London Marathon

We made it to the Marathon again this year! Armed with a map to get us to our first destination and a print out of the expected times for each set of runners - Wheelchairs, Elite Women, Elite Men, 2:30 pace, 3:30 pace etc - we managed to leave only about 10 minutes behind schedule. Warmish jackets, handbag emptied to make it as light as possible, umbrella dangling over arm, we made our way to the place we had stood at last year. The first wheelchair athletes had passed by only two or three minutes before, according to the friendly policeman, but no women had arrived yet. Music was being played and the St John's Ambulance Crew was standing around at the ready.

We did not have to wait too long until a few more wheelchairs arrived - and left pretty quickly! I managed to get some photos and video footage, but it's hard when they move so fast! Eventually there were a few more police outriders and a van came into view; straining into the distance I could just about make out the first of the Elite Women running over the hill.

We cheered on quite a few, including the eventual winner, then decided to head back along the road that the runners had come from. We eventually arrived under a bridge beside a large group of young people dressed in blue. As we walked past some older leaders I immediately recognised the anchor on their badges - it was the Boys' Brigade! (I used to be an Anchor Boy.) (Sort of.) We waited under the bridge, cheering on the women and the wheelchairs as they passed by, and then the band started up, all drums and bugles. I got excited by this, and turned to take their pictures - almost missing the Elite Men whose arrival the bugles heralded! Well, we managed to get some pictures of them, then the heavens opened, so we sheltered under the bridge for some time, enjoying the music, watching the MS volunteers handing out balloons and noisy things, taking pictures and generally enjoying the atmosphere, then we decided to move on.

The rain had stopped while we walked up towards Canary Wharf. We took that walk slowly, stopping to cheer on the runners every so often.

It was a great day out. And now I'm off to bed!