FLORA LONDON MARATHON 2009
James Chettle
The last Flora–sponsored London Marathon attracted one of the strongest fields in recent years in both the men’s and women’s races. Despite the last minute withdrawal of 2008 winner Martin Lel with a hip injury, competition in the men’s race promised to be fierce, with Olympic champion Sammy Wanjiru taking on the likes of Felix Limo, Abderrahim Goumri and Tsegay Kebede. The field was no less strong in the women’s race where 2008 World Marathon Majors title holder Irina Mikitenko was up against Britain’s Mara Yamauchi.
As usual the race saw a high number of entrants from the Hare & Hounds, ranging from seasoned veterans Dom Biddick, Tom Stecher and Yogi to those attempting to complete the distance for the first time. Many had raised launched impressive campaigns for worthy causes: Help for Heroes, Mind, Reaching the Unreached and Leukaemia Research were just some of the charities the hareys were running in support of.
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The fine weather, perfect for spectators if a little too hot for some of the athletes, had brought out a large crowd and a massive harey contingent had made their way down to London to support their team–mates. The first large group of Cambridge supporters had gathered around the eight mile mark. It wasn’t long after the likes of Wanjiru had passed that the first of the hareys flashed by. Dom Biddick set a very fast opening few miles and was closely followed by Tom Stecher. A little way further back, James Chettle and Joe Stevick caught the harey cheers as the light blue vests streamed by one by one.
Up at the front the women’s race was turning into an exhilarating contest between Mikitenko and Yamauchi, with the German only starting to pull clear of the crowd favourite over the last four miles, winning in 2:22:11. A little while later, the elite men came through with Wanjiru having broken clear of the pack to set a new course record in 2:05:10.
At the finish line the Cambridge contingent eagerly awaited the arrival of the first hareys. Dom Biddick was the first Cambridge man home setting a PB in the process despite having to overcome some unpleasant obstacles in the middle of the race. Tom Stecher couldn’t have been more pleased with his performance, running a perfectly paced race to comfortably crack the half–blue standard. With two Cambridge runners home before Oxford’s first finisher, things were looking good for the Varsity match. Things got even better for Cambridge when James Chettle passed Oxford’s second runner just a mile from the finish and Joe Stevick crossed the line soon after. Cambridge’s scoring six was complete when James Gill and Simon Gilbert finished and sealed the Cambridge’s third successive victory. The flood of light blue runners didn’t end there however, with over 20 Cambridge men and women pushing past the dreaded ‘wall’ to earn themselves a coveted finisher’s medal and a lifetime of satisfaction. Among the finishers was Jim Arnold, somehow overcoming a broken rib to complete the 26.2 miles in even more extreme pain than the rest of us. Yogi showed he was still going strong, comfortably breaking four hours again and taking the bronze medal in his age category. Former captain Ben Hope again showed his class, dipping below two and a half hours and taking a place in the top fifty, while Ironman triathlete Maz Firouzi also recorded one of the quickest times of the day. The women too put in some fantastic performances, with Claire Helliwell and Stella Nordhagen both grinding out impressive times.
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Some measure of revenge was gained for the defeats in November with an annihilation of Oxford 6432–18001, continuing Cambridge’s record of never having lost the Varsity Marathon Match since its foundation as an official event.
Thanks again to all the supporters. From all of us who ran it, I think I speak for everyone in saying you were absolutely brilliant and played a major role in getting us round the course. Believe it or not, most of us can’t wait for our next marathon!