London Marathon

I volunteered for the Marie Curie cheering station in the London Marathon today. Supposedly, cheering counts for volunteering, who knew? Anyway, it was a ton of fun, a bit like Relay for Life, but without the sleep deprivation.

The only picture I took before my camera died. I was surprised by the scope of the event. Over 30,000 runners participate, and the Tube was packed with their family and spectators alike. They run a roundabout route in the Docklands, ending in the Mall by St. James's Palace.

The costumes of some runners were extravagant. I saw a couple devils, angels, beer bottles, and Buzz Lightyears. One guy had a 15-foot giraffe neck, supported by a backpack. A couple soldiers were running with their military knapsacks. Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin brand and UK hero, was running with huge, blue butterfly wings. One of the runners was trying to take a picture of Branson with his camera phone as he ran. However, most people were wearing the T-shirt of the charity for which they were raising money. According to Wikipedia, the marathon raised 41.5 million pounds in 2006 for different charities and is the world's largest fundraising event.

I liked the people who had their names on their shirts. It made it easier to cheer for them. Many would reply with a nod or "Thank you". Occasionally, a walker would start running when you yelled "Keep it going, Paul. You're almost there". On the whole, it was an incredibly supportive atmosphere. All the spectators were cheering for somebody, and often, people would yell support to anyone who slowed down to a walk or stopped to stretch their legs. If there was anything about the day that convinced me to run a marathon in the future, it was definitely the supportive atmosphere, which I wasn't expecting for some reason.

I was standing at the 14 and 21.5 mile marks (like I said, the course is roundabout), but I was on the side where the 21.5 mile runners passed me. One of the people next to me kept yelling "Only 15 miles to go, I mean, 5, thank god", which actually drew a few laughs. Whenever I run, I'm in my own world, I don't interact with anyone else, but I was surprised by how interactive the runners were. Some had I-pods on, some were talking on their cell phones (for god knows what reason), but most just had themselves and the road.

On the whole, I loved the marathon and its atmosphere. I've never been to a marathon before, but as someone who ran track, it was an exciting event. I definitely hope to run one in the future, but we'll see how that goes. For now, I'll just stick to the cheering