In Which I Get An Unexpected Sponsor And I Become Internet Famous
Well hello there, thanks for dropping by. I didn’t expect you so soon but, as is your way, you just turn up whenever don’t you? Ignora… I mean welcome!
Edinburgh Marathon has come and gone. It was my second time giving this one a go and felt like I’d done quite a bit of training leading up to the event. (running up to the… n/m.)
Since moving to Edinburgh I’ve made some friends. (YES I HAVE THEY’RE REAL) One of which was also running Edinburgh, which was her first ever marathon and so I gallantly offered to run the race with her. (She’s a much better runner than me so I was only really there for moral support.)
On the morning of the run, I had my traditional microwave burger for fuel, kissed Hayley g’bye and then went and met up with Rosy who drove us to the park n ride where we then got on the coach which took us into Edinburgh. (Keep up.)
We had time to spare at the start and it was crappy weather so went and stood inside a university building for warmth and to use the facilities. Before long it was time to line up and then go time.
My plan was to try stick with Rosy until halfway round then let her run off and do her thing whilst I struggled with the second lot of 13.1miles. And that’s what I did! The first few miles were fine, we got into a decent rhythm soon enough and felt well. We ran through Edinburgh city centre then turned towards the coast where it started to get warmer.
The day before, Hayley’s mum had told me to watch out for her sisters at around 10 miles in as they’d made me a sign. I saw them at the side of the road but didn’t register the sign straight away as thought it was an advert.
How good was that! Wasn’t expecting it to look as professional as it did! Amazing. A bit further on I saw Hayley’s mum cheering me on too.
Around 13 miles I told Rosy I couldn’t keep her pace any longer (just over 2hrs for the first half) and I knew Hayley was waiting somewhere near so would be stopping for a chat and a pep talk. Found her at the side of the road (waiting for me, not like, on the floor or anything.) She also had a sign:
Again, amazing! Didn’t want to think how much these had cost them to make. The signs are well over a metre tall! She gave me a couple of energy gels and I carried on, running by our house and forcing myself not to run inside.
The next few miles were tough. Hugging the coast all the way to the turn around point at around 16/17 miles, then ran through Gosford House grounds which is a big stately home kinda thing, then aimed back for home. Again, my actual home as I had to run by it on the way out AND on the way back. Waved to my house then got my head down for the last five miles of the marathon.
After 30 minutes or so, further down the road, I could see ANOTHER of those signs! Thought that was odd as I don’t really know anyone else up in Scotland yet. Getting closer though, I realised it was Emma who was jumping up and down like a mental. She told me that she was gonna be at the end of the race to come round for drinks but obviously Emma is a bit of a liar because I could see her. And I knew exactly how far away from the end she was:
Don’t ask me how, I just knew.
Last couple of miles. Struggling. Sore, hot, sweaty, thirsty. End in sight, so looked as hard as I could at the crowds to try to spot Hayley. Didn’t see her though. Ah well, FINISH LINE!
4hr 53mins.
Not my fastest, not my slowest. Possibly my middlest.
I message Hayley saying I was done and she told me they were at the opposite side that I’d come out of so I made my way over. I found her there, along with people I didn’t recognise. I did, however, recognise the brand name on their t-shirts.
Innis & Gunn. The lager people from the signs!
Turns out they’d been following me and updating their Facebook page to get people to cheer me on all the way round! Hayley (the con artist) had been in touch with them prior to the run and told them that I was raising money for charity and as part of my training had stayed off of Innis & Gunn (which is in fact my favouritist Lager ever. Not even just saying that!)
Also, they had a photographer there. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY they had a cold can of Lager and a pint glass for me to help recover. Which was EXACTLY what was needed. The Facebook post got thousands of likes and hundreds of comments and I actually felt like a celeb. Especially being featured on their website too!
Actually cannot thank them (and Hayley!) enough for all the support that they gave. Also can’t thank them enough for the 48 cans of lager that they’d filled my fridge with… Which might explain why it took me so long to remember to update my blog.
They best do the same for me next year.
UPDATE
They also sponsored my JustGiving £150. Wonderful people!
Marc Hemingway 