The people in this photo are my son Neil (left) and one of his running partner's Chris at the 22 mile stage of the 2009 London Marathon. It was their first attempt and I am proud to say they completed it and have a medal to prove it. Chris's wife Meg also ran but she was way in front of the men. (She does have more experience of running and is a fitness centre manager to boot!).
We had travelled down to London for a long weekend and with the intention of being somewhere along the route so that we could support and cheer them on. It was an inspiring sight, as what seemed like a never ending stream of runners went past. There were some dressed in heavy rhino costumes (honest), a group roped together, another group carrying a boat. Barrack Obama, Batman and Robin and even Elvis was there also.
We had seen Neil and Chris at the 14 mile marker and they looked extremely well and were even smiling as they passed us. Even at the 22 mile marker, they still looked in remarkably good shape. One thing all the many thousands of runners had in common was a determination to finish what the.y had started. You could see that in their faces, along with the pain that they were feeling after such a long time running. There were disabled entrants, running or walking, one with the aid of crutches. One very moving sight was a disabled man walking, who was way behind, but you could see he would finish. The human spirit never fails to amaze me.
