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David Clark raised over £1200
 As
the 1972 Olympic marathon gold medallist Frank Shorter
said: ‘You have to forget your last marathon before you
try another. Your mind can’t know what’s coming.’
I feel this quote is
quite apt for an amateur runner like me. I had run two
marathons in the past - but I had forgotten the level and
duration of pain I experienced. I thought it was about
time I got back into running and so I entered the
Edinburgh Marathon in May 2011, to raise money for
Reaching the Unreached.
I have been fortunate
enough to have visited RTU on two occasions. The
first time was as a member of a Lasallian Developing World
Project
team
in 2006, and I returned again by myself in 2008. The
experiences I had visiting RTU were truly inspiring. I
was able to witness firsthand the great impact it has on
the local community in G. Kallupatti and even further
afield in Theni District (in south India).
26.2 miles (can’t forget
the last 385 yards/0.2) is an achievable distance for
anyone capable of putting in the training. For me that
was about 6 months of training, with four months of
intense work to ensure I could cover the distance. It
isn’t easy to describe what it is like to run a marathon –
it is a mixture of elation and pain if I’m being honest.
Leading up to the day I was really nervous and could
hardly stomach my dinner the night before; but the event
for the most part was quite enjoyable. However as many a
runner has told me, there are two halves to a marathon –
the first 20 miles, and the last six. All was going well
in Edinburgh until the race turned back on the coast road
with just under 9 miles to go. A strong head wind hit me
at the worst possible point, and
I hit the wall as predicted at around the 20 mile mark.
(‘The wall’ is a term used to describe the sensation when
you have burned all your stores of glycogen and you
experience sudden fatigue.) Unfortunately I lost a minute
per mile off my target pace and finished in a time of 3
hours 16 minutes and 3 seconds (no personal best this
time). The miles seem to get longer as the race goes on,
but I was glad to be finished and to have raised money for
RTU.
Thanks to everyone
who has supported and sponsored me. The total raised
was £1246.20 (roughly £1555 once gift aid is added
on). If anyone would still like to sponsor me they can
do so online at
www.justgiving.com/davidclarkrtu
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