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<\/a><\/p>\nMaybe it has something to do with the history, the fact we have all watched it on the telly box as kids, that is record breaking, heart wrenching, full of smiles, tears and every emotion inbetween, a carnival of human endurance, of ordinary people doing an Started in 1981 by Olympic champion Chris Brasher and John Disley when 6255 runners crossed the startline, the event has grown and grown. A record 386,050 people applied what\u2019s left of the 41 000 places this year once the good for age, club and charity places are given. Maybe that\u2019s part of the magic. It\u2019s Willy Wonka\u2019s Golden ticket, the prize that any runner would give their high teeth for.<\/p>\n This year a record 7 IWRR gained their places in the public ballot, unfortunately most of them had to defer through niggles and injuries, leaving only Karen Phillips, Zoe Sherwin and Clare Adams left on the startline on race day. Unusually only 2 club members took a charity places. Alison Batchelor ran for Get Kidz Going and Garry Sharp running for Sense (his wife Sarah got him the place as a surprise 50th birthday present!) Dean Pike and Glen Jones won their places at the annual Christmas Awards Party via a game of musical chairs, whilst all our other runners gained their places via the Good For Age qualification process, showing what an amazing year of running the Roadrunners have had.<\/p>\n The runners were visibly nervous but excited as they made their way to Blackheath for the start. A few tears were shed as they kissed goodbye to their loved ones and entered the runners only enclosure.<\/p>\n 10 am on the dot came and they were off. Started by none other than Her Majesty The Queen via a video link from Windsor Castle.<\/p>\n In true Roadrunners style there was a huge support crew sent up to cheer, scream and make as much noise as possible, and not just at our Roadrunners either After leaving mile 6 the support crew split to go to miles 22, 23 and 25 to catch their loved ones and club mates towards the end of the race when a boost from the sidelines is vital. First across the line was Speedster Michael Douglas in a lightning PB of just over 2hrs and 55 mins. In just his 2nd marathon, I\u2019m sure there is more to come from this amazing young man.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Bill Goozee was next to make his way down The Mall as he nipped just under 3 hours with Stuart Backhouse not quite 15 minutes later.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the hardest thing I\u2019ve ever done\u201d Stuart said afterwards \u201cThe heat was a killer\u201d<\/p>\n Punk Rock king Dean Pike was the next to make his way down the finishing straight outside Buckingham Palace. His trade mark Mohican hair was looking a bit worse for wear, as he ran his socks off to get himself a 4 minute PB.<\/p>\n Richard Harvey, Pete Sexton and Nick Kenney all came in within 5 minutes of each other to collect their medals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The 1st of the girls was next in as Zoe Sherwin romped home in under 4 hours. A remarkable achievement for her debut at the distance.<\/p>\n \u201cI ran that with everything I had. I was so hoping to go under 4 hours but I didn\u2019t quite believe that it could happen given the conditions. But it did, I am so happy I could burst!\u201d<\/p>\n Chairman Glen Jones got his medal next in yet another PB for him.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the best I\u2019ve ever felt at the end of a marathon. I even managed to sprint down The Mall. The support on the way was fantastic, especially at Tower Bridge. It was a real OMG! moment that I\u2019ll never forget!\u201d<\/p>\n It was Julie Dixon and Garry Sharp though who both started out brilliantly but struggled in the latter stages of the race. Julie\u2019s foot injury reared it\u2019s ugly head and Garry suffered in the heat. Somehow despite there being 40000 other runners they happened to find each other in the last half a mile of the race. They stuck together and pulled each other through the never ending final furlong in the true #spiritoflondon<\/p>\n \u201cI was so pleased to see Garry\u201d said Julie \u201cI had been walk\/running for miles in tears. It was an amazing feeling to cross the finishline with a friend after such a hard battle\u201d<\/p>\n Karen was next to see the finish closely followed by Nicky Thompson.<\/p>\n \u201cI loved the crowds and especially seeing the Roadrunners on route, it really kept me going\u201d said Karen<\/p>\n A very smiley Gill Bushell collected her medal next, with Alison Batchelor running with her brother soon after. Clare Adams bought the teams bidding to a close. Brilliant to see her back after a period away from running, she was also lucky enough to get a place in the ballot for the New York Marathon at the end of the year…. can\u2019t wait to see how you get on there Clare.<\/p>\n So that’s it for another year. The roads are back open, the empty bottles swept away, the mile markers packed down and our capital city is back to normal again. Heroes made, stories to tell, memories forever. Team London you ran your club proud.<\/p>\n Same time, same place next year?…. oh go on then!<\/p>\n BALLOT OPENS MONDAY!!!!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n M.Douglas- 2.55.37<\/p>\n B.Goozee- 2.59.02<\/p>\n S.Backhouse- 3.15.40<\/p>\n D.Pike- 3.28.17<\/p>\n R.Harvey- 3.29.25<\/p>\n P.Sexton- 3.31.25<\/p>\n N.Kenney- 3.34.02<\/p>\n Z.Sherwin- 3.57.30<\/p>\n G.Jones- 4.03.00<\/p>\n J.Dixon- 4.12.49<\/p>\n G.Sharp- 4.13.06<\/p>\n K.Phillips- 4.42.12<\/p>\n N.Thompson- 4.45.04<\/p>\n G.Bushell- 5.15.33<\/p>\n A.Batchelor- 5.17.29<\/p>\n C.Adams-5.42.09<\/p>\n Some would say it\u2019s the most famous marathon in the world. It\u2019s 26 miles and 385 yards, the same as any other. But there is something unquantifiable that sets this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3748"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3748"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7880,"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3748\/revisions\/7880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/a>extraordinary thing, turning I can\u2019t into I can, the weak becoming heroes, a display of the true #spiritoflondon<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/a> <\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>\u201dYou know exactly what runners need to hear from the crowd, because you’ve run a marathon” said Ladies Captain Julie Ray. “It can really spur on tired legs in the final stages”<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>\u201cIt\u2019s so emotional waiting for all your friends to come past you safe and sound\u201d said Sarah Holmes \u201cespecially this year with the hot weather, it was such a relief to see them one by one and see that they were smiling still\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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![\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some would say it\u2019s the most famous marathon in the world. It\u2019s 26 miles and 385 yards, the same as any other. But there is something unquantifiable that sets this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3748"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3748"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7880,"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3748\/revisions\/7880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"http:\/\/isleofwightroadrunners.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/401AC576-9DFC-4806-BEFB-593AF0BFB075.jpeg\"){kind=link}