Perched on a Post

It was a lovely and perfect day to run a marathon. Also a great day for spectators and of course we fall into the latter category. We took up our post near the tower around 10:30 and watched for almost four hours. It was fun to be in the middle of all of the excitement. They had a good live band playing music the whole time and it was pretty cute to watch everyone, of all ages, swinging their hips and tapping their feet to the music, even though they weren't necessarily aware they were so engaged in the background sounds. 

As promised, the crowds were very large. We got to see the first place runners at about the 20 mile point and the crowd was pretty boisterous cheering on the runners. The motorcycles down the track give you the first heads-up that a runner is coming by and then for the first and second place runners, a media truck precedes them with all of the photojournalists hanging out the back to get the perfect image and the big time clock. 

It wasn't until about 12:30 that the masses of athletes really started running past. The crowds from our vantage point also got very busy as more of the masses of athletes got to the four hour mark. The spectators were so excited when they got to cheer on their family member or friend as they ran by. The race appears to be very well organized with almost 50,000 runners apparently competing today. Aside from the elite athletes, you get into the race by a lottery method. Typically while they issue 50,000 entries for approval, only about 38,000 usually show up to compete. This year they think they far exceeded the 38,000 actual competitors. 

The masses of runners

While it's a race for elite athletes, the London marathon also features wheelchair athletes and other para-athletes and the club, charity and ballot runners as well. There were a significant number of guide runners, usually for those visually impaired, with a large team fielded from Japan.  

Reporting from our spot Perched on a Post