Last year's London Marathon preview and reports

More than 30 Manx runners will make the annual trek to London on Sunday for the 29th staging of the London Marathon.

It’s the fourteenth and final time that the event will be abbreviated as the FLM (Flora London Marathon). Virgin take over in 2010 to join Gillette, Mars, ADT & Nutrasweet among the companies that the thousands of runners have advertised around the 26 mile 385 yard course.

Paul Curphey and Richard Radcliffe have both completed more than half of all London Marathons – Sunday will be their sixteenth. They are both sub 2.45 runners at their best – no Manx runner has run faster than Curphey’s 2:37:51 since 1995. The fastest Manx runner remains the very first one to finish - Steve Kelly ran 2:27:24 in 1981, although Dave Lockley was only 29 seconds behind him. The only other Manxman to run faster than 2.30 is Robbie Callister – his best is 2.28.59 in 1993.

A sub 2.45 performance allows runners to compete in the AAA Championships for the following two years (and to start just behind the elite runners) but nobody has done this for the past two years or are expected to do so this year. The only two with a chance are Mike Garrett and Murray Lambden. They have completed half a dozen 20 mile or longer training sessions together and the latter ran a 2.52 marathon training run six days after winning the Leinster Management 20 Miles. Garrett, who is considerably faster than Lambden over the shorter distances, ran 2.53 in his 2004 London Marathon debut; Lambden has two 2.43 performances (2001 and 2005) among his nine London finishes.

Christian Varley is the fastest of the Manx runners at half distance but he makes his debut insisting that he has not prepared fully for the distance. He is part of the Isle of Man Hospice team – more than half the field of 36,000 are expected to raise money for charity. Nigel Armstrong is targeting a sub 2.40 performance in 2010 but this year he is running for fun having jut returned from the gruelling Marathon de Sables desert race. The 30th London Marathon should see a revival in standards with Ed Gumbley (who ran 2.37.20 in Berlin last year) expected to run next year.

But for this year Manx spectators will have to wait a while after seeing the best marathon runners in the world at the front of the field until the top Manx runners arrive. In any event, the greatest pride is often seen, not by the fastest runners, but by someone motivated to run for the first time to raise money for a cause close to their heart. There will be many stories to tell next week. If you know of someone running who is not on the list, please contact Isle of Man Newspapers or email Murray Lambden at murray@manxthletics.com – the latter’s manxathletics.com site will be publishing photos and statistics from London at the weekend. All known finishing times will be published in the Manx Independent next week.

The statistics paint a picture of the London Marathon. They show that Manx and Isle of Man resident runners contributed more than 30 of the 35,000 strong field.

They show that 52 year old Murray Lambden was the fastest of them for the 4^th time in his 10^th London Marathon. Vikki Boyde was the fastest woman and Christian Varley the second fastest man on their debuts. Paul Curphey and Richard Radcliffe each finished for the 16^th time to edge closer to Ian Callister’s record of 20 finishes.

To appreciate the real masterpiece that was the 29^th version of the event started by Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, you needed to see some of the action as well as to view the statistics. Tim Knott broke his wrist at 6 miles on his debut but ran to the finish with a negative split (running the second half faster five minutes faster than the first). Mike Garrett was on course for a sub 2.50 finish before he vomited in the comparatively hot weather as runners consumed litres of fluid to avoid dehydration.

Kevan Osbourn ran just four weeks after running in the Paris Marathon. Runners queued for the toilets, queued for the start at three separate parts of Blackheath and some even queued after the start as there was no space for them to move. Nigel Armstrong planned to meet his girlfriend Emma Rogan when their sections of the race merged at three miles but he missed her and after waiting in vain he found himself almost at the back of the field. It was the second time he had been “stood up” that day after a misunderstanding saw the rest of the runners at his hotel go to the start without him.

As the runners hobbled back to the underground and their hotels short distances seemed like a second marathon and Paul Curphey was tempted by the offer a £12 rickshaw ride to get the last 400 metres.

The picture needs sound and smell to really appreciate the atmosphere. The vast crowds at the principal vantage points create an unbelievable noise and where the numbers thin out the runners hear the selective shouts for those with names on their vests. Whilst the occasional “come on Manx” is a comfort, the repetition of a single name of a runner alongside can be almost enough to make you think of dropping back.

Over the 26 miles runners’ nasals cope with some unwashed rivals, with London drains, with stale pollution in the three tunnels and with the catering around the course which can be off putting when most of them have only had a light breakfast at 6 am.

Statistics, sight, sound and smell can only provide a flavour of the real action. To fully understand you need to go online to www.virginlondonmarathon.com to enter the ballot for the 2010 event on 25 April (the electronic hat is already nearly full) or sign up for one of the many charities that buy bonded places for the marathon.

If you prefer the race in statistical form, download the file at www.manxathletics.com/FLM2009.pdf to see the “split times” of all Manx runners.