Do you ever just wish everyone could be happy for once? Just for one moment.. We could all be happy.. Together? Do you ever want peace in the world more than anything? Erase the drama. Embrace your life. And cherish the people in it. Because if you do, maybe they will too.
(Source: falseflattery)
Earlier today a huge lightning bolt of good luck hit me. One of the people I work with sent an email round the office that said the following:
“___ has kindly three free tickets to see Paul McCartney this Saturday at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
They are great seats in block A3.
If anyone is interested please let me know.”
I nearly fell off my chair! Quickly forwarded the email to Mark who said I should go for it. Then I phoned the sender of the email and asked if I could please have the tickets. He confirmed that nobody else had beaten me to it and they were indeed still available. I just had to promise that the tickets were for my own personal use and that I wasn’t intending to sell them on eBay for a quick buck.
Now it’s worth mentioning that this concert’s happening in Cardiff, which is the capital city of Wales. I live in London, England. Cardiff is a three-and-a-half-hour drive away so … road trip!! I’m seeing Paul this Saturday along with Mark and his friend Gemma. We’ve got seats in the front block of the stadium!! I cannot wait!
♫“A splendid time is guaranteed for all!”♫ Right?
Now that I’ve come to the end of My Long and Winding Road it seems fitting to write down a few post-marathon reflections, similar to the style of JD’s closing voiceover in Scrubs but much longer.
It was the best day of my life. No doubt about that whatsoever. It was incredible, uplifting, joyous, powerful, overwhelming and epic. I could talk about it for 24 hours solid, reeling off adjective after adjective, and still not come close to capturing the true essence of what I experienced. The London Marathon is the world’s largest one-day fundraising event and just the sight of all the funrunners in their thousands brings inspiration to many millions around the globe. I feel truly lucky and honoured to have taken part in this year’s event, which incidentally was the world’s first ever Virgin London Marathon.
The crowds … oh I can’t even begin to describe the crowds. I’d like to extend my deepest and most heartfelt thanks to all the wonderful, sweet and caring people who stood there during the marathon and helped me every step of the way. The ones who cheered for me, the ones who encouraged me by name, the ones who held their hands out to hi-five me and the ones who stood there all day offering sustenance to the runners in need. I truly believe that such an act is one of the kindest things a person can do; helping out someone who is in genuine need of your help even if you don’t know them. It’s an act of pure, selfless giving. Crowd, without you I wouldn’t have crossed that finish line. Thank you. I frequently go to concerts and often hear “You’re the greatest crowd in the world!!” Wrong. I now know that the world’s greatest crowd are those thousands of people who line the London Marathon route every year, helping people and encouraging them, for hours and hours, regardless of whether they are standing in the baking sun or the pouring rain. This is an undisputable fact.
Not for a second do I regret all the sacrifice it took. I don’t regret all the early morning starts when I left the house whilst everybody else was still sleeping, the lunch breaks I spent running, the evenings when I did the same, the TV shows I missed, the injuries, the worries, running in the dark British winter and the loneliness of running in the freezing cold when everybody else was on the sofa warm and cosy. I don’t regret the money I spent on my running gear, support bandages or plasters and all the repeated explanations I had to give to people who asked me about the marathon. All that has completely melted away. Why? Because the memories of crossing that line will stay with me forever. I felt like a champion of champions, totally unstoppable and capable of achieving anything. I met some truly inspirational people, heard heart-rending stories and experienced it all in my hometown which also happens to be the greatest city in the world. It was the kind of day that makes life worth living.
For what it’s worth I’m quite proud of my blog, you know. It’s exactly how I envisaged it’d be when I started it way back in October. Looking back I am so glad I kept this diary showing my journey to the marathon. Over the past few months I’ve changed in many ways, hopefully for the better. It goes without saying that my leg muscles look mega at the moment too. I’m more comfortable wearing shorts in public than I have ever been.
This last paragraph is for anybody out there who may be thinking about entering the marathon. Please know that I couldn’t recommend it highly enough! 18 months ago I was carrying around an extra 43lbs and I couldn’t run for more than a minute without feeling like my lungs were on fire. If I was able to complete the marathon, then so can you. Just getting your entry in is a difficult step which requires bravery but once that’s done you’re already in the right mindset. It’ll be tough, no doubt about that, but the only reason doing the marathon gets you so much admiration is because it’s tough! It requires sacrifice, months of training, perseverance, determination and fortitude. It makes you a stronger person and quite possibly a better one. For the rest of your life you’ll be a marathon runner. Go for it! Take on the ultimate challenge! Assess your limits and then just throw them out of the window! And it goes without saying; keep a blog along the way. I, for one, will happily follow it.
Thanks for reading.
Miles run
100+
Blisters sustained
1
Physio appointments
3
Money raised for Railway Children
£4219.10
Pairs of trainers used
3
Total number of sponsors
78
Blog posts so far
216
Total pageviews so far
777
Absolute unique visitors
101
Crossing that finish line
Priceless
Running the London Marathon
Elite athletes, showing us how it’s done
The greatest crowd in the world. Fact.
Jude sent me a totally wonderful reply! It put a massive smile on my face. It also included this brilliant line:
HI Mirel,Hello !!! and thanks for getting in touch, we were actually trying to do the same
