Sarah and Becky Martin, a determined pair of bunnies

The marvelous Martin sisters did it!  Their challenge, as mentioned in my previous blog, was to complete three marathons in three consecutive weekends, simply amazing.  Congratulations to Sarah and Becky!   Believe it or not this picture was taken after they had finished the London Marathon, their final race. These two inspiring women have raised nearly £6000 in sponsorship for Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People and would love to raise more. 

I spent a magical day in London watching the spectacle that is the Virgin London Marathon.  What a heart-warming, inspirational day.  I loved every minute.  It’s been about 12 years since I last went to see the London Marathon and I am amazed at how it has grown in that time.  The atmosphere was electric, the camaraderie of the spectators was wonderful and the competitors were so inspiring.  I left home early and arrived at Canary Wharf at about 9.30am,  OK, it was early for me, many of the runners must have left way earlier than that!  I went on my own and shortly after arriving I bumped into a friend and her husband, what a coincidence.  They were on their way to mile 15, but I decided to stay put.  I was glad I did as just outside Canary Wharf station on a set-up stage, the amazing Rock Choir started their performance.  The choir was formed mostly of women their voices rang out as they sang big pop ballards.  I found myself singing and dancing in the street with complete strangers, wonderful!

The excitement grew when the whirr of the helicopters overhead announced the arrival of the first group of competitors, the Wheelchair Men group,  The other groups raced through in batches, the Elite Women, the Wheelchair Women and then finally the Elite Men.  Each group interspersed by stragglers from the previous groups.  Canary Wharf is at mile 19 so the strain of the race was showing on the faces of many whilst others looked like they were out for a walk in the park.

As soon as these groups went through I left and took the underground to Bermondsey, which is at mile 12, I stayed there for 20 minutes and watched some of the main group of fun runners, people in every concievable costume, every age, it was so impressive.  The crowds and the number of runners had grown by this time, every one with a story to tell.

Spectators and runners - each with a story to tell

Then, back on the train to Embankment. I walked towards Westminster, the crowds were two and three deep, I stopped to watch the runners, I couldn’t help but be moved to tears by the bravery and the determination of so many.  After that it was back to Waterloo Bridge where I was meeting a Ladies at 11 member, Laura Hart and her husband.  This was where we hoped to see Sarah and Becky come through just two miles from the end of the race.  Sarah had given us prior warning that they were wearing pink fluffy bunny ears, so craned our necks looking into the sea of brave faces as they ran past us, where were those ears?  Then suddenly there they were, we screamed out to them and they heard us and saw us waving furiously.  Our job was done.

We left and walked to Horseguards parade and watched all the finishers as they filed into the meeting area and there they were in the crowd again those pink fluffy bunny ears, and the two smiling relieved faces of Sarah and Becky.   Well done girls, hope you’re having a well-earned rest next weekend!  Their charity is  Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People, if you haven’t already sponsored them and would like  to you can do so here.

All in all it was a truly special day, one filled with friendship, determination, inspiration and dedication.  A fantastic example of London as the wonderful city it is.  A perfect Sunday!

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Sue Bown

Works with businesses and individuals to get better results, more efficiency, less stress AND more success. I play golf too, especially in the sun!

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