A Fantastic Team
Willen Hospice was proud to catch up with its Marathon supporters on Wednesday evening. Runners and spectators met for a special champagne reception to exchange their experiences of the London Marathon 2009.
2009 runners post race
On The Day
In all, 14 people started for Willen and 14 completed the gruelling course, made even more difficult by the hot weather. The cooling rain of previous years would have been very welcome, but at least the spectators were happy and they turned out in force.
Sharon Edghill is not just any runner. She had to cope with more than most, having had major surgery in 2005 for bladder cancer. Read her story here "Despite the heat (was it hot for running!) and medical issues I ran the London Marathon in a terrific time of 4hrs 27mins! Despite London not going to race plan with my issues, I did enjoy the day and have fulfilled my dream. It has been a wonderful journey, I have learnt so much, inspired so many others and my fundraising figure now stands at £3,160 with more to come..."
A Runner's Experience
She said of her marathon run:
I looked out at mile 11/12 but could not see anyone, the crowds were huge and it was difficult to see anyone you knew! I ran the first 12 miles well and then unfortunately, my stomach distended. I catheterized at mile 15, felt extremely sick for the next 8 miles and finally vomited at mile 22 and spent 15 mins receiving medical attention. You know my determination - they were very surprised when I said I was going back to the race. Once I had been sick I felt a lot better and ran the last few miles fairly strong. My stomach was sore, but today it appears back to normal.
A Spectator's Day
Elaine (Events & Promotions Team) describes her day
6am
Whoa, what am I doing, Sunday morning and its 6 o’clock. Manage to roll out of bed and into the shower, Shower and dry without even opening my eyes.
7am
Right, we’re on the coach, heading off to London. Poor Allison – have basically said two words then have stuck on my ipod and shut my eyes. The sun is shining and it looks like it’s going to be a glorious day.
8.30am
Arrive at Victoria and we set off with our pop up banner taking out a few people on the way. Stop for a quick caffeine fix and a wee (you never know when the next ones coming) the tube is not too bad yet, and we arrive at Mile 11 (Bermondsey) and set up camp. Lots of other national charities are there with their huge banners and thousands of balloons, but we don’t care, we’re not jealous. Strangely we meet a lady from Milton Keynes…. It’s a small world!
10am
My husband phones and tells me we should be seeing the first of the wheelchair racers shortly, and guess what here they come. Wow! The arms on these guys are massive, really amazing. They are closely followed by the elite women, and Allison and I can’t agree on whether we like the outfits or not? Who knew running could be so complicated in terms of fashion. We start to feel a buzz in the air and the elite men start to pass, the crowds have really built up now, and the men seem to be going really fast even at this stage of the race.
10.30am
Finally – THE MASSES- and what a mass, such an amazing sight to see. The runners are still shoulder to shoulder at this point and I for one can’t help getting really excited. There’s a CAMEL I scream at Allison, there’s a Rhino, a fairy , a carrot. Everything and everyone I see I am excited by.
11.45am
We are desperately trying to pick out our runners but to no avail, still it is good to know we are there supporting.
1pm
Katie and Peter Andre go by with their massive entourage; surely all our runners have passed. We decide to move on and travel to Monument which is Mile 23. Fantastic, the crowd is massive and there are bands and beer. We find a small spot under the bridge, it is out of the sunshine but at least we have a spot. We hold out some jelly babies and these are gratefully grabbed as the runners pass. GOOD LUCK! We shout.
THERES ONE….Adam, Adam, but he doesn’t hear us, people have been shouting the names of the runners the entire time. Finally we start to see some of our runners. Andy, Dave, Jonesy and Matt, unfortunately none of them see us, but we are elated.
2.15pm
We decide to call it a day and head back towards Victoria. This time the tube is crammed, and we all but decapitate the travellers with our banner.
4pm
The coach is busy, noisy and smelly coming back, but you can’t say we haven’t had a great day.
6pm
Home at last, what a brilliant experience!
Willen Hospice would like to say a big thank you to all those who took part in the event and everyone who supported on the day.
