Belfast Marathon for students
I ran a leg in the Belfast Marathon, here’s how I got on…
Completely disgusted in how we spent our first term at uni glued to the TV in our living and ordering take away’s my house mates and I decided in second term we would be productive.
4 months later we found ourselves heading to the Belfast marathon at 8am, the earliest I have ever been up in my days as a student. Guided by our captain, my housemate Niamh Jackson, our team “Jackson 5” was led to marathon glory in a time of 4 hours 50 minutes.
The stages of my marathon run were much like the 5 stages of grief.
As I stood waiting on Gemma to greet me for handover I felt so lonely and in denial that she would ever come, I was hoping magically my leg would be skipped.
This did not happen and I moved onto anger, with such phrases as “who the fuck thought this was a good idea?” running through my head as I staggered along.
Next up was bargaining, as in “Dear Lord if you end this now I will never ever do anything bad ever again please please please”.
Depression hit me as I realised every time I turned a corner they was ANOTHER hill waiting to be conquered. Thankfully the amazing crowds spurring the runners on with cheers, water and sweets got me through this phase!
Finally I found acceptance in the form of my next team mate waiting to take over. Within an hour the emotional roller coaster of running was over.
Sexy red face aside it was a brilliant experience and a very inspirational one as I witnessed so many people of varying degrees of fitness and age running legs or the full marathon for so many brilliant causes.
In total the “Jackson 5” made £630 in fundraising for The Down’s Syndrome Association and had a fantastic day (and night…) celebrating. If you want to be a part of something big which leaves you with a bigger buzz than most drugs the marathon is the perfect choice.