Hamburger Feast

[Nigel]

I wanted to say how much I greatly enjoyed your report, Andy. A real reminder of the experience of running 26.2 miles, and you capture the emotions very well.

It made me think a lot about the marathons I have run, the depth of the feelings along the way, and the impact they have had on me since. Many thanks for that. Each race is so much more than a distance measured along the road.


Your report did underline the huge difference between running a marathon, and running a marathon for a time. The first is fun, and the second can become very much more of a frantic affair. I think that what you experienced late in the race is very much the result of that faster first half.

That's not to say perhaps that it can't be done, to run all the way at pace, but it certainly requires a completely different level of concentration, and there is a lot less freedom and inclination to smell the flowers along the way. It is quite amazing how much difference it really does make, running just a few seconds a mile faster. Above all, it transforms the character of those last ever-lengthening miles.

I'm pleased I followed all that advice and ran my first marathon for the experience, and not for the time. Having experienced the tougher end of the marathon several times since, I doubt very much if I'd ever have run another if it had been so tough the first go around.

Well done for signing up at Loch Ness. No doubt another monster marathon journey in the making..... and I'm looking forward to reading about it already.