London Marathon Mania!

By Londonist_Laura Last edited 203 months ago
London Marathon Mania!

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What's your name and which part of London do you live in?

Ruth Sloss, South Ealing.

How long have you been running for?

About 4 years.

Is this your first Marathon?

Yes (gulp!).

What inspired you to enter the Marathon?

I started running thinking I couldn't get as far as the bus stop. Then once I got past it, I entered a 10K, then an 8 mile, then a half marathon, where I was at the point of throwing up at the end and the thought of turning round and going all the way back again was too hideous to contemplate. But I eventually forgot the pain (I imagine childbirth must be similar!) and the only race left to conquer was The Big One.

Are you running for charity?

I'm running for Sense, who aid deafblind children and adults. My boyfriend and I bought our house from a blind man who lived alone with his guide dog. He was very kind and accommodating throughout the sale but the state of the house was shocking as he was very independent and refused all help when he really needed it. It made me realise how much aid people with disabilities can need.

Do you have a funny training story you'd like to share?

Perhaps not so much funny as spirit-sapping. My longest training run (21 miles) took in the Thames towpath from the centre of town right along to Richmond. I'd picked a day that was a high spring tide and was plodding on through the dark period of 16-odd miles where things begin to hurt, when I saw the river ahead was lapping over the towpath and ducks and geese were merrily surfing in the wash. I started to splash through but was suddenly up past my ankles and realised it was impassable and I'd have to turn back. It's the only time I've found myself both shooing waterfowl out my running path and emptying vast quantities of the Thames out of my trainers. Perhaps a triathalon next year?

What time are you hoping for on Sunday?

About 4 hours. In an ideal world I'd love to get 3.59 for the kudos, but i think that's pushing it.

Do you have any post-Marathon celebrations planned?

Oh yes. Straight to the pub. Sod all the post-marathon recovery advice.

Will you be running again next year?

No, I'd like to have a life again between January and April.

Visit Ruth's excellent blog here and her Justgiving sponsorship page here.

Image adapted from "Running" by Auntie P under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License

Last Updated 19 April 2007