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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.
