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The London Marathon Special | Everything you need to know about the race
3.8k Plays8 months ago
The TCS London Marathon is one of the most sought-after race entries for runners all over the globe. Almost 600,000 people entered the ballot in 2024 to bag one of around 50,000 spots (including charity places).
If you were lucky enough to get yourself a bib then this podcast may be worth a listen We've run many a London Marathon over the years, picking up plenty of experience in everything from the expo to the best places to go after you cross the finish line.
Nick, Kieran, Jane and Tom chat about their London Marathons over the years and offer their advice on how to make it a day to remember.
Big thanks to Fear of Tigers for the killer intro music. You can listen to more of his stuff over at https://www.patreon.com/fearoftigers
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Transcript
Introduction to London Marathon Episode
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey, Tommy from The Runtesters and welcome to The Runtesters podcast. In this special, we are going to be talking about the London Marathon. So we have all done London Marathon a number of times. And in this podcast, we're going to be talking about hints, tips, advice that we can give you if you're planning on doing the race to make it go a little bit more smoothly. Hopefully you'll find it useful. Let's dive in.
Returning from Maternity Leave and Policies
00:00:27
Speaker
Evening people, what's going down? Hey! Hello! Hello! James back, be here. I'm back. How are we all doing? Plus another one? Yeah, maternity leave's over. Yeah, Ron Tester's very strict maternity leave. Ron Tester's have no maternity leave, so let's report them now.
00:00:45
Speaker
give you a red scent outside the first hour you're in the ward. Yeah, no. I know that. You'll see tweets, won't you, from like, groups. Am I actually back? Six weeks off. No, I want to be back. I'm here. I'm here. Talk about London Marathon. I'm exciting. Yeah, yeah. Big London Marathon pod. Well, this is the London Marathon special. So we talked about doing this in one of the pods last we did this year, where quite a lot of us, all of us on this call, have done the London Marathon multiple times.
00:01:11
Speaker
And we thought we'd do a podcast for all the people that are doing it this year. Maybe people who've never done it before and they don't know what to expect and we can give them a bit of advice. And people who have done it before, but maybe want some more detailed advice on pacing and where to pick up the pace and all those sorts of things. And people who are never planning on doing it, but just want to listen to her stuff about London Marathon. This is for you guys too. Yeah. Everyone's welcome.
00:01:36
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I thought an easy way to start would be, I'll start with you, Jane. Oh, God. What is your relationship with London Marathon?
Personal Marathon Experiences
00:01:47
Speaker
How many have you done? What do you think of London Marathon? I've done London Marathon four times and it's how I started running, which I feel like is really boring when everyone says this, but it is true. I got a place on the ballot because I'm one of those
00:02:01
Speaker
annoying people. And I was like, cool, I run a marathon. And it was the worst day of my entire life until I gave birth. So it was just hell on earth. I was like, I'm never doing this again. Actually, that's really not positive, is it? Because people are gonna listen to this, who've never run a marathon before.
00:02:19
Speaker
It was the best day, but the worst day because I hadn't trained properly. I had no idea what I was doing. I hadn't fueled properly because I thought gels were for losers. And I was like, I'm never ever doing that again. And then the next day I was like, that was the best day of my life. So the worst day, but the best day, actually the best day. And I've now done it.
00:02:39
Speaker
three more times. So it got me into running. It got, it made me want to run and the crowds were amazing. And it was like, I actually know it wasn't the worst day of my life. The training was the worst, the worst thing I've ever done. And the marathon was such a hard day, but also such a good day. It's like a weird one, isn't it? It's like one of those things that is horrible, but we keep going back. But I dunno, have I just put everyone off?
00:03:05
Speaker
Nice. Well, has it got any better over the following three times? Yeah, it has. And actually the last one I did last year did it. And as you know, I think my favourite London Marathon was the one, the Covid one when it was in October, because I was just like, remember when we couldn't go out the house? And that's all I kept thinking the whole way around. Like, look at this and every and I'm going to go and watch. I'm going to go and watch. I thought I'd be able to run this year, but I think I was stupid to think that. So I'm going to go and watch and I
00:03:35
Speaker
sob like a baby every time. It's just the best place, isn't it? Go then, Kieran, you've done it a few times. Yeah, so I've done it three times and it was my second ever marathon. I tried to get into it for my first marathon, but couldn't get into the ballot. I wasn't as lucky as Jane. I ended up doing Paris the first one. And then, yeah, I've done it three times, couple of times, done it as good for age.
00:03:59
Speaker
managed to qualify for it. And I think two out of the three times I've managed to run a PB on the course. So it's been a bit of a happy one for me. And like everyone, you know, it was one of those I just wanted to tick off London feels like one of the marathons that you sort of almost have to have done in order to consider yourself a marathoner in some ways. Yeah. And I've always I've always had to run pretty well there home crowd, always have my family there.
00:04:24
Speaker
It's got some real magic in it. It's got some, as you'll come on to later, there's some bits that you have to black out because they're not so nice, but there's some really wonderful magic moments in London. And there's nothing quite like coming onto that red tarmac when you're sort of getting to the finish and you know, you've got a little bit left to go. But yeah, always, always run well.
00:04:40
Speaker
haven't i'm not in this year because i missed out i'm basically a little bit too slow my age too young is where you could say it or i'm too young when i ran my fast race and then i got yeah well i wasn't no i was the other way around i wasn't old enough when i ran the time yeah so next year maybe i'm now at the bottom bracket of the of the older age where we won't say which
00:05:00
Speaker
I should be able to get in. Yeah, I've got my mate who's just about to turn into a new age group and he's been so excited. He can't wait to actually wreck people. Well then, you've done it a few times as well, haven't you?
