London Marathon Time Again



It is totally a different experience and I did not regret a single minute for having signed on to the London Marathon. Before 2003 I had never run any thing longer than 5km although I remember that in my early school days, long distance running was my favourite of all the different disciplines of athletics. In 2004, armed with enthusiasm and a fully bloated man’s ego, I registered for the 10 km race of the Nairobi Marathon. 2 months earlier I had been dared by my wife to run the race and beat her finishing time of the previous year’s race. I run the race and completed it in 45 minutes, which of course was far better than her 1hr 20min of 2003.
It is only after then that I realized that despite being in my fourth decade on planet earth I probably still had a knack to run long distances. I immediately promised my self to run the 2005 marathon and even raised the bar to half marathon. Unfortunately I did not run the Nairobi Marathon in 2005 (instead ran the 10km race of the MTN Kampala Marathon) and returned to run the half marathon of 2006 Nairobi Marathon. In 2007 I ran a series of 10km races but due to time commitments I never had a chance to run any of the marathons yet my eyes were now set on a full marathon. Having completed a half marathon in 2 hours 15 minutes after a few months of sketch training, I was convinced that I would be able to run the marathon in 4 hours or less if I trained hard enough for it.
In 2008, I was lucky enough to get a place on the London Marathon and come race day, it was a dream come true. I finished the marathon in 4 hours and 41 minutes. Not a bad effort since it was my first full marathon, but I was rather disappointed considering that the conditions were much better than what I normally contend with in Nairobi and Kampala. Even then, it was the most excruciating experience of my life and by the end of it all I swore not to do it again. I had been advised not to run the full marathon before D-Day, and to this date I still think that this was the most rubbish advice I received during my preparations. I had only run 35 km and it was no surprise that I hit the wall just after the 39km mark. I literally had to haul my body through the last 3 km not wanting to disappoint those who had generously contributed money to the Nnabagereka Development Foundation, a charity I ran for.
When I completed the marathon, there was one dominant thought in my mind of never again. But now that I have forgotten all the pain and looked back on my achievement, I have decided to do it again. I am, ready to do it and run the London Marathon again, only this time I will have proper training. My target is to complete the Marathon in less than 4 hours.
My training begins in October with preparations for the half marathon race of the MTN Kampala Marathon in November 2008. I am a little busier now than I was last year but that will not stop me. There are plenty of people who have busier lives than mine and still run marathons...so why can't I?

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