New York... concrete jungle where dreams are made... So I arrived at LHR on Friday morning, walked onto the shuttle to terminal 5 spotting a man with an ice pack on his taped up ankle. Oh sugar, youre injured too? I asked. Im injured, dodgy knee, injured it last week, I continued. His reply along with a look of shock and surprise are you running the marathon? I sure am. So is this your first one?. Nope, 7th, I responded with an air of yeah I know I dont look like a runner but Ill pass you out at mile 2!!! That image stayed with me the whole weekend, the look of shock on a gorgeous Italian face! So Ciao to him!! Sat morning, picked up my number at the Expo after a night of celebrations from the opening ceremony and Halloween with Lisa Martin. Sunday morning, woke up at 3am with a pain in my left knee. I was starting to panic thinking this knee is going to give in. Up at 4.45am for my 5.30am walk to Times Square. I had 4 layers of clothes on me in preparation of the cold and windy weather of Staten Island. I thought being 5 foot tall would help and would get automatic shelter from the tall boys.. nope... we were exposed to the great wind of the Atlantic I guess, coming up the Hudson River and straight onto the faces of every nations marathoners. I was with a few friends I met the day before and we all huddled in together between 2 news vans reporting on the weather. 10am I found myself on my own waiting for my wave to start the run. I didnt mind being there on my own, I had a few moments to reflect on the reason I was there, charities I was supporting, people who helped me both financially, emotionally, physically and mentally to get me there for the start line. A few prayers said asking for a good run and no problems with my knee and off I went to the start line, all dressed up like a Mitchelan man!! 10 seconds to go and out of nowhere we all heard Frank Sinatras New York. Well the tears started and a New Yorker was there hugging me. The first few miles running up that bridge in 30 miles wind was a killer. People were shuffling all over the place, hats flying off and I kept thinking where the hell are the tall people?? Anyway the marathon overall was one of the easiest runs I did. I think it was due to having 2 huge doughnuts before the race! Seriously when you have 5 hours to wait around you have to stock up. The wind was a killer, not once did it blow on our backs, forcing us into the city. Instead it blew against us and to our left. I ran mostly on the right handside so people could cheer me on. I wore my wee sign made by Harriett with my name on it (Janet Allen) which was a great help. Staten Islan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Harlem, Queens and then into Manhatten. Mile 23 and from somewhere I got a burst of energy. I tied the Irish flag around my neck and I really do think this helped. There were a few Irish people cheering me on and I didnt want to let them down. So I ran past loads of people. I knew I didnt get my 5 hour target and was now aiming for 5.30. I finished at the opening ceremony area with flags from all over the world on both sides of me. 200 metres to go and the atmosphere was amazing. I ran over that line and honestly I have to say I enjoyed every second of the marathon. The crowd in London is amazing - you cant beat London for the sheer volume of supporters but what New York made up for was the volume. All I heard the whole way around was Reg, you got this, you got this! Priceless... So, nearly £6000 raised for 3 charities in Ireland and UK. I want to say a massive thanks to everyone who donated. Without you I would never have dreamt of even doing half of the mad things that I done. It was a team effort. Thanks so much. NYC 14 - 5:31:04 The icing on the cake???? Kipsang, Keitany and Mutai are standing right in front of me in the BA line.... seriously!!! I thought Reg stand tall, you have the exact same medal as them!!! Go raibh maith agat x x x
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 23:23:49 +0000