00:05:16
Speaker
I am on a street. I've done six London's. I've basically done it since I did my first one. I've done it every year since then, except when they did the virtual one. I didn't bother with the virtual one, but now I get in on my time. So I've done red start, good for age start, and then championship start the last four times, and this time this year as well.
00:05:34
Speaker
And yeah, I really like it. I find it quite hard course to run very well. I had PB'd a couple of times at London. My first sub three was there. That was my, that was my second marathon at Barcelona for my first one. And then PB'd there a year later or so. And then I've had a couple of if he runs since then and won quite a round of a Jill one year, a week after running Berlin. And last year I didn't run all out because I think that was when I had
00:05:57
Speaker
What did last year? I thought I banged my knee on a radiator. That was it. I banged my knee on a radiator. Oh yeah. Radiator gate. Radiator gate. Entertaining my child. This is all to come, Jane. Everyone bangs their knee on a radiator and it rules them out of running competitively for a while. Don't have to speak about it all the time in the podcast, though. When you asked for Helen to give birth, wasn't that awesome? No, no. I was entertaining my daughter in the bath and I leapt across a room and hit a radiator. It's all in earlier pods. People can find it.
00:06:20
Speaker
All fully labelled if you want to find out about that. Yeah, this year I'm going all out. We'll talk about it later on in the podcast. I find it quite a tricky course compared to like Valencia and London and Berlin because it's a bit more, it's not slow at all. It's just a bit more up and down. You've got to pace yourself a bit more cleverly, but yeah, it's absolutely brilliant.
00:06:37
Speaker
the COVID one was just the best day out. The one after the COVID one, I've never been so happy, like, you know, running through. I didn't have a great run that day, but it was just so nice to see all the crowds out there. And last year, actually, it was peeing it down with rain. And I think it was the loudest ever been like around Tower Bridge and stuff. It's
00:06:54
Speaker
Yes, I'm not a very emotional person, but as one of the few areas I get quite emotional with London Marathon, it's pretty intense at times, actually. And I run with the Running Club in London, so they're all there on drink stations. It's a good one to keep doing because it's very cheap, actually, in the world of running the London Marathon, although the price has gone up a bit this year, but also easy to get to, which helps as well. Have you picked out your headband for this year?
00:07:15
Speaker
Same headband as always. The only decision is whether I wear glasses or contacts or bother with contacts. So that's the main decision. I might actually wear my hat actually this year, I have to say. Wow. Watch out. I'm wearing a hat a lot more. Watch out London. Makes you got a hat. Yeah, yeah. Could be wearing a hat. We'll find out on the day. Big exclusive there for people.
00:07:36
Speaker
It's not set in stone, Tom, so we're not sure. Well, we just have to be excited on our day when people are looking out in the photo. I was telling your voice, you're not going to be excited, Tom. Then that actually hurts a little bit. So, go on, let me talk to you, run London. I'm less excited about you mentioning it on the next four pods. Don't get me on then. Probably won't. I'm not here next month, you'll know why.
00:07:58
Speaker
Well, I think I've done it three times. Never done a proper London. Every time I run it, the first two times I did it, I don't think I trained at all for it. You, like Jane, were in the Gelsa for losers camp for about 10, 15 years, weren't you? Any nutrition.
00:08:14
Speaker
Interesting. I think 30 times I didn't do it properly and the third time was during my injury period where I had that calf issue. Oh yeah. And I tried, I was on for, I think I was on for like a 315 and I ended up at 32k, a calf just went and they basically walked in the last 10k. Some good photos of you looking really angry that day, I believe. You're really scowling. That was the tail end of my injury period then and it was, was it tail end or it might have been?
00:08:41
Speaker
Basically, the next time I raced in marathon was Bilbao when I realized I could run a bit faster. Yeah. And you'll get your good phrase this year, first time, right? Good phrase this year. Yeah. Yeah. So I think I've got to do it. But I've got Boston the week before. So it's not going to be a fast one for me.
00:08:58
Speaker
I don't know if I'll ever do a fast London. It always seems to, something always seems to go wrong for London. It's a little tricky in our line of work. It's a very busy work week as well as lots of events and stuff like that. You kind of should attend, whereas like Berlin Valencia is so much quieter and easier to relax and focus on the race. Well, should we jump in and give some advice on London Marathon? Let's do it.
00:09:30
Speaker
All right. Well, I've got a list of things here to talk through. And the first one of those is the expo. So, who wants to pick up the expo? What is the London marathon expo like? And what do you need to know about it? Kieran loves the expo. Talk about it. I love an expo. It's in the middle of nowhere. Let's start with that. It's mild from anywhere and you have to get on a kind of toy train, the DLR to get there. It's kind of a, yeah.
00:09:55
Speaker
It's kind of a way out. For me anyway, I live in West London, so it's like I might as well go into a different country. It's easier to get to Valencia for there. I live in East London and it is faster door to door to the Valencia Mountain Expo than the XL, the XL Centre in East London. Yeah, so huge exhibition centre out on the DLR and it's in, you know, it's like a big, big, big, gold, huge kind of cavernous space.
00:10:19
Speaker
And it's big, you know, as the expos go, the London Marathon one is probably one of the biggest that I've been to out of all of the 50 odd marathons that I've done. And if I have one piece of advice for anyone, choose the different days. If you can go on a Thursday and you want it to be nice and quiet and you want to get through all the queues really quickly, go on the Thursday. Friday will be busier, Saturday will be mayhem. If you like it to be mayhem, go on the Saturday. That's when there'll be the most bars and there'll be the most craziness and there'll be all the things going on.
