next: Part 4: London Marathon – The Race

Thank you so much to all the people who got me to London! Unilab Active Health for sponsoring the trip. Special thanks to my favorites Enervon Activ for keeping me energized during training and race day and Enervon HP for aiding in recovery. Thank you to Timex Philippines and Timex UK who snagged me a race slot.

MARATHON STORY: FERNANDO FALLS…BUT FINISHES

Thursday, 28 March 2013  |  Bullish Insights, Race Reports

As is the tradition of TBR Dream Marathon, after the race, I post anecdotes about the marathon that I receive in my Inbox from our new marathoners. My inbox gets inundated with stories of triumph, love, gratitude, passion, and empowerment that it’s too much of a waste if only I read it. Through this series of stories (one every week for the next couple of months), may you all be inspired to run a marathon or dream big in your own lives.

I’d like to share with you Fernando’s letter to me.  It teaches us that we can try our best to prepare for a marathon, but we never really know what will happen at any point before we cross that finish line.  A lot of things can go wrong and a lot of things can go right.  What matters most is how we choose to react to the situation and how we let it affect us.  Good thing Fernando decided to run even after he stumbled.

TBR DREAMERS 2013: Fernando Hernandez
Bib Nos. 334

Hi Jaymie,

You can’t imagine, how thankful I am to be a part of this great experience. I actually came very close to not showing up last Sunday.

About a week before the marathon, during my daughter’s sportsfest, I took a bad fall during one of the events. I joined a relay race and ended up with two very large wounds on my knees – as in kneecaps.

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Looking back it might not have been very prudent of me to join the sportsfest in the first place, but I entered the marathon with the mindset that it would never interfere with family activities. Anyway, my daughter asked me to join the relay race and I didn’t want to disappoint.

So there I was, the day before the race with two very large wounds on my knees. I thought long and hard about how I was going to do the 42K with injuries to both legs.  The thought of even just the salt on the wounds was just as painful as the thought of the knees bending every time I’d take a step forward. Anyway, the defining moment was when I just accepted the fact that the pain was going to be there from the start and it would be a matter of me being able to grin and bear it. I kept “fooling myself” that my left leg was fine and that I could just drag my right leg towards the finish. The added incentive was the fact that I knew I would be miserable waiting for an entire year to have the chance to do The Bull Runner Dream Marathon again and all that training just being thrown out the window.

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No doubt the pain was there, but the encouragement I had from my co-TBR Dreamers (alot of them I don’t know personally but they could tell I was in pain) and Dream Chasers really helped. I really wish I could thank each of them personally because, they really helped me carry on even when I was in a lot of pain and quite miserable during the whole ordeal.

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Anyway, through sheer will, (I can’t even call it skill, I just grit my teeth) I managed (somehow) to cross the line at around 7:30, really far off from the sub six / sub 5:30 goal that I really wanted but it was an even sweeter win for me nonetheless, that I managed to even show up and finish this race.

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Thanks again Jaymie for doing this. I’m sure you hear it alot but this event has really showed me how deep inside myself I can dig and just what I am capable of. When I first signed up for this race, I did it because I needed a win for my 40th birthday. I didn’t realize how big a win it was until I crossed that finish line last Sunday.

MARATHON STORY: EFREN & VANGIE GREGORIO, BIB NOS. 322 & 323

Friday, 22 March 2013  |  Bullish Insights

As is the tradition of TBR Dream Marathon, after the race, I post anecdotes about the marathon that I receive in my Inbox from our new marathoners. My inbox gets inundated with stories of triumph, love, gratitude, passion, and empowerment that it’s too much of a waste if only I read it. Through this series of stories (one every week for the next couple of months), may you all be inspired to run a marathon or dream big in your own lives.

