Ellie’s Marathon

The London Marathon.  Sunday.  The hottest on record.  40,000 runners, 100,000 spectators.  Team Support Ellie, all members of her wider family, split into manageable units to chase from place to place all over the Marathon route to spot her and cheer her along.  Malcolm and I, as the oldest supporters joined up with two year old William and his mum, as Team Slow.

We all had the Tracker App.  All the runners had a device on their shoe to report where they were, and how fast they were going in real time.  100,000 users in London, and thousands more beyond ensured the poor overworked app was often on strike, so we often guessed at her whereabouts as we zipped about over London trying to  get to a vantage point before she did.  WhatsApp messages kept us all in the loop.

 

We didn’t spot her at the start……
…. but we did spot these rhinos, who amazingly, all completed the circuit.
  • ‘We didn’t manage to spot her at the start.’
  • ‘ We missed her at Greenwich.’
  • ‘Couldn’t see her at Cutty Sark’
  • ‘Never saw her at the Isle of Dogs.’
  • ‘Where was she on the Mall?’

    Hmm. Maybe it’s not all that surprising that we didn’t spot her at Greenwich.

Which was all a bit disappointing for us, and more so for Ellie, who having trained in sleet and frost wasn’t looking forward to running in the temperatures of high summer and must have thought we’d all pushed off to the pub.

But Tom and Alex reported spotting her at the Tower of London, and sent a picture to prove it.  Team by team we reported our successes – Team Slow finally saw her only yards before she finished.

Ellie draws breath at the Tower of London.

She did it.  She got her medal.  And thanks to many many friends – and quite a few of you – she’s smashed her fundraising target to raise over £6000 towards oesophageal cancer research.  She says she’s done her first -and last – marathon.

 

It’s over. She’s got the medal.

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

33 thoughts on “Ellie’s Marathon”

  4. Well done Ellie. The tracking worked really well via the web rather than a phone and I managed to follow her progress both before and after we’d been out for lunch…..that’s as energetic as we managed to be.

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    1. Well, thank you for that, Pete and Susie. She was disappointed not to be as fast as in training, but in that heat, she was a real star.

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  5. That’s brilliant Margaret. Well done to Ellie. Fantastic target achieved. You’ll have to chat to John sometime about London Marathon. He’s done it 4 times. All the best
    Joyce xx

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    1. Four times? FOUR TIMES? He’s made of very stern stuff. We were impressed enough with Ellie and all the participants. Once may be enough for her xx

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  9. Amazing. Well done Ellie! And well done support teams. Huh
    I’ve been in one of those and they have their own challenges 🙂 I hope you enjoyed yourselves along the way too. She really is a star 🌟

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      1. I was absolutely offering support! (I even tried using the tracker app which was ridiculous since I don’t know Ellie’s surname but I tried!) Supporting is hard work – and I find it horribly tense but maybe because my boys have a history of bad luck and injuries with marathons. Still, so pleased for Ellie. I wonder what she will be up to next! 🙂

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      2. So do I! And thanks for trying to track her. I should have put her details online as you weren’t alone. I’m glad you didn’t have any injuries to worry about this time round.

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  10. I couldn’t swallow any more when I read this. Wonderful brave amazing tough brilliant Ellie and supporting team. you all did her proud. BRAVO and what an amazing result too

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  13. I’m late getting here but still thrilled it all went so well . . . and it’s over! I’ve been to the Boston Marathon twice, to watch a friend, and I know how crazy and fun and frustrating it can be to watch and try to find the one special person. I’m very impressed with Ellie–have been all along this journey and continue to be.

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