00:10:49
Speaker
Um, but it's, I think if you're on the Thursday, every time I've done it, it's been quite, it's quite quick. It's, it's good fun. There's lots of, there is lots of stuff there. If you want to get involved in buying last minute shoes and gels and all of that kind of stuff. And that tends to be, I think of all the expos I've been through, there tends to be more sort of fun interactive stuff and you can meet more people. And it's, it's one of the livelier expos that I've been to. And for anyone listening or watching this, the expos, this is where you, you got to go to pick up your bib.
00:11:19
Speaker
essentially, and some of the bits and pieces, and you've got to take your ID with you and information about... Is that it? You just need your ID? Yes, and that was my thing to remember because I've never remembered ID, and one year I had to go all the way home and go all the way back, so...
00:11:36
Speaker
Well worth remembering that before you get all the way there. I would say it's a substantial amount of walking because the XL is huge and another reason not to go on Saturday is it would be equivalent of a shakeout run walking around the XL and you have to go a certain way because they want you to go past pretty much certain attractions like whoever's the main sponsor and that kind of thing.
00:11:55
Speaker
The problem a lot of people have with the expo is that if you are, because we all live, or I did live in London, that you actually, it's relatively easy to get there on an evening. But people who are travelling over and just for the weekend, it's quite expensive to stay in London over the weekend. So you might have to go to the expo. Yeah, of course. But, you know, it's certainly, again, probably go early if you can, but yeah, it is.
00:12:21
Speaker
I don't know if those all major marathons don't mail the numbers out, do they really? But it's a nice thing to go to, but it is a bit of an extra hassle in an already busy week. You basically get every time I've been to it, and I think this is the same with pretty much every expo apart from the little ones we've been to, like Bill Bauer expo where she's just a room.
00:12:39
Speaker
They basically design it, it's massive, and they basically design it so you zigzag through all of the places they want you to... the shops, basically, that they want you to look at at the start. And it's a new balance, isn't it? They do... This
Navigating the Expo
00:12:53
Speaker
year, yeah, yeah, yeah. They've got a massive thing you have to go through.
00:12:56
Speaker
so you'll be winding through the New Balance shops which is very tempting because you're excited about doing the marathon and you see all the London Marathon kit and you think oh I'll pick up a hat and a jacket so just be aware of that because it can get a little bit easy to
00:13:10
Speaker
fill your bag with stuff and want to buy everything. There's a couple of other things. I think one of the differences that you get on London as well, they do have stages and they have people giving, if you're a first timer, there is a main stage where they'll talk you through tips and stuff. And that is quite useful, actually, if you've never done it before, for that kind of last minute kind of advice.
00:13:31
Speaker
Some of it, you know, some of it doesn't do too much. There's not much that you can change at that point. The other thing is they often have the kychogi travel layer to try to get you to run at the fastest pace. Maybe, yeah, I don't know which one. Well, it must be the world record. It's got to be covered in kychon space now, yeah.
00:13:49
Speaker
Don't go on that. Don't go on that. Certainly don't go on your jeans. People fall over, get injured. You've done all that training. You don't need to prove that right there and then save that for another day when you're not actually racing. Yeah, it's fast. I wouldn't go that. I would say on the stage as well, if the advice isn't great, just maybe take some headphones and listen to this podcast again. That would be a good way to do it. That's a good idea, yeah.
00:14:11
Speaker
Yeah. The other bit of advice I'd give for the expo is I see a lot of people buying new running shoes and stuff at the expo. And because you've just bought new running shoes, you're very excited about wearing them. And I know people that have bought them and used them for the marathon the next day. That's not a good idea either, because if you're not used to wearing the shoes, it's a big risk on marathon day. Same with the kit as well. If you're going to buy a load of running kit from there and really want to wear it on the marathon day, it's a risky, risky decision to make if you've never worn it before.
00:14:40
Speaker
But it is exciting, right? It's a nice buzz to it. It is. You walk through and they play, the Chariots of Fire, what they play when you walk through. Yeah, I think it is. It's always the same song. It's exciting. You get your number, you can take some cool Instagram pics. You can, it's a fun... Try some freebies. Yeah, fun hour, I guess. I wouldn't spend more than an hour there.
00:15:01
Speaker
No. I'd say there is a tip if you have more than one number, which is a few, I think the Abbott, when they did the Abbott things there, and if you're a championship, you get more than one number, they often do not know that when they're giving you your number and you have to make it, you have to say, I need a second number because obviously they're used to handing out one number. So if you're doing like the world age group thing, I think that was the same kind of thing. It's worth, otherwise you walk with one number and you have to go around again to get your second one. I've done that.
00:15:29
Speaker
Okay, next one
Pre-Race Preparations
00:15:30
Speaker
is morning of the race. So getting to the start line and the event village itself. So I, well, I lived in London, so it was never really that hard for me to get to the start line from where I live, but it gets really, really busy. And it's worth knowing that a lot of the transport is absolutely rammed on on the morning of the race. So on trains and stuff, it's standing a lot on trains and people are getting up really, really early. So they're busy from the early hours of the day.
00:15:59
Speaker
Especially if you've got like a later start time, you know, people will have been going all day. So it's, it's, it's chaotic. Plan your route. And also you can, you will, I don't know if it's apt to do you guys, but when there's that many people, you start to lose their cellular signal and 4g and stuff like that. And so you've got to plan your route in advance, basically. It's free, isn't it? Yes.
