ehT nodnoL nohtaraM

Trafalgar Square - L to R - Chris, Anna, Lyndon and me with
Jesus and Hung in the background from another wave.

The night before the London Marathon takes place, an intrepid - crazy - group of people get together to run the course backwards. In the dark. Most people would probably hear this and ask the natural question, Why? I, on the other hand asked, Where do I sign up?

Impact Events is a running organisation. Their staff used to do the challenge as a social, a team building event. Then they decided to open it up to others. Everyone meets by Trafalgar Square, walks to the Mall and then heads along the marathon route backwards. Let me rephrase that - heads along the reverse marathon route. We don't run backwards.

There are different waves depending on time; 4 hours, 4.5 hours and 5 hours. I decided to aim for 4.5 which meant leaving home at 01:45am for a 02:30 start.

Lyndon from Kent was our guide. The group consisted of him, myself, Chris from Doncaster and Anna from Walthamstow. It was good to chat and get to know one another's stories. It was Anna's first marathon.

We maintained a steady pace of around 10 minute miles along the Embankment taking in the lights of the London Eye, the Shard and a rainbow display in a building on the South Bank. We were using the pavements as the roads were still open. It was ridiculously busy considering the time and the shortage of petrol. There were people going clubbing, but also loads of cars. Often someone would stick their head out the window and shout "You're early!" or "Run, Forest, Run".

London Eye on Embankment (time is WhatsApp sending time)

Shard

Eventually we arrived at Tower Bridge, but had a loop of Canary Wharf to do before we could cross. After passing Billingsgate Market we turned right into the business area and it was much quieter. We enjoyed following the blue line down the middle of the roads as we looped this way and that through the skyscrapers.

Canary Wharf

As we exited and made our way back towards Central London we accidentally found ourselves on the wrong road but running parallel to our intended route. It only occurred to us when we suddenly noticed the lack of barriers. It was much better seeing the mile markers counting down the distance rather than up.

Finally Tower Bridge loomed up ahead of us bathed in light. We stopped for a photo and crossed over the Thames. By this time Anna was beginning to feel the pace. She was doing very well considering she had chosen this event for her debut marathon. We agreed that I would run with her at a slower pace while Lyndon and Chris pushed on to complete in the 4.5 hours.

Tower Bridge

As we ran through Rotherhithe we caught some of the slower group and were passed by others from the faster group. We were run/walking but making good progress as we passed through Deptford and into Greenwich. This part is very familiar with me as I always pass along there on my way to Central London.

It was good to reach Cutty Sark although disappointingly it wasn't lit. We now had just 10k to go. Then tragedy struck! As we squeezed through a narrow section where stewards were setting up the barriers, Anna's foot caught a concrete block hidden in the shadows and she went down, hard.

For a moment she didn't move. Slowly she stirred, crying out in pain and clutching her left shoulder. My immediate thought was that she had broken or dislocated it. She managed to sit as I was concerned about her laying on the cold floor. She was clearly shaken.

Thankfully she managed to move her arm. I was relieved I wasn't going to have to call an Ambulance or put her shoulder socket back in place. I had images of repeatedly ramming her arm into a wall in a vain attempt to pop it back in.

Once standing she made it to a bus shelter and sat down. She felt sick. After ten minutes she made the call to try and run. If she couldn't then she would call it a day. With admirable courage and strength she pushed on determined to finish. Her knees were cut but not too swollen and she had managed not to bang her head.

The long run towards Woolwich was taken carefully with walking stops and extra caution taken to watch our feet. It was now getting light and by the time we arrived at the right turn up the hill morning had broken. We walked up the hill to Woolwich Arsenal. Just three miles to go and I knew we would finish.

Finally, and bizarrely the Start line came into view. We had done it. Hundreds of people milled around preparing to begin their marathon as we celebrated completing ours. I must have looked a peculiar sight. Some looks I received communicated a concern that, if I looked like this at the start, there was no way I was going to finish. Little did they know.

The Start / Finish line