Thank you, Marathon runners!
08 May 2013
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We want to say a huge thank you to the twelve generous people who ran the marathon for us this year. Between them they raised over £27,000 for London Youth! We are incredibly grateful for all their effort and energy. Particular thanks go to the staff members of Microsoft who ran for us and to our Volunteer Coordinator Matt Dronfield who also ran.
To find out what the money could go towards, and how you can get involved with fundraising for us too, please visit this page. To give you a sense of the day, below is an account of what it is like to run for London Youth, by Simon Sorted of Sorted TV…
"It was a beautiful day. A little too warm to break any personal best maybe, but gloriously sunny.The 30 second silence in honour of the Boston marathon bombing victims was very moving. It was followed by the loudest cheer ever from all 37,000 people. Powerful stuff. My start was quite far back, so I ran really quickly at the start. All of the charity vests that people were wearing gradually gave way to the running club vests, and then I caught up with the 3:15 pace setter, and did my best to stay there.
I managed to spot and high five some friends who had come to cheer me on at mile 14, which was great. Up to mile 22 everything was going really well and then it all started to get very painful. Usually the pain kicks in well before that, so I must have been doing something right. This is the bit when lots of things run through my mind such as 'it's only 4 miles to go', 'the pain will be over soon', 'why am I doing this?', and I kept reminding myself of all the support I was getting and the fundraising, and all the beer that I would be able to drink at the finish: that scene at the end of 'Ice cold in Alex' sprang to mind.
By mile 25 I was a total wreck. I was counting the steps and hoping that my legs didn't disintegrate underneath me. When I finally crossed the line, I could barely stand up or keep my eyes open. I had used up everything I had. I staggered through processing, where people remove your chip, give you a medal, a goodie bag, and your kit bag, like a zombie.
The sense of relief was overwhelming. I guess I felt as though I'd, well, run a marathon. It was very emotional. An amazing feeling. It was a really fast time for me: I finished in 3:16 which I'm thrilled with. Despite my efforts to win the entire race I was 1:11 behind first place and 1:22 faster than the average time. Thanks again for letting me run for you guys."