00:16:17
Speaker
Flasher number is free. Yeah, I think it is. Although last year I was told it wasn't, but it's normally, it is free. It is definitely, but I've been charged before when they just don't do it. Yeah, they just don't know. The other flip side to all of that as well is it mad busy bomb the trains again, like you're crammed in, there's a good energy to it. I mean, there's a nervous energy, but you do meet a lot of runners and there's good chat and there's a good sort of camaraderie that you find as you're sort of traveling down from wherever it is that you're traveling down.
00:16:44
Speaker
I think I'm always like I'm a really kind of early to the airport kind of person. And I always get there way early and then sometimes spending which start because there's three different starts.
00:16:55
Speaker
you can, there's some of the cafes, if you're getting early, actually, you can get a seat and just be in the warm for a little bit before you walk up to the main start. And in some of those, some years, you can find that actually, there's toilets and not everyone does it. So if you're early enough, you can take shelter and it's kind of, it's just a bit more comfortable. You can kind of get your heart rate down and relax a bit before you go up and do what you've got to do at the start.
00:17:16
Speaker
Well, that is a very smart boob, so I do this at every race, but if you're walking to a big race and you spot an opportunity to go to the toilet that doesn't look like it's difficult, take it. Always. Because when you get to the start, when you get to that event village, you could be queuing for a very long time. And go. First thing you get to the event village, just go. Don't think I'll sort a couple of bits out first. Yeah, getting that queue first straight away.
00:17:39
Speaker
Yeah, so if you see a toilet and you're not sure if you want to go, go and try it anyway, because you might not get an opportunity later. Especially if you're a woman, because the toilet queues are double the men's. Yeah. I mean, I feel like that's a life tip.
00:17:55
Speaker
Yeah. I know I do that all the time. Just getting out here. Oh, the other thing is it's a longer walk from the stations than you might think. And so you want to take that slowly. Last, you want to be running that bit to get to the start line for your way. So give it a bit of time. And also, if you're affiliated with the club at all around the southeast, actually even further afield, maybe you don't spend that much time talking to the club. You do maybe unaware of stuff. They often have coaches. I always get a coach with my club. I wasn't aware of it for a year or so because
00:18:23
Speaker
you know, I was just racing and didn't really look at the groups. It's worth asking around because if you can sit on a coach with your club mates for a nominal fee, it's quite an easy drive to Greenwich at that time and all the roads are empty. So, and you get dropped very close to, well, I get dropped very close to the blue start, which is, you know, for some people that's great and it's not that far a walk to the other starts and it's obviously a lot more relaxing to go and do a coach ride with people you know, rather than, you know, trying to work out the trains. Yeah. I'd also say as great as the atmosphere is on the trains and everyone's talking, I am someone who
00:18:53
Speaker
I don't want to hear someone telling me their PB and their race strategy and every race I've ever run. I am not in that headspace. I want to just calm down and focus on the race and what I'm going to do. So I think I put my headphones in. I probably look like a resting bitch face on the train. Everyone's having a great time. Everyone's tracked Kieran and I'm on my own in the corner because I don't want to hear it.
00:19:14
Speaker
I mean, Karen was there two hours before I left. So I think it's cool to just be in your own little headspace and listen to this podcast, listen to some music, listen to something and keep that in right to the start line and look after your own. Don't get, don't get caught talking to the person that wants to tell you about their race. Focus on your own. I'd say would be my tip.
00:19:39
Speaker
A couple more things as well. The starts are kind of, they're quite open. They can be quite wind swept and they're grassy if I remember rightly. And so definitely do that thing where you take clothes to dress a little bit warmer, you can toss away. Another good thing if it's been really raining, because I think the grass on some of them is quite long, it can be handy to take carrier bags, tie them around your shoes. I've made a mistake of starting that race with soaking wet feet because you've been tramping across the field.
00:20:06
Speaker
essentially, to go back to and from the toilet, and that's not a nice thing to start with wet socks. So that's another one. We'll get some of those. You can get shoe covers and stuff. Yeah, 100% on the shoes, especially you've got your amazing race day super shoes, and they're damp and slippery for the first kilometer because you've been walking around in mud. Yeah, not ideal.
00:20:30
Speaker
Okay, so what can people expect when they're starting the race?
Race Day Strategy
00:20:36
Speaker
They're queuing up, ready to go, they're in the wave. I suppose that's where we start really getting into the right wave. They'll let you move back, not forward. So if you've been over, I'd say if you've got injured or you've predicted
00:20:49
Speaker
start time that you can't achieve I'd go back and be I wouldn't I wouldn't go off in a wave that's too quick because you get swept up and you'll go too fast I think you feel like you're being stampeded and it's not that's not a nice feeling for the first it's absolutely control you out
00:21:05
Speaker
I would say it's, um, it can be a bit nightmarish to start. I think I, you normally, if I'm in my start group and you know, going out at the right pace of people, it's okay. But I remember the championship start and the good for age start, there's a lot of different times in there. The championship starts all one time, but the good for age start, the times can be very different to qualify for that, right? So yeah, it's very busy. And then there's the wave comes steaming through behind you. And I think that's a general thing for the first couple of clays. It's a,
00:21:28
Speaker
you know, it's very easy to get annoyed or run too quick because you'll annoy the people elbowing past you and stuff like that. And yeah, when I read it with Jill, I was amazed how brutal it gets around that sub three mark. But it levels out quite quickly. I suppose at that pace, a lot of people don't necessarily get their pacing exactly right for that first bit. So it is all over the pace. And you've also got the funneling as well, haven't you, in London Marathon?
