Stubbington Green Runners

WHO'S that with Jon Leigh on the morning of the London Marathon? Apparently the guy ambled up to Jon at breakfast on the Sunday, said he looked good in green and had heard that Andy Simpson was struggling with numbers for the cross country, so asked if could he join Stubbington Green Runners.

Jon asked the fella how good he was. The short guy said he was from Ethiopia, and was not a bad runner who was going to see if he could set a personal best in the London Marathon, but Jon took one look at the guy's bowl of cornflakes plus the dodgy tracksuit he was wearing, and said "fraud"!!

Said his name was Haile Gebra-something - never heard of him!!

Anyway, well done to Jon for such a superb London Marathon performance - 3hrs 29mins, getting to meet the great Haile Gebreselassie, widely regarded as the greatest distance runner of all time - and all this despite walking into a stairpost on the Friday evening!

Jon explained: " The weekend started badly on Friday when I walked into a stair post at home and spent the next half an hour lying on the settee with tears in my eyes and an ice-pack around my knee.

"Then, after dropping the Hoover on my toe, I was sure that I was jinxed and the weekend would be a disaster. However although the knee was bruised and a little sore on Saturday by Sunday the pain had gone along with any thoughts of it affecting my race."

Jon whizzed up to London on the Saturday to spend the night at the prestigious Tower Hotel near tower Bridge where most of the elite runners and celebrities were staying. 

Going through the door from the car park to reception, Jon's wife nearly put paid to Olympic rower Matthew Pinsent's chances of running. "He shouldn't stand behind doors!" remarked Jon.

He added: "During the rest of the day I'd seen most of the familiar faces of the top African runners but was disappointed not to have seen my hero Haile Gebreselassie.

"Then on Sunday morning, the little man with the big smile walked into the breakfast room gave a wave to his friends, collected his cornflakes then sat down on the chair next to me.

"I wished I hadn't left his biography on the arm of the chair at home which I'd planned to bring with me to get him to sign. But he was happy to pose for a photo so I was over the moon. My day had been made and it didn't seem to matter what the rest of the day had in store."

As for the race itself, Jon said that it pretty well went to plan. He ran an even pace for the majority of the 26-miles and managed to avoid the dreaded wall. His first mile was slow at just under nine minutes, but chose not to try to catch it up, and settled into an eight minute mile pace or under.

"During the middle part of the race, I felt really good but stayed disciplined and held myself back, which I think paid dividend in the last couple of miles when I was passing a lot people.  It was good to see Nick Kimber on the corner of Birdcage walk and the Mall as it meant he'd got a good time as well. ( Nick finished just behind Jon in 3hrs 31min).

"A great day was made complete when I got home and checked the internet for the official results to find my time 3:29:59, confirmation I'm a sub 3:30 Marathoner."

Jon said he was grateful for the many messages of support he received in the lead up to the race, particularly the many e-mails and text messages he received from club members.

Another reasonably happy person was Lesley Harding, who completed her first ever London Marathon. She finished with a very respectable time of 4hr 8min 15sec.

She has been nursing a few aches and strains after the race, but is glad she did it.

"All done at last!" she said. "I was disappointed with my time, but because of the amount of people on the course it was impossible to get going for ages.

"Physically I was fine, but really frustrated as I couldn't get on. 

"That said, I am glad I have done the London Marathon and have the medal, and now will be looking for another (low key) marathon to do hopefully later in year."

The morning after, Lesley said that her ligs were stiff and her hips and surrounding muscles felt sore. "Will I need a hip replacement or is this normal?!" she asked.

Well done to Jon and Lesley, and everyone else at Stubbington Green Runners who realised their dream at the London Marathon on Sunday.