London 2021 - Major 1
October 3, 2021
At 6 AM on the Saturday before race day, I hopped on a Megabus with my parents, finally on my way to the London Marathon. My son, however, decided to stay behind—he didn’t want to miss his Sunday football match with his team! While I would have loved to have him there, cheering me on at the finish line, I couldn’t deny him his own passion. After all, we should always follow what we love—I do!
Before I left, he handed me a picture and said, “Look at this when you need to, Mum. But I know you can do it!” His words stayed with me, giving me an extra boost of strength when I needed it most.
I had been waiting a long time for this race. Going into it injured wasn’t how I had envisioned it, but I wasn’t about to let that stop me. Over the past four weeks, I had focused on strengthening my mindset, knowing this wouldn’t be a record-breaking run. In fact, I expected it to be my slowest marathon yet, so I adjusted my expectations—this race wasn’t about personal bests. It was about one thing only: crossing that finish line.
On the three-hour journey to Victoria Coach Station, I tried to switch off, fueling up on bananas and falafel wraps. At the same time, I studied the train connections to the London ExCel—I didn’t want to arrive too late for my bib pickup, especially knowing how busy it would be! The thought of navigating the London Underground always makes me a little nervous—it looks so complicated on the app. But once I was at the station, I quickly realised it wasn’t as daunting as it seemed.
London ExCel
We arrived at the London ExCel just before 11:45 AM, giving me plenty of time to get everything sorted. First up was the kit bag drop-off in S1. The queue took about 25 minutes—not too bad! When I finally reached the desk, they took my kit bag and handed me my bag pick-up crate number.
Then came the exciting part—they placed both of my medals (yes, two of them—woohoo!), along with a bright orange London Marathon 2021 race T-shirt and some water/Gatorade, into my kit bag. Knowing I’d be walking away with two medals filled me with joy. Let’s be honest—half the fun of these races is the bling, right?
Next, it was time to collect my race bibs! I have to admit, I felt a little special queuing up in the Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group World Championships line to get both my bib numbers—even if I didn’t exactly feel like a champ at that moment!
Bib Pick-Up
I tried my best to avoid the many stalls and tempting merchandise at the London ExCel—you can so easily get sucked into buying something! But somehow, I still walked away with £15 worth of tea bags… haha!
A wet, windy walk back to the hotel
After leaving the ExCel, we had a cold, wet, and windy 25-minute walk to our hotel. Wearing flip-flops was definitely not the best footwear choice for the day—you could hear my feet squeaking and squelching with every step… haha!
Thankfully, I had an umbrella, but that didn’t stop us from getting drenched. To top it off, the hotel restaurant was closed due to food delivery issues! Luckily, I had packed a tomato-flavored rice packet, so in true survival mode, I shoved it inside the kettle with boiled water to warm it up. Not exactly gourmet dining, but it did the job! 😅
Pre Race Night
That night, I kept up my run streak by jogging a mile down the hotel corridor. (Yes, I’m that kind of weird! 😂) I did it barefoot, which turned out to be a terrible idea—it aggravated my left calf so much that I started worrying I’d strained it. A couple of painkillers later, I laid out my kit, then settled in with my parents to watch some truly terrible TV.
I tried my best to fall asleep by 9:30 PM, but I was still wide awake near midnight. Eventually, I drifted off—not the best sleep, but enough to feel rested. Good enough for marathon day!
5 AM – Marathon Morning!
My alarm went off at 5 AM, and I immediately took my Thrive supplements. Eating my overnight-soaked oats, however, was a real struggle! After forcing down what I could, I showered, got dressed, and loaded up my fuel belt.
We left the hotel at 6:30 AM, as my train to Blackfriars was just after 7 AM. This also meant saying goodbye to my parents, as they had to head closer to the finish line—spectators weren’t allowed at the start.
I have to admit, I felt quite sad leaving them so soon. I was also a little worried about whether they’d make it back without any issues. (I later found out they got completely lost—twice! They somehow ended up heading in the wrong direction on the Tube both times. Luckily, they had over five hours to figure it out! 😂)
At the station, I got chatting with a couple of other runners, but my nerves were sky-high at this point. The trains were steadily filling up with runners, and the energy was electric—you could feel the excitement in the air!