“It’s a radical notion realising that on a marathon course you don’t have to worry about how you look for others.”
Feminist Kiran Gandhi, (she’s also drummer for MIA and a Harvard graduate), got her period on the eve of the London Marathon 2015, and decided to ditch the tampons and towels and go with the flow while she ran it.
A marathon in itself is a centuries old symbolic act. Why not use it as a means to draw light to my sisters who don’t have access to tampons and, despite cramping and pain, hide it away like it doesn’t exist?
Said Kiran about her decision to bleed freely during her marathon…
You can read Kiran’s blog post about the experience here:A Modern Period Piece by Kiran Gandhi…In it she describes the decision-making process behind running and bleeding freely, and how she felt from mile one to 26.2.
She did it! Things&Ink editor Alice Snape ran the London Marathon 2015, for Sarcoma UK. You can read about her training journey in past blog posts and on her Instagram page. This is her diary entry about her marathon experience…
“I am writing this post from the comfort of my bed. I am finding it difficult to walk down stairs as my legs are so stiff… God knows how they ran a marathon yesterday…? This weekend has been a huge mix of emotions, from the nerves on pre-marathon Saturday to the high of crossing that elusive finishing line… I don’t know how I can even begin to put into words the experience of my first ever marathon…
“I always knew Saturday was going to be filled with tension. But I didn’t imagine that I would be moved to tears so many times. My mind was plagued with doubt, have I done enough training? What if I can’t do it? What if I need to wee? How will I feel? I just couldn’t relax. But a text from my boyfriend James’s mum, Glenys, flicked everything into perspective and moved me to tears of sadness, as she spoke of a very special person who I never had the honour of meeting – and who I know I would have been great friends with… James’s sister, Glenys’s daughter: Katherine – who very tragically lost her life to Sarcoma just before James and I met. The months of training and fundraising were to pay tribute to Katherine, and to raise awareness about this rare form of cancer.
“Aside from the emotion and nerves, there’s also the practicalities! I had to sort my running kit out – the vest, the leggings, the really unsexy pink running bum bag to store gels and jelly babies in, the trainers and the Vaseline (you have to lube up to avoid chaffage on long distances). And I needed to make sure I ate lots of nice healthy carbs, also known as carb loading. I also wanted to make sure I had a nice early night – even though I knew I probably wouldn’t get much sleep… I only dozed in and out of sleep all night, thinking about what epic journey I was going to embark on…
“Race day morning, it was a weird one… I was so tired when my alarm went off. I had a night of broken sleep and did not feel refreshed at all. For half an hour at 6.30am I did lots of stretches, and also made sure my hamstring was taped up, as unfortunately I picked up an injury during my training. Breakfast was porridge, berries, a coconut water and a coffee. Then I set off on the most nerve-wracking train journey of my life… although I was very relieved to see lots of other marathon runners on the platform, who all looked equally as apprehensive…
“I don’t know how I imagined race day would feel, but I don’t think any training really prepares you for it. Time means nothing. It goes so quick and so slow all at once… and the run feels so very different to a training run. I wanted to try and take in all the sights I saw on the way, but everything is a blur as you’re trying to concentrate on how fast you’re running, all the people around you, the crowd, the runners, the atmosphere… I saw a woman running in stilettos, Jesus Christ, and a rhino (luckily I overtook all these people). There are roadside parties the whole way round… people cheering and drinking. I just kept thinking I am jealous of the people drinking or just smug that I am running a marathon? There are old people, young people, those who are thin and those who are fat, some in costume, some running, some walking… so many walks of life all united on this marathon journey.
“But there were low points too. My parents and friends were going to be at the Sarcoma UK cheering point at mile 12, and I had been spurred on by that thought from around mile 8… I just kept thinking it would be four miles until I saw their faces. But mile 12 went past and I didn’t spot them. I don’t know how I missed them (especially as my parents had a banner with my face on it!), I must have been in a weird marathon daze. That put me on a bit of a downer and then I was worried I wouldn’t see them again. It was such a pity as mile 13 was running across Tower Bridge, and I had been so excited about this point in the marathon… There were other dark moments along the route too, women cowering on the kerbs, head in hand, men being carried on stretchers, bleeding nipples… signs that the marathon really is a true test of human endurance…
“But I plodded on… I kept on running focussing on how I might feel at the end, and trying to ignore the pain and the heaviness of my legs, counting down the miles… Until mile 25, and I spotted the second Sarcoma UK cheer point and the faces of my boyfriend, friends and family… I had no idea what a boost that would give me and I managed to pick up my pace as I embarked on the final the mile and a bit… That was a huge high – probably my marathon highlight – and I smiled and waved. I knew now I could run until the end… Trough The Mall and past Buckingham Palace, then as I crossed the finish line, I lifted my arms in the air and burst into uncontrollable tears, I was literally sobbing. So much so that