00:21:53
Speaker
which means that you may get to the point where you're thinking, this is all great, I found my pace, I'm in the right bit, and then suddenly loads of people join you from another side, and you've got the whole thing again. The joiner out was around 5k, the three routes merge, and it's usually okay. By then, there's been 5k, people have gone out a bit, but there are loads of people going too quick. It's really important to run your own race at that stage, because it'll feel so easy to just go with them. It's downhill, isn't it? The first bit's downhill, and it really is very easy to get carried away,
00:22:22
Speaker
And the other thing, some people in the past have tried to say, if you've gone from two different start locations and you kind of want to run the race together, we'll meet up when it merges. That won't happen. To find somewhere that's impossible. I think I once managed to meet up with one of my friends from a different start and that was at mile 22, we eventually caught up with each other at the right kind of pace. There's only a reason I could see him is because he's massive, he's a swimmer. So there was like 20 runners hiding behind him from the wind and he was very obvious.
00:22:49
Speaker
But yeah, forget those people. Unless you're willing to carry your phone and check, see what mark point checkpoint they're at. You're not going to find those people from a different start. It's very tricky. And the hills in the first half, I think are the reason why London is a hard race to pace because you fly down those hills and you might as well fly down. It's not costing you any extra effort, but when you get to the bottom, it is so hard to decelerate again because they're early enough in the race that you feel amazing and you hit the bottom of the hill when you're running 20 seconds quicker, okay, than you should be. And you go, well,
00:23:15
Speaker
No, fine, you know, and that's where the race is lost. I think
00:23:20
Speaker
And I think it's really hard. I'm never going to be at Nick's end of the course. So I'm in the kind of really crowded bit of the London marathon course. And it's really hard when you get to mile three and you see a pace from a different start. And it's that it's a psychological thing, isn't it? You think, oh, I'm behind that pace. So I need to speed up. But actually that pace is from a different start. The people with it are from a different start. They started it. Did you mean it's really hard? I think it's to like Karen said, run your own race and don't
00:23:47
Speaker
get swept up in. Oh, I'm now behind the four hour pacer because they're from a different start. Do you know what I mean? And I think even the paces at London Marathon, they do an amazing job, but I think I would ignore them personally. I've never run with a race pacer because I think they're always a little bit out and they, I don't know. I don't know what you guys think about it, but I would ignore the paces and run your own race personally. But if you're going to stick with a pacer, make sure
00:24:08
Speaker
they're wearing the flag from your start, not a different start, because there'll be a different time. Because they just talk to them as I would always talk to them and say, how are you going to run this? I want to know whether they're going to be, you know, some people will try and go out a little bit faster to save a bit of time, or they might be thinking, I'm going to, yeah, I'm going to bank a bit of time because I know a bit is coming up. But if you haven't run like that, or you're not used to it, it can just
00:24:29
Speaker
unsettle you. So try and work out what their plan is going to be. It's also just so crowded around them that some of them, like you're saying, have different strategies for dealing with that to go out quick, to try and get out of the crowd or to just be slow to start because it's so crowded. So yeah, I ran with... So I ran my first sub 3 at London using the paces where what I did was, like you told Jane, they come from different starts, they're going at different speeds. So I saw a pacer for sub out. I knew was going faster than the pacer from mine. So I thought, well, if I'm going with them, I'm definitely ahead of the sub 3 for my wave because they've clearly started before them.
00:24:58
Speaker
And then I was all right there. I was able to move away from them and go a bit quicker. But yeah, you got to be a bit careful. It is so crowded around those paces as well. And it's so intense. I don't know how they do that.
00:25:09
Speaker
All right, well, what about that? We've talked about what it's like on the course, but the course itself, what can people expect from it? You've got two, basically two halves of the marathon and they're very different types of a race, not just because of the ground that you're running on and the decline at the start. But for me, the first half is, you know, knuckle down, get into it and just sort of make your way to that tower bridge point, because that's for me is when the race
00:25:37
Speaker
you know everyone talks about the marathon starting at 25k or whatever but for London most of the stuff that you see happens after after that distance because you come through Tower Bridge it's almost like you know you're in London then and you start to see all the sights that that you expect from London Marathon yeah I mean I think that first that first six first six miles out east is it's pretty dull sort of running through residential streets and stuff there's not yeah I mean you've got Cutty Sark comes before Tower Bridge but
00:26:07
Speaker
And that's a bit of a highlight, but there's not, I find that there's not an awful lot. Love Cutty Suck here. Do it down. Cutty Suck's amazing.
00:26:16
Speaker
Yeah, you sort of spin around that bend, the cameras are up there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a bit of that. And do I find the first bit? Yeah, Tom's right. I think you've just got to, there's not too much excitement there in the first bit. So it's about kind of getting yourself settled into the race and almost kind of just trying to get into a flow in that first bit. There will be some kids already trying to hand you jelly babies at mile three. And yeah, there is crowds kind of already aligning the course from the very start. Yeah, it's crazy now.