TBR DREAMERS 2013: Efren & Vangie Gregorio
Bib Nos. 322 & 323

By Efren Gregorio

I’m a MILO 42K finisher with traumatic experience and once said to myself “I will not repeat this insanity, ever.” And in my wife’s case, she cannot hide her fear to go the full distance. But when I heard from a colleague (a TBR alumni) about TBR and started visiting its blog, I said to myself “we will join this running family.” Unfortunately, we missed the 2012 batch and I started to lose hope. Luckily, during RU1 last July 2012, I chanced upon Jaymie (I don’t know if she can recall it) at a water station in front of PICC and I said: “Hi Jaymie, good morning! I and my wife wanted to join your Dream Marathon but we don’t know how.” She replied: “Yes sir we will be glad to welcome both of you” and she whispered “Just visit my blog and I will have an announcement, MAYBE in September. Okay sir, let’s run to the finish line.” True to her words, in September we were able to register but not without a hitch and I know everybody in batch 2013 knows what that hitch is all about. Ha ha ha!

Our preparation started like this, from all Bull Circles and Bull Sessions we attended, we eagerly and enthusiastically absorbed every pieces of advice from coaches Lit, Jun and the two Jims (Lafferty and Saret). From doctors who explained the relation of medicine during training and, to avoid injuries and life threatening illnesses that a marathoner can get. And from other TBR alums who shares their experiences and spares some tips to all next dreamers wannabe. So, when the penultimate D-Day came (February 24, 2013) we’re ready!

We could say that our TBR Dream Marathon is a once-in-a-life-time and unforgettable experience in our running career. Only in this foot race that we didn’t feel the atmosphere of competition and time pressure but rather feels like participating in a big family gathering wherein all participants are all familiar faces. During the race we are overwhelmed by the support of TBR organization, like the never-ending supplies of everything a runner could want and more. You name it, over-flowing water and Gatorade in 3 flavors, the expensive GU Power Gel, salt supplement in capsule that when you missed it a piece or two of Chippy will be offered for the pickings, chocolates, gummy bears, oranges, apples, bananas, massage, singing bands and many more. But the most “supply” we can say that you can’t buy is the unselfish and dedicated expression of TBR’s motto: “pay it forward” by the TBR Alumnae. A heart-felt thanks to Joseph Nebrida and Philip of Batch 2012 who paced my wife and her co-running pace during the last part of the second loop. Also thanks to Craig Logan (Batch 2010) for his gummy bears. Ha ha ha!

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– Efren running steady-

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– Vangie all smiles! –

We knew from the beginning that our family will be there to support us. We also knew about the Dream Bus wherein our family will be carried to the running course. But we didn’t know the real effect of that encounter with our family during those times when you feel down and out of strength and suddenly seeing our son 10 feet away giving me a power bar, OMG! I want to cry! For both of us, it is like a second wind and that we wanted to finish strong. But the most memorable and incomparable one is when we crossed the finish line. Yes our two sons were there, but my brother? My two eldest sisters and my nephew with his wife in tow were there too? Inside of me it’s just a BIG BIG WOW! On my wife’s part she didn’t expected them too to be there, and to add more tearful feeling, she and my sisters had this indescribable friction that is very normal and standard to every Filipino family, that when she crossed the finish line she was hugged, kissed and congratulated by her long lost in-laws. Whew that is the most nerve wreaking feeling we savored on that D-Day! After all was said and done (the greetings, the picture takings and congratulatory words), it was known that our eldest son was the culprit to all these beautiful happenings. He said he used the FB and the text medium. Ang galing!

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– Efren flashes his TBRDM medal –

Now as both alumnae (naks!), we learned also to respect not just other runners but also the course’s conditions and its landscape offerings. TBR, you really made us wiser as a runner and instill in our minds that nothing is impossible if you really do it the right way.

Again, to Jaymie and the TBR Dream Team THANK YOU for the journey!

TBR Dream Marathon 2013 Videos…and They’re Star-Studded Too!

Thursday, 14 February 2013  |  News + Promos

We surprised our TBR Dream Marathoners with two videos last night. One was sentimental and touching…

This other one was simply star-studded! (Thank you to friends and teammates Iya Villania and Drew Arellano for shooting this for us! Mwah mwah!)