 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 London calling: CIP Paul Keylock (in red) amid the field crossing Tower Bridge |
- Paul Keylock reports on the fun and the pain of the colourful London marathon
After a week of cold rain, warm, clear skies were a welcome surprise on Sunday, April 16. This year, the sun shone on London in more ways than one as Antonio Pinto from Portugal smashed his own course record to finish in 2:06:36, and I finished a short while later with 4:16:45, raising $515,000 for Watchdog.
After greasing myself up in Vaseline, and a beautiful walk through Greenwich Park to the starting area, I took up my position on the long, straight road which goes through the park. Luckily, I wasn't too far from the front! The cannon boom heralded the mass start at 9.30 am and I managed to get over the starting line in two minutes, but for the back markers it was more like 20.
People were lining the route already. The pubs were all open with many onlookers sampling their first pints of the day! There were either live bands playing outside the pubs or disco music would be blasting out. Small children held out their hands to either receive 'high fives' from the runners or to hand out sweets or orange pieces.
After 11 kilometres, the crowd really grew in size as we passed the Cutty Sark. Many runners were in fancy dress. I was running with Sooty for a while, beside Batman, Superman, Superwoman, several fairies and clowns, three Elvis look-alikes and a bloody great rhino!
Thousands of people lined Tower Bridge as we hit the half way stage at 1:50:59, not bad for the first 20 kilometres. I felt good until I looked over and saw the top runners coming back from around the Isle of Dogs at the 35-kilometre mark.
The liquid carbohydrate sachets I was carrying started working wonders and helped me keep going through Canary Wharf and the Isle of Dogs. Now I was at the 35-kilometre mark with only six kilometres to go and it was my time to look over at the runners just arriving at the half way mark, including six runners in a big red London bus!
The last section followed the River Thames along Victoria Embankment to Big Ben, down Birdcage Walk and along to Buckingham Palace. From there, I could see the finish line on the Mall.
It was a very emotional moment crossing the finishing line knowing that I had raised so much money for the Watchdog kids. I would like to thank all Force members who sponsored me, especially the many Junior Police Officers. On behalf of all involved with Watchdog, thank you for your generosity which will go a long way to brightening up the lives of these lovely children.