00:26:44
Speaker
I would say if you have anyone that's willing to do the journey, get people at that. Because I've had people that have seen me at Cutty Sark and been like, God, you looked awful. You look like you're having an awful day. And they've seen me at Tower Bridge and been like, you were flying. So I think that first bit is hard because you go down the hill and then you're like, oh, it's happening. And I always find that first bit to Cutty Sark really hard to try and get people
00:27:08
Speaker
to come to like mile five do you mean and see you right at the start because i think you need the support then as much as you need it at mile 20 personally as someone who has to drag themselves around i don't know you guys are quicker than me maybe you know well i would want people at the beginning yeah well there's the logistics isn't there if you've got people coming to see you there is there's it's a good way to actually get
00:27:27
Speaker
quite early on, which is probably around the bermsy bit, and then move around to two other different areas, the finisher course, and maybe, I can't remember how they did it, I think it might be Canary Wharf or something, where people watched me before. There's a bit where they can see you twice, isn't there? That's Canary Wharf, where they can see what life does. Yes, that's on the way to and from. On the way to and from, yeah. Shadwell, I think. Shadwell, yeah. Shadwell is the best place because, yeah, you cross over and there's plenty of time because you're doing the helm back. And from Shadwell, there's still enough time to get back to closer to the finish as well.
00:27:56
Speaker
depending on how fast the runner is, you can do Shadwell on that bit, see them twice, and then still get along to embankment. I know we'll come on to the bits we hate, but that out and back bit is the worst bit, isn't it? Because that's when I see Nick running past me the other day and thinking, he's going home. He's going home and I've got to go out. I hate that bit. I've been walking a couple of times on that bit, so it's all right. It's good to see that.
00:28:19
Speaker
When you're coming out on that bit, you see all the people coming back and you think, oh great, it's not going to be that, this bit's not going to be that far. But when you come back round, that was so far to get round. And it really shows you how.
00:28:35
Speaker
I think the first half of London Marathon before Tower Bridge is very easy racing. I find that the easiest because it is much like every city marathon. It's residential streets. There's a much better crowd than most places. I haven't done New York, obviously, but that's also meant to be amazing. But it's, you know, there's downhills and then lots of level stuff. It's very easy to get into pacing.
00:28:51
Speaker
obviously you're feeling good first. I think that's where you just, it's very easy. I think as a race, part of the race, the second half is not just because the second half is tricky. I think there's a lot more turns, there's ups and downs under bridges and stuff like that. I think it's a much harder race mentally and physically the second half of London marathon, which is why I think it's a hard race to pace because hard to negative split London really well. But yeah, and part of that is Canary Wharf where obviously you lose GPS and also it's just, it is twisty, it's high buildings. It is
00:29:16
Speaker
still really well supported now on the Isle of Dogs, which you didn't used to be like around Mud Shoot. It used to be quite quiet there, but the last couple of years has been wall to wall people still. But it's definitely, I think, slightly sparser than the first half of the race and just less fun. And I do think that 32K mark London is tough, like, because if you can get through the next five or six, seven K, then you're back to Shadwell and into the real crowds and into, like you say, London that you recognize and it's really exciting and you're heading for home along the river. Yeah.
00:29:45
Speaker
The other thing, I think Tower Bridge is a moment and it's a huge moment. There's good stats that show that everybody's kind of fastest mile tends to be the mile after Tower Bridge because you arrive on Tower Bridge, the crowds are incredible. There's this real kind of adrenaline moment. There's often the TV helicopters are up above and lots of people get kind of
00:30:05
Speaker
fired out of Tower Bridge, really pumped up and then run a mile that's way quicker than it should be. And then they go into that kind of out and back and then suffer. Yeah. So that's one to watch. You know, you enjoy that moment, but remember you've got a long way to go still then.
00:30:20
Speaker
And that feeling of sort of invincibility that you're going to get as you come across Tower Bridge with the hairs and standing up on the back of your neck is there's a long way to go. That's not going to last. So yeah, it's crazy. It's downhill off the bridge as well. And you're coming to the halfway mark is actually is off once you're off Tower Bridge. So it's like you come off Tower Bridge downhill, like roaring. You're flying. You see the halfway mark in the distance. You cane it to that. And it's like, oh,
00:30:41
Speaker
halfway and you run like you say your quickest mile and it's now like last year in the rain it was the first the mile but even the whole half mile probably K before Tower Bridge was almost as loud as Tower Bridge. Everyone's gone to that area and it just actually camped up near the bridge. It was unbelievable for about a mile and a half and it's impossible to not speed up a little bit but yeah it's really hard to not to then pull it back because you're heading into the out and back of the Isle of Dogs which is not the same.
00:31:07
Speaker
OK, so the finish line, one of the biggest finish lines of any marathon. What can people expect? Why is it such an important finish line for people who do London? So you see the palace and then you turn and you see the finish line and it's just honestly the best feeling in the world, isn't it?
00:31:22
Speaker
But the one thing I would say is that bit before the finish line, you go from miles to meters, don't you? And it's like, and then yards, and you go into all these different, and you're like, how far is it? You go through yards? You do. It's just bonkers because you're like, what's the yard? That is the original yard, isn't it? I mean, no, it's not there, but it's different palace, but they moved it for a palace, I suppose. I think it's
00:31:43
Speaker
But you see the palace and you know you're home and it's just, it is great. And then you cross the line, you get your medal and then you've got the longest walk of your life to get to Horse Guards Parade. And then a fight in your bag. And then you've got to go and hobble to Horse Guards, but you don't care at that point. Well, that last bit before the finish line is one of the longest sections of the race for me because
00:32:04
Speaker
When you're coming down the first section at St. James's Park, you think, oh, there's all the crowds. I've got to be at the finish line. And then you turn around the corner and you go, oh my goodness. I've got to go all the way around the other side now. When you hit that red tarmac, it's really easy to think, this is it, it's done. That's the point to kick or whatever. You've got anything left, you've got to push it. It is not, you've still got, I think it's like even like half a mile around that corner. Ignore it. Kick, kicky, nearly there. It's a good distance.
