In a few days my sister, my friend and myself will join thousands of crazy people who’ve decided that running the Dublin Marathon is a good idea! 26.2 miles is a long haul, but miraculously that doesn’t deter people as much as you would think. In fact, runners are signing up for marathons in record numbers.
This year’s London marathon had 250,000 applicants and the Dublin marathon will have an additional 4,000 participants compared with 2015, making it the fourth largest marathon in Europe.
Running For Good Causes
No marathon endeavour would be complete without fundraising and my two marathon buddies have chosen two awesome charities for us to raise funds for. One is Positive Action in Housing, who run a really important project called Rooms for Refugees.
The other is the Evelina London Children’s Hospital who treat over 100,000 children every year.
Event Preparation
This is my first (and most probably my only) go at a marathon. I’ve run a few half marathons over the years but training for this is in a whole other league. It’s like nothing I ever done before, but in some ways it actually feels quite a lot like the day job: the world of event planning.
I started with a plan. I have suffered a few setbacks along the way and I’ve spent the last couple of weeks fearing I’ll never be ready for the immoveable date of the event itself!
But the event date is now looming and the final preparations are underway. Our names are on our running tops (we need all the crowd support we can get). I’m wearing my new trainers in the office all week to “break them in”. The carb intake has increased and the customary pasta meal is planned for Saturday night along with the post race pub lunch within an easy hobble from the finish line.
The only other piece is the mental preparation for the event.
I’m watching the video of the fresh faced 85 year old reaching the finish line before the 4 hour mark and trying to visualise myself enjoying the same victory.
My favourite running anthem is on a loop in my head and I’ve got my positive affirmations ready if I hit the infamous wall. I hope that’s all I need!
Whatever does happen on the day though I’m determined to keep smiling and stay in control throughout the event, just like a good event planner would.
