Monday 18 April 2016

Marathon - Challenge accepted!

Don't panic - not all in one hit! I think if I ran (or walked) 42.2km in one go, I would probably emulate Pheidippides' effort and fall down dead at the finish line! (Mind you, he apparently actually ran a total of 280km over two days, in comparison to which the modern marathon sort of pales into insignificance.)

My plan is easier still, as I'm aiming to reach the total distance (42.195km) in increments over approximately 3 weeks. Thanks to Lesley of Live to Slim, who inspired me to try this, in her blog post "A Noble Sacrifice" earlier in the month. I thought it sounded like a great and achievable goal, so I'm in!
Did you know that the standardised distance of the modern marathon was only set in 1921, based upon the length of the race at the 1908 London Olympics. This distance was determined primarily to enable the royal family to watch the start and finish of the race, which started outside Windsor Castle and finished below the Royal Box at the White City Stadium! There you go...
Cheerful looking lot, aren't they?
A little more history, something that I found quite surprising - the women's marathon has only been an Olympic event since the 1984 Los Angeles games! Particularly relevant since today (19th April) is the 50th Anniversary of Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb's completion (albeit unofficial) of the Boston Marathon, becoming the first woman to do so. It was the following year that Kathrine Switzer was virtually gang-tackled by race organisers for daring to run wearing an official race number.

Hard to believe that all of this happened well within living memory, isn't it?
Anyway, my progress so far is a walk early this morning, a beautiful clear Autumn day, accompanied by my new "Energise!" playlist on the ipod, around suburban New Town. 3.3 kilometres down, 38.895 to go...
You'll notice my new ticker on the right sidebar - follow my progress!
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4 comments:

  1. Lesley20 April 2016 at 09:13

    Me and Rich were most tickled by your fact about the 1908 Olympics setting the distance! And well done for accepting the challenge. I'll have to keep it up to stay ahead now! Lxx

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  2. Carol22 April 2016 at 20:18

    Good on you, this will set yourself up to want to continue to get out and move. I set a goal last winter, yeah right, pick June when the weather turns yuck and the days are short, to run 100km a month. I figured if I could do it over winter then I'm set. Well apart from July I think it was when I was hit with the flu for about 3 weeks, I've done it. It's just about habit making. And having the ticker there, what better way to encourage yourself too. Good luck with it.

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  3. Carol22 April 2016 at 20:19

    PS: Good music you have picked there too!!

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  4. Sarah23 April 2016 at 16:21

    Thanks for the encouragement, Carol! That's a fantastic achievement - 100km a month! Wow - I think it's going to be a while before I can get to anything like that, but now I've got 30km to go in a little over two weeks, I'm thinking I'll try to get up to 15km this week, then see if I can finish the challenge a day or two early. I've only been walking every second day or so, trying to pace myself, as I'm recovering from chronic fatigue. I have to say I'm really enjoying it - I've been going at around sun-up and the autumn days here are so beautiful and crisp. I'm not usually an early riser, but it's been a revelation - and my daggy playlist helps!

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