A Marathon Weekend!

Saturday was a glorious sunny warm day and we spent most of it just wandering and enjoying the general buzz of London Town ……

….. “watcha cock!”

The rest of these pics relate to Sunday though – another wonderful warm and sunny day and a day just right for the London Marathon.  We left ‘Chance’ in the morning and headed towards the city where all the fun was to be had ……. 

…….. and we found a great place to watch the event, with great views of the Palace (and the TV screen), and as close to the finish line as possible.  

It wasn’t long before the winner of the partially sighted group sped past and onto the finish line.  Some of this exceptional group had guides with them and some had tethers to their guides. What courage!

Then the winner of the Elite Men’s section…………

………. and, following in 9th position, the great Mo Farrah!  It was quite emotional to watch these superb world athletes run past, having covered 26 miles and looking as if they were just our for a Sunday jog! 

Leaving the finish line we had lunch in an old pub in Parliament Street (watching all this running made us hungry!) before seeing the main group and fun runners come through.

Moving up towards Westminster Bridge we watched the runners leaving the Victoria Embankment and head down to Parliament Square.

There were a few competitors a bit worse for wear having covered 3/4 of the route but most were well able to acknowledge all the cheering and encouragement from the huge crowds of supporters.  We take our hat off to all of them!

This couple of runners, supporting the RNLI were a bit hot! ………..

……….not so “Foamy the Fire Extinguisher”!

 

It had been a fantastic ‘first’ for us and a great day day for runners and spectators alike.  The crowds were huge and the atmosphere terrific but we left them all behind, ………….

…….. and headed across Westminster Bridge and into the relative peace of ‘normal’ London to enjoy the rest of the afternoon and evening.

It was a brilliant day and we’re very glad to have been in London for this major national event – another one to tick off the list.