This year I turned things around. I've recently bought a video camera which can be attached to a head band. At the risk of leaping ahead - it looks like this...
The reason I bought it was to try and get some decent shots of Iceland when we go there in July. It was the terrific photos taken by some of the previous competitors that made me so want to run the Laugavegur Ultra Marathon so I thought I'd use London as a practice and see if I couldn't get some video of the marathon from the runners perspective.
We got the coach down with the running club and were deposited some 500m from the start. We found the toilets, queued for 5 minutes, dropped our bags off and before long headed for the start pens. You can't really fault the start organisation. I was doing a bit of filming trying to get some of the atmosphere. I caught a shot of two club mates doing that most unlikely of things - warming up! I also caught a shot of two ladies dashing out of the start line up and whipping their shorts down for a quick wee. Maybe Harry Hill will give me £200 for it? It would serve them right - I had a nice shot of the runners starting to shuffle forwards in anticipation of running and had avoided all the blokes peeing against the fence.
The camera (a Drift HD) is rather more bulky that it looked in the pictures and likewise heavier. Carrying the weight wasn't an issue but when you run it has a tendency to bounce up and down like everything else. I therefore ended up running around Greenwich doing a walk run something like John Cleese does.
It was nice being able to take the time to see what was going on around me. I tried to capture some of the moments - the start streams merging, the bands, the kids looking for high fives and so on. I doubt I'll make any money from the results though! Cutty Sark looked magnificent and Tower Bridge was a great sight too.
On the way around Greenwich I came across 73 year old John Dawson who I had the privilege of running the 10 in 10 with last May. He's had another round of major treatment but here he was running another marathon. We had a bit of a chat and I ran back and forth trying to get some shots of him before I carried on.
Tower Bridge brought the first Sue Ryder cheer point and boy could they cheer. That was quite a lift. I carried on filming around the corner to Fetchpoint but it seems the battery had run out by then. Oh well, at least I didn't have to do the silly walk any more which wasn't doing my legs any favours. I waved wildly at the Fetchies and a few recognised me in my Sue Ryder disguise!
I hit a bit of a wall at 15 miles. Earlier than usual but probably down to the silly walk in hindsight. A caffeine gel picked me up again and by the time I got to the 2nd Sue Ryder cheer point I was back in action. As indeed were they. They had a keen eyed spotter who pointed at me and shouted (I assume) "over there" and the whole crowd sparked off cheering twice as loud as they had been moments before.
Big Ben appeared and I thought I had to have some video of the finish so I got the Blackberry out and reverted to the John Cleese impressions again. I was stopping to film and people would shout encouragement at me - you can do it! I crossed the line at just under 5 hours on the clock and was given a chip time of 4:52.
The meeting point area at Horse Guards was packed so I became an international runner and went straight up to Trafalgar Square. Just down Whitehall I spotted the Sue Ryder colours outside the pub. More smiles and photos but most importantly, and in the correct order, a Guinness, a massage, and a Cheeseburger with chips.
I'm a bit undecided about the camera. It is a lot bulkier than I expected and it's size was the main selling point for me. I should have read the small print! And it was disappointing that the battery died like it did. It claims about 2.5 hours and it probably did something like that, but it died without warning. The first I knew was when I tried to stop filming and it didn't bleep. At some point I will get around to publishing what I have got.
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