Bulls photographer Steve Niblett offers his thanks to his sponsors for his marathon effort:
Despite the odds I managed to complete my 3rd
London Marathon on Sunday. By completing it I’ve received over £2300
sponsorship for the Adam Stansfield Foundation and Herefordshire Carers
Support so far and there’s more rolling in, so £2500+ is a real
possibilty. You can still donate at www.nibbo.co.uk
Unfortunately
though due to a number of recent events, my Garmin recorded training
stats of 1400 miles run since last June and countless gym sessions meant
nothing as firstly I was struck down with the flu 7 weeks ago, I tore
both my calf muscles in the Rhayader 20 mile road race 5 weeks ago and
its been a race against time with physiotherapy and rehab to be fit.
Only last Wednesday did the physio believe I could run on it and I did
not try jogging in advance in case I knew I couldn’t do it. Last week
was eventful as I went down with a serious throat infection which
prevented me from going to work and a course of antibiotics. So lining
up at the start yesterday I had a feeling it was going to be a struggle.
I’ve never felt so underwhelmed at the start in over the 200+ races
I’ve done before. Come the 2 mile point I discarded with the Tupsley
Whites wig I was wearing, I wasn’t in the mood for frivolity and I knew
it would be a rough ride. The crowd were uplifting, but they can’t
inject glycogen into your muscles. Mr Tickle overtook me at the 10 mile
point along with 3 Batmen, and the girl doing the hula hoop & the
Morris man were with me for the whole race. How many people in the race
are called Steve, it must be 100’s, or I must be very well known, it was
becoming tiresome to hear ‘Come on Steve’. I struggled all the way and
after coming over Tower Bridge at the half marathon point unsurprisingly
my right calf buckled. I checked my time and I was already over 15
minutes outside of my target time at the halfway point. The last 13
miles were a mixture of walking, jogging and pulling up with cramp, an
ignominius way to complete one of the worlds best sporting events. A
brief respite was at 24 miles when I saw my wife and son which resulted
in an emotional outburst of frustration, it felt like Derek Redmond
breaking down in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. I scowled my way to the
finish and despised the last 200 metres to the line, I’m not even going
to attempt a trot, so there, take that.
So,
a personal worst by 1 hour and 40 minutes but the victory for me was in
the completion of the race. A bittersweet experience, and if I get in
via the ballot next year, the London Marathon and I have some unfinished
business to attend to.
Again, thanks to all that sponsored me, I’d like to say it was a pleasure ;-)
And one more thing, my Garmin GPS watch recorded 27 miles, I think the course needs remeasuring.