00:32:29
Speaker
The crowd's on that first bit up to the corner by Buck Palace where there's the most energy and it's the best. Actually, when you turn the corner and start coming back down the Mall, and it's one of my least favourite things about London, you get into that VIP section where often there's no one there and it's actually very quiet. So my word of advice is to really, really enjoy those crowds. The minute you hit the red tile, Matt, enjoy those crowds.
00:32:52
Speaker
don't kick yet, but just soak that bit up, round past Buck Palace and then that last bit, there won't be that kind of high energy cheering for the last maybe 150 metres. You're home, you're home. Exactly. I would say that my wife comes to watch with our kids now, is on Birdcage Walk, which is the first bit of the red tarmac before you turn the corner and it's quite a nice place to meet because you're very near the end, soon you have to come for the end. The park's all around, it's a good place for kids to play while they wait for the person.
00:33:21
Speaker
The kids don't care. My oldest one now recognises me on the run. When you hit the red tarmac, I go for a kick. It doesn't matter if you die halfway, you're still halfway there and it's still like a quarter of a mile, you'll get round. You've never done London Marathon and have been slowly jogging your way to the finish line like I have. I've walked most of second last London. No, third last London. Last time I went for a real hard run at London, I was walking quite a lot the second half. Really?
00:33:51
Speaker
233, but that was... I'm not walking that much then.
00:34:08
Speaker
Okay, so you've crossed the finish line. What happens after that? Most marathons tend to be quite tricky after the finish line, the most big marathons. What advice can we give to people after they cross that finish line to maybe find people or just work out where to go? Pick a number on Horse Guards Parade.
00:34:25
Speaker
sorry, there's letters everywhere, alphabets there, go and stand under that letter. It's the worst cellular, whatever it's called, 4G, 5G signal you'll have in London is Horse Guards Parade on Marathon Day. You're very unlikely to be able to get texts and calls through. So you pick a letter in advance to meet under, if you can. Yeah. And a good tip is pick a letter that people are unlikely to go for like X or Y or something. Don't go for the obvious one. I think people sort of go for their surnames.
00:34:52
Speaker
Yeah, because the ones that people, most people, yeah, that maybe won't go to there. My advice is that if you're going with family, get them to go and find a place in a restaurant or a bar. Because when because they get absolutely round. So the time when I did it and my family were there, they waited for me at the
00:35:12
Speaker
you know the letter on the horse car's parade and but i was quite i came in at like 4 30 then so so many people would have already come in and were coming in that time they couldn't find anywhere to find any food so if you have the opportunity send them off and say you'll meet them there at some point get a reservation somewhere it's even easier if you wobble through to Trafalgar Square and meet by
00:35:31
Speaker
Under the lions as well. It's actually not much in terms of the difference and that's they'll be less crowds over that way If you want to sort of and you're gonna go in that way in a way probably aren't you? So yeah, it's I'll say horse cars parade if it's a sunny day is very exposed and There's not a lot of places, you know to be shaded. So you don't be there for too long if you're already feeling quite rough. I
00:35:51
Speaker
Yeah, and there is a changing tent and like a feeding tent. Do you mean you can go to Horse Carves Parade and get changed and feed your kid? And do you mean it's a good place to go if you want somewhere to get changed without being in a pub toilet or something? And there's a medical tent if you need medical help.
00:36:12
Speaker
And in your drop bags, put a battery pack with a phone cable. I've made that mistake. Got to the end. Phone was completely dead. No way to contact anyone. I had to go and sit in the eShop on the Strand, charge my phone. Very popular, the eShop after a marathon.
00:36:31
Speaker
Just like, yeah, so stick a phone, yeah, just in case, you never know. I'd also say cross finish line, I would go straight. I know you'll feel terrible. You want to sit down for like half an hour and get your bag as quick as you can because the cues get nuts. And also by the time you're then ready to get your bag, your body would have cooled down. Even on a hot day, I've like been shaking, turning blue because you've just run a marathon, your core temperatures all over the shop. You need to have the layers that are in your bag. So I would stagger to get your bag before you really sit down and do nothing.
00:36:56
Speaker
Yeah. And then also the organizers or there's various partners that give you discounts of places around London on, after the marathon on the Sunday, but also some of the days afterwards as well. So make sure you check those out because they're actually really good. So you get like free drinks and food and stuff like that. Yeah. There's bills, the classic London restaurant bills or something. And Franco Manca used to, I think it's still Franco Manca as a pizza Sunday Monday.
00:37:23
Speaker
It could be very lucky to get the ones that are near Gefalga Square, but you know. Yeah, some of them don't let you book. Some do let you book. There's that one, it's like a deer in the logo that lets you book, but it's a bit further away, I think. You can also go to, oh, you can go and get your thing from tracksmith as well. That's a bit of a schlep up to Marilobone if you want to get a printed poster with your time on it, which is quite nice. Yes. Yeah. Worth doing.
00:37:51
Speaker
Okay, so any final tips or advice for people doing the marathon this year? London is one of the races where I would probably manually split on your watch. I think the first half of the race is fine on GPS. It's very, you know, it's residential street. It's nice and open. You'll get the pacing will be pretty much right. Hit Canary Wharf and then there's lots of tunnels and stuff in the second half of the race. There's high buildings.
00:38:13
Speaker
It's a hard place to, you know, if you're if you are using your watch to pace the race in the marathon, I would take manual splits around Canary Wharf at least. But in general, just to just to roughly know where you're actually running, because I've had massive accelerations, even with modern watches, which are very good. It's a hard rate. If you are looking for that, you know, that pacing strategy, the first half of the race is fine. The second half is carnage around Canary Wharf. And it is just, you know, you just won't be right, basically. And I'd say if you if it's all possible, if you're coming from out of town, if you're in London in time,
00:38:42
Speaker
go and run the last 5k of the course, the bit where you come out the final tunnel from embankment, know what that is. It helps so much to have that banked in your mind familiar for when you come out there and you're feeling tired and subconscious knows what's left and your body will unlock a bit more. It's just nice to know that last bit. I find it a really good trick to familiarize yourself if you've got time and you can. If you're in your training,
00:39:09
Speaker
maybe if you go and do a bit more, have one run where you go and run a bit of that last bit of the course. That's a good idea. That tunnel, coming out of that tunnel, it always hits me because that tunnel was so bleak and all the men are going for a wee and it's just a weird place and then you come out and it's a wall of sound and you're like, where am I? So that is a good idea.
00:39:29
Speaker
You see it's so bright on the eyes coming up out of it. It's a little hill up, but it's not a bad hill, that one. And yeah, it is pretty nice. It is horrible in that tunnel. There's worse things than peeing in there as well. Oh, God. I would also say, I mean, I don't know. I'm on the fence, but put your name. The crowds are incredible at London, aren't they? It's the best, best day out. Put your name on your top, embrace it, soak it up, enjoy the crowds because it's the
00:39:55
Speaker
I just, I don't know. There's a magic, isn't there, in London? And I think just try and enjoy it because it's just, it is the best. It's the ultimate time to be cheesy and really lean into it because it is just the best atmosphere. 100%. And people, the other thing is if you don't put your name on your thing and you are from London, it's quite fun because people, honestly, people, everyone watches London. So, obviously, pay your name a bit, but if someone shouts your name, look for them, because it will be like someone from your primary school who vaguely recognizes you or something like that. Oh, who's that? And it's, yeah, it's just really nice, basically.
00:40:25
Speaker
also download your playlist before you get to the start line because every year I do this and I get there and then for the first 5k I've got no music because I can't get reception and I'm like buffering in and out and it's chaos and download everything you need because you'll have no phone signal from the minute you get there till probably about to outbridge so just download everything you need but podcast music whatever
00:40:51
Speaker
I'd say on headphones. I don't use headphones at London generally, but if you've got bone-conducting headphones, are they loud enough at London when the crowds are going? No, but that works quite well really, because if you're doing a big marathon, the quiet bits, you can hear the music, and then the bits where you've got the crowd, you can hear the crowd. That's sort of what you want anyway, but they work quite well from that point of view. You can always hear something. Well, you're trying to listen to Alan Partridge's audio book, like I do. You're missing key bits.
00:41:15
Speaker
No, I listen to high octane dance music when I'm trying. I might listen to, I probably will listen to Alan Partridge when I'm doing London actually this year. Ciaran likes his European dance music obviously. I think the other thing, there's going to be lots of people out there who are going to run London who aren't necessarily running
00:41:35
Speaker
for a PB. It might be the only time you ever get into London. If your family are there, it's a special day. If you run past them and you see them, take 10 seconds, 15 seconds to get a photo or go and say and give them a hug. You never know when you might get back to that London marathon again, because if you've gotten through the ballot, all of that kind of stuff. And it is a special race.
Making Marathon Memories
00:41:55
Speaker
and a special moment, I think it's definitely worth making those memories and capturing them on the day if you're not running all out for a PB, that is. Didn't you run back for your little boy? I did, yeah. We were supposed to meet on Embankment and I couldn't connect with what we missed and I was running up and down Embankment. I think I did an extra mile and a half going up and down, up and down.
00:42:14
Speaker
But eventually I found him and yeah, and it was worth it. Everybody hated me, but yeah. You need very specific instructions as to where your family are in London because it is hard to spot people if they're like, I just saw one of my kids like on the birdcage walk even when it was a bit more sparse. Like at the last second I was scanning the whole crowd and just saw them. Yeah. So that's, that's, yeah, it's quite hard to do that the first time. Obviously you don't really know the course that well, but try and think of someone very specific.
Final Words and Encouragement
00:42:41
Speaker
Well, I think now I'll do is for London Marathon. If you are listening to this or watching this, and you're doing London Marathon, good luck. And myself, Nick and Mike are all doing it this year. So if you see us, are you wearing your run tester vest, Nick? I cannot. I am in the, in the championship race. You have to wear a club. We're not a UK affiliated club, so I've got to wear my club vest. Right. So ignore Nick then if you see him, but if you see me or Mike, it was a shout and we're way back. I'll take a shout.
00:43:09
Speaker
No, you're not part of the team, if you... I've got two headbands. Maybe I will wear it for that reason. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you wear your own tester cap, can't you? I know you've got your new hat to wear. I could wear my own tester cap. I'm not sure about what the rules are on branding, actually. I probably wouldn't wear my own tester cap. I don't know. I'd feel a bit off. Well, good luck, listeners, viewers. Good luck. And yeah, enjoy it.
00:43:35
Speaker
This episode of the podcast was presented by Tom Wheatley, Jay McGuire, Nick Harris-Fry, and Kieran Algar. The podcast was produced by Tom Wheatley. The music was by Fear of Tigers.