jogscotlandmagazine Summer 2011
great strides
The Virgin London Marathon 2011
More than 35,500 runners took on the Virgin LondonMarathon on Sunday 17 April. Along the starting line, several jogscottieswaited for the starting gun to sound to kick off this run of a lifetime! Here’s howthey got on…
Mhairi Sellar:
Student Mhairi Sellar swapped her books for her trainers to tackle the Virgin London Marathon. The 19 year old, who started running with Buckie jogscotland, took on her debut marathon run 20 years after she unwittingly took part in the event.
“My mum ran the marathon in 1991 when she was pregnant with me – so this year we had hoped to run it together, although my mum joked that this time Iwould have to carry her around the course!
“Unfortunately my mum was unsuccessful in the ballot so I ran on my own, with my whole family in London to support me.”
The Virgin London Marathon was very much a family affair for Mhairi, not only following in the footsteps of her mum but both her dad and uncle have also participated in the world famous event. She also ran for MacMillan Cancer Support in memory of her auntie, who played hockey for Grampian Police and was a keen golfer.
“It was an unforgettable experience. On arriving at the blue start Iwas nervous and waiting in the pen seemed to take hours. But when we finally started, the streets were lined with people and children were trying to get high fives as you ran past them.
“At Tower Bridge, the half way mark, Iwas feeling great and with the crowds support I felt like I had only been running for 10 minutes not over two hours! There were bands, music blaring from pubs and people handing out sweets, it was fantastic.”
Considering this was Mhairi’s first ever large mass participation running event, having previously only run in a couple of jogscotland 5k challenges in Elgin, near her hometown of Cullen, her achievement is remarkable.
“Although my knee gave me problems
between miles 18 and 22, I kept going as I knew if I stopped Iwould not start running again. Looking up at the clock as I headed towards the finish line I could not believe that I was going to be under 4:30 – and Iwas ecstatic with my time of 4:15!
“I can’twait to complete another marathon and hopefully beatmy time!”
Morgane Artacho:
Club secretary for the Cairngorm Runners, Morgane Artacho, almost didn’t make it to the starting line, as she was overcome by fear just a few weeks before race day.
“The London Marathon is such a landmark so I was going to pull out because I felt intimidated and scared that Iwould not perform to my expectations. Thankfully the Cairngorm Runners encouraged me to keep going and so I put my fearful mindset to the side and decided to go ahead with it.
“When I arrived too early at the green start area, my nervousness eventually went away. The start area was so small that it gave the impression we were in a very small race, albeit with a few costumed runners!”
Yet when the race started and Morgane headed past thousands along the course,
great strides 32
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