Seven Sinfin RC members (Steve Barlow, Duncan Cowie, Mick Coyne, Rowan Langton, Chris Morrison, Dave Richardson and Mary Whitehouse) ran the London Marathon on 23rd April 2006. Official times are here.
One member's perspective on the weekend
Saturday
Five of us were staying at a hotel close to the expo, so a good place to meet up. After registering and collecting numbers we took the chance to soak up the atmosphere, have a massage and eat the inevitable pasta. Enough of this wandering round -we need to sit down! So off to the pub where we meet up with Jules and Mik who are passing through on their way to Cuba! It was great to sit and chat with friends, have a drink and take our minds of tomorrow for a while.
After checking into the hotel and a swim or rest we were soon off on the pasta hunt again. This time to Carluccio's in Canary Wharf where they served wonderful breads and a great tomato sauce with spaghetti. and lots of water! The bakery made some tasty cookies whioch tempted some!
And so to bed - maybe to sleep or toss and turn and dream of missed trains and late starts.
Sunday
An early breakfast and then a packed train to Greenwich. As we were all on blue or green starts we walked up the hill together - passing the Run for Glory crowd as we went.
The usual pre-race rituals followed - queue for the loo, decisions about what to wear, put the bag on the baggage lorry and wait nervously for the start. There was a light drizzle - great for running, but it meant lots of bin bags being worn and then discarded.
Eventually we were off and each of us ran our own race with some great results.
Chris was twelfth in his age group; Steve, Rowan and Mary ran PBs; and Dave completed his first marathon in a great time. Mick and Duncan were pleased with their runs too, given the training they had found time to do.
Most of us made it to the pub at the end for some serious rehydration followed by another Italian restaurant and more pasta and pizza. By now we were feeling weary and needed some sleep, so back to the hotel.
Monday
Some were up for an early swim to loosen the legs - others opted for sleep! But more exercise followed as we took a train to Tower Bridge and walked along the Embankment - taking a more leisurely pace than on Sunday and a chance to enjoy the views!
After taking the tube to St Pancras there was more refuelling with an All Day Breakfast before taking the train home to Derby.
A great weekend - thanks Chris for organising us all.