Roth Regatta

How NOT to run a marathon – Rainbow Trust Sports and Challenges Manager Paul Kwatia reveals all!

It’s almost 10 years ago since I ran my first and only London Marathon and even today the event still plays a big part in my life. It’s the biggest event in Rainbow Trust’s running portfolio and takes up almost a third of my time in planning and organising every year. I’ve been lucky enough to help hundreds of individuals achieve one of their biggest ambitions in their lives by comple

ting the event and unfortunately I’ve also seen many people fall at the last hurdle and unable to complete the marathon after months of preparation. Most of them have been due to training…either too much resulting in stress fractures, or too little resulting in muscle tears and serious ligament damage….and this is where my story fits in.

At the time of the 2001 London Marathon, I was in the process of looking for a new job in the charity sector. As well as organising a number of fundraisi

ng events at work I wanted to get some experience in raising sponsorship and decided to run the London Marathon. In my mind I was a young, fit individual..I played football at least twice a week and went to the gym regularly. With over 1000 employees at my workplace, the fundraising potential was enormous and I was confident of reaching my £900 target.

I was given a place in November by a friend who worked for Age Concern and attended a training day at Battersea Park in London, which was run

by the legendary Mr Motivator. As well as some stretching and warm up techniques, we were put through a 5K (3.5mile) training run around the park which I just about managed although I was one of the slowest in the group. It was a great experience and a chance to meet other runners of all abilities and share training and fundraising tips. At the end of the session I felt very positive and confident about my impending challenge and really felt I was part of a team…it wasn’t just me running the marathon anymore and any apprehension I felt had gone.

Approx three months later I had a car crash and suffered whiplash. By this time my training still consisted of playing football twice a week and going to the gym. Since November I had done no running whatsoever and now was going to be out of training for at least four weeks, with just eight weeks until my big day. I soon started to get a little concerned but managed to convince myself (and others..I think!) that I’d be able to run, walk, run, walk etc. In the four weeks leading up to the marathon I managed a couple more short runs (5K) but found that my fitness had deteriorated immensely. By that time everybody at my workplace knew I was running the marathon and I had already raised over £1000 in sponsorship…..there was no way I was going to pull out.

With just a couple of weeks to go, I made another big schoolboy error. I decided to go out and buy myself a nice new pair of running shoes for my big day! The night before the marathon everyone I knew was sending me messages of good luck…you must be crazy…don’t get beaten by a Rhino etc. I had never felt so nervous in my life. Age Concern organised a pasta party the night before and I couldn’t eat a thing or talk to any one of the 100 or so runners that were there. Everyone seemed as though they had been running for years…they had all the kit and were eating massive bowls of pasta like there was no tomorrow. I left very early and went to sleep hoping that the event would be called off due to bad weather, earthquake..anything!

I woke up in the morning at 6am and got ready to board our coach to take us to the start line at Blackheath. After standing for about two hours freezing my socks off the start hooter was let off and the 2001 London Marathon began. The atmosphere was amazing…30000 people all running for various causes in a variety of guises and costumes. It took about 15 minutes for me to able to start running due to the number of people but once I got moving, the butterflies had gone and all I could do was soak up the atmosphere. After about three miles I decided to stop for a loo break…a big mistake as I already stared to feel my legs tightening up. I picked up a drink at every opportunity and by the time I had reach 9 miles, I had probably had 5 or 6 loo breaks. My body was just not used to taking on and using so much water in such a short space of time and I had already started to walk…run…walk…run and many runners had