Well I did it!  And I would like to thank all of my sponsors both online and offline ie. all those who donated by cheque or cash.  Thank you also for all the lovely messages of encouragement and support - every one of them spurred me on both throughout the training and on the actual day.  My official time was 4:57:59 - beating my time six years ago by nearly 2 minutes!

Sunday 17th April 2011 is a day I'll never forget.  I awoke early feeling ready for the challenge, but ridiculously nervous, as having done it before I knew what to expect, and you can never underestimate the marathon distance.  The journey on bus, tube and train seemed to take hours, livened up in the later stages by the buzz of excitement from the many other runners all doing the same journey.  I even managed to make it to the 9.00 am Help A Capital Child photocall with minutes to spare.  Then realised as that was near the Red Start and I was the Green Start, I only had about half an hour before the 9.45am start, and had to quickly walk over Greenwich Park to Blackheath rather briskly, helped by having another of the Help A Capital Child runners to chat to enroute - Roberto.  In fact, I narrowly caught the bag check-in vans as they were preparing to leave!  After the usual long wait in the portacabin loo queue, I just made it to the Green Start for 9.45!  Emotion then overtook the nerves...all those months of preparation and training were over and I was poised to start my second London Marathon!  A few tears were shed (not just by me, but runners around me), as the strains of 'What Have You Done Today To Make You Feel Proud' filled the air...

As always with the Green Start, with only 2,000 runners, you don't have that frustrating ten minute walk to the start - it only took me one and a half minutes to cross the line.  Deja vue then set in as I recognised the church with it's spire in those opening minutes of this long, long run.  It felt like the past six years since I last saw that church running the 2005 Marathon were suspended in time...almost like my life is just the London Marathon.

Then I just ran, taking in the sights and sounds of this incredible event.  We all could have done with it being a little less warm - 20 degrees is pleasant for all the amazing crowds who came out to cheer us runners on, but too warm to running a marathon.  I took on a great deal more water and Lucozade sports drinks than usual, thus having to stop a record 4 times for portacabins enroute! (I'm trying not to think about the finish time without those stops).  Luckily, the need to walk a little, didn't hit me until the usual 'wall' mile - mile 16.  In fact it was 16 and a half miles that I had a little walk before pulling myself together and carrying on at a steady pace.  I was greatly helped by my wonderful group of supporters - Mum, Dad, Franny, Lulu, Sian, Rachel, Paul, James, Karin, Lee, Michelle, Georgie, Freddy, Alicia, Sam and Toby - who were cheering me on at miles 14 and 21.  And Help A Capital Child who were at miles 13 and 22.

On and on I went feeling uncomfortable at times, elated at others but never in any pain and always knowing I would definitely finish, whatever it took... As with my previous London Marathon, the real elation started to kick in at mile 24 on seeing Big Ben in the distance and realising that I only had two more miles before the finish!  Ignoring the disturbing sights of fellow runners literally falling by the wayside, I plodded on.  Those last two miles took forever, but on rounding the corner into The Mall with the crowd on both sounds at their most vocal, I saw The Finish! With the last tiny bit of energy I had, I managed to half sprint the last few yards, over the finish line, noticing the time and realising that again I had finished sub-five hours and that I had beaten my previous time!

With the Virgin London Marathon 2011 hanging proudly round my neck, I stopped to pose for the official picture, another one with a fellow runner, picked up a goodie bag, reclaimed my kit bag and made my slow way to dusty Horseguards where I was greeted by my support team, with the welcome addition of Thabian sporting a stretching mat and a cold bottle of champagne!  Help A Capital Child were also there to meet and greet and more photos were taken.

A very welcome massage was had back at the Capital Radio studios and reception for runners and guests, where drinks and carbs were plentiful, as were runners' stories of their experiences.  A cab from the West End, chinese takeaway, a couple of glasses of wine and a watch of the marathon highlights with Mum, Dad and the girls ended my memorable day, oh and about ten hours very deep sleep....

Would I do it again?  Oh yes!  (But not for a couple of years...)

Again - thank you to everyone who supported me and helped me to train - especially to Mum and Dad.  Thabian for tips, encouragement and stretches.  I would particularly like to thank my training partners:

Debbie, Paige, Eleanor, Lesley, Tina, Colin, Paul, Lee, John

And Aimee at Help A Capital Child for all her support

And Sue for the wonderful sports massages

And various BMF instructors for encouragement, especially Chris, Carlos and Tom

 

Original Text:

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I am running the London Marathon again!  I last ran it in 2005 fulfilling a lifetime ambition -apart from the birth of my children it was probably the most memorable and challenging day of my life... I know many of you supported me six years ago and I thank you, but just to warn you I will be re-approaching!  Please dig deep for this very worthwhile and local charity.  I'll be needing all the support I can get, not just with donations but physically, mentally and emotionally (as I am six years older and this will be a huge challenge for me).  But I am determined to do it and won't let you or HACC down.....Thank you so much. Nina x

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

UPDATE: As of 28 March:  THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SPONSORED ME SO FAR.  I SMASHED MY ORIGINAL TARGET OF £2,000 SOME TIME AGO AND THANKS TO CONTINUING SUPPORT HAVE NOW GONE OVER MY NEW TARGET OF £3,000!  SO I HAVE RAISED IT AGAIN TO £3,500 AS I KNOW THERE ARE STILL QUITE A FEW PEOPLE WHO HAVE PROMISED TO SPONSOR ME!

Training is going very well.  I completed the 16 mile Kingston Breakfast Run yesterday in 2:42 - not bad.  Last week I achieved a personal best time of 2:05 in the Reading Half Marathon.  So I'm on course for the Big One in less than 3 weeks time....