The London Marathon – truly bonkers

The London Marathon is definitely a rather surreal experience.

First, there was the interminable wait before the start, wandering around in the freezing cold surrounded by people wearing bin bags and anxious expressions, when I turned around to see an elderly gentleman applying Vaseline to his nipples.

Then there was the race itself, passing dinosaurs, dogs, rhinos, phone boxes, the Mona Lisa, and most bizarrely of all, Jesus, running barefoot, with a crown of thorns and a loincloth, with a giant cross tied, or possibly nailed, to his back, accompanied by crowds bellowing ‘Come on Jesus!’

There was the huge roar as I rounded a corner, so loud it made me jump – the cheers were not for me, of course, but for Paula Radcliffe. Yes, I actually ran past Paula! Unfortunately for me, she was heading in the opposite direction, belting towards the finish on the other side of the barriers, while I still had many more miles to run.

There were the ridiculously noisy crowds, banging drums, singing, a full orchestra playing, small children begging for high-fives and handing out jelly babies, one little boy shouting ‘I love you all!’

There were the peculiar signs – one declaring ‘We Love Leases’, which kept me pondering for a while over whether long term leases or six month leases were the object of their affection. I also particularly enjoyed ‘Smile if you’re not wearing underwear’ and ‘Come On Random Stranger’.

Some miles shot past. The first five miles were a blur. The last six miles lasted a lifetime, my feet burning, counting the steps, ticking off the miles until the end, knowing if I just kept going I would reach my target time. And then finally the finish line, when they hung a medal around my neck and I couldn’t stop smiling. Until I realised I had to walk back to Victoria, my feet squealing, calves seizing up, hobbling up and down steps over the Mall where runners were still pouring over the finish line.

Then there was the young man who sat next to me on the train back to Surrey, studying contract law, who turned to me after about half an hour, sitting there with my finishers’ t-shirt and medal round my neck, and asked me a question in a strong West Indian accent. I was so sure he must be talking about the marathon that I didn’t understand him at all and had to ask him to repeat himself twice until I realised he was trying to discuss the General Election with me.

Good luck trying to talk to me about anything other than the marathon for the next few days!

Thanks to everyone who has supported me and sponsored me, and enormous thanks to Skipton AC who gave me one of their club places! It’s been a fantastic experience. I might even do it again one day…

If you haven’t already sponsored me, you can do so here:http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JennyCornish – thanks very much!

This article was taken from Jenny’s blog with her kind permission. You can find the original version here.