Marathon Man
Published on Fri 08th Apr 2011
Chris Leggett has run the Brighton Marathon in 4hrs 17minutes. He was running in aid of the Sussex Central YMCA. Chris has written the race report below:
As a group we counted 5…4…3…2…1 and the claxon went and we were off. All the hard work had boiled down to this. We knew in front of us was 26miles and 385 yards. Sounds a long way and it was. It was a brilliant experience. Thanks for all those people who came down to support me. I can’t put in words what it was really like but it was amazing to push yourself to your limits with thousands of people cheering you on. I had my name on my shirt so I had random strangers shouting ‘Come on Chris’ and other things to encourage me. This was especially common in the last couple of miles. It showed how we live in a world where people can be so loving and encouraging. As I ran I read people shirts which had comments like running in memory of, a child is depending on me and other things. To be part of an event where people are making a difference by putting themselves though pain is inspiring.
As for my personal race it went really well I did in 4hours 17 minutes and 19 seconds which I’m really proud of as I was aiming for less than 5 hours. I came in 3220th out of 8000. My tactics worked as I held back at the start then speed up after about 10 miles. A lot of people had pushed too early so I overtook a load of people.
I thank the church for all your support and God for his care. I got no blisters or injuries so I praise him for keeping me safe. However my thighs are painful when I walk, when I wrote this on Tuesday. But that is to be expected. Now I have completed the marathon I am now asking for the sponsor money so I can send it off. It still not too late to sponsor me but at the moment you have helped me raise £761 Which is fantastic!!.