London Marathon 2006
Belles - Maybe 3rd team?
Latest news:- is that the Belles may be bronze medallists - and had Birhan Dagne been wearing a club vest - gold medallists! And the boys are unofficially 4th.
The stories are still coming in ...
Visiting the Thistle Hotel to promote sales of his book The 50 greatest Marathon Races of All Time, Will Cockerell didn't have too much trouble selling copies to Paul Tergat, Khalid Khannouchi and Haile Gebrselassie. But what tickled him most was the fact that they all wanted his autograph! When Geb saw that he was on the front cover he was delighted - "Will, you are top man!"
Another sale was to Deena Kastor, and remember, this is before the race. Will wrote on the title page, "to Deena, 2:19:37 here we come..." at the post race party she said: "I beat your prediction by one second! but next time could you write something a little faster."
Malachi Byansi (2:38:18) looked chirpy during the race and tells us:
"I have recovered from the marathon after just two days. After 12 months of a painful cracked knee injury, I was happy to feel the running flowing. From the 2nd mile into the race pace, our group consisted of John Clarke, Warren Lynch, myself and Joachim Wolf 50 yards ahead of us and moving quicker.
John was advising me to stop surging, I guess I was running the African way… He suggested an even pace which I gladly welcomed.
Looking at the splits: 5:39 1st mile, 5:43, 5:30, 5:38, 5:32, 5:53. John asked what pace was I going for, and I replied to him I was looking for 6min/mile. Then: 5:53, 5:50, 5:44, 6:02.
After 10 miles I knew I was feeling good but you have to respect the 26.2miles. So I eased down and let the guys go hoping to catch them in the second half of the race.
My pace then stayed more-less the same all the way to 18 miles. I was looking forward to the pebbles at Tower bridge but they never came. I had not realised that the course had changed since I last did it in 2004.
My slowest mile was 21 at 6:32. I guess it is psychological because my wheels normally come off at this stage, but once I ingested some energy gels I was fine to carry on.
The only thing I can say is that I was too conservative….. next time I will run the African way."
12 year-old Krystal Galley was 4th in her section of the mini-marathon ... She felt that she could have done better if she had been more familiar with the course. Having been told by Dad that when she got to Big Ben there was a right turn and then not too far to go, it seemed to take a lifetime running down the Embankment with the clock tower in sight but never seemingly getting any nearer!
Louise Cooper (3:00:55) was happy at Tower Bridge - but not so delighted at missing a sub 3 hours run by 55 seconds ...
"It was all going to plan early on. I think I realised that my 6:40-something miles were creeping closer to 7-somethings, and then I was trying desperately hard to get there, but think I hit the wall with a mile to go - nightmare!!
It's been a range of emotions since finishing, sometimes pleased, but more often than not, reflecting over and over again on what I could have done better to get me under 3 hours. Having done my first London marathon aged 18, and run everyone since (number 13 yesterday!!), I think I was smiling because I just love the race so much!!! Couldn't believe how much support for Belgrave there was on route, and want to thank everyone who gave me a shout!!
Tom Hadfield (2:39:30) also thanks those who supported him and goes on:
"Conditions were absolutely perfect, but I ran a horrid race - started out quite conservatively but felt completely spent by halfway and had nothing in the second half. It was the kind of race that makes you never want to run again. In retrospect I peaked too early - my best races were back in February and it's all been downhill from there."
Lee Greatorex ran with the intention of going half distance and ran three personal bests along the way - 10km in 33:45, 10 miles in 55:05 and the Half Marathon in 72:58.
Nikki Neal (2:54:19) had a fabulous run and may have broken the Channel Islands record ... Warren Lynch, on schedule for 2:30, became too ill to continue at 17 miles.
A minute came off the previous best set by Lars Rehn (3:26:28). He tells us:
"My preparations had not been ideal as I had three weeks off running at the end of march due to a fractured rib that I obtained on a ski holiday. I was on 3:15 pace until 30k, got stomach cramps at 40k and had to stop and stretch.
Happy to be able to run a Marathon again as I have been struggling with injuries since the Berlin Marathon of 2004. I've been seeing lots of physiotherapists, sports doctors, podiatrists, biomechanical lecturer, spinal surgeons etc., and finally I found out that the cause of my problems are a disc prolapse in my lower back. I might need surgery as I got sciatic pain, does anyone know who might have experience with micro discectomy ?
After recovering next couple of weeks, hope to do some 5 and 10k races over the summer. Thanks to David Lucas for coaching us on Tuesday nights.
It was a case of "getting the feel of the occasion" and learning the route for Simon Jones (2:33:04) ...
A personal record came from John Clarke (2:30:31), our first man home:
"Thanks for the support on Sunday which resulted in a PB by just under 5 minutes and also 13 minutes quicker than my last London outing in 2004.
The race went pretty much perfectly for the first half with my plan for a late 2:28/2:29 clocking being bang on. However, for some reason miles 18-20 saw me hit a big bad patch causing me to lose the bunch I was running with and making my chances for the last miles look pretty bleak. The training I have done did however pay dividends as I managed to claw it back and get back on course, but this extra effort ultimately caught up with me over the last mile and a half meaning that I just missed my target time.
Can't complain though as it could have been much worse and the improvements continue to come. Also, lessons have been learnt that will be carried into my next marathon in the Autumn."
Above left: Nikki Neale - on the Embankment and heading for 2:54:19. Right: Running her 13th London - Louise Cooper.
Above photos, clockwise starting top left: Malachi Byansi, Bruce Barton, Maureen Noel, Simon Jones, Stephen Zealey, John Clarke. All taken by Tim Watt - and you can see more of Tim's excellent pictures by visiting:
his photo album where you can also order prints
Restored from the club's earlier website, belgraveharriers.com, and published here as originally written.