My London Struggle

Definately this couple did better than me! Samuel Wanjiru didn't worry about the high temperatures and won by course record of 2:05:10.


Irina Mikitenko (GER) defended her title and surfed to a safe victory after 2:22:11.


After 11 miles I managed to show high spirits but I already knew that this wasn't going to be the best of my days.

Finally having received my medal I was looking content - and I really was. The main target was to finish my 10th consecutive London Marathon. Shouldn't I be happy about this achievement?


Until 35K I was still on target of running 3:30. But right from the start I felt something wrong. With 5K into a marathon one should feel completely fresh like just started. But I felt tired already. Nevertheless I tried to stick to my time schedule. There was a refresh after half way and new hopes emerged. But after 30K I got slower and felt sick. With just 1 K to go I got a strong and sudden cramp at my right hamstring. I lost 2 minutes to get over it. Finally I was lucky that my sickness didn't get worse before I reached The Mall but only 3 meters behind the finish line where I was ashamed to have to vomit repeatedly. A tough finish!

3:35:31 still makes my fastest marathon since my PB in 2004. And just 11 seconds slower than my very first marathon in 1991 - when I was 18 years younger. The longer I analyse last Sunday's result the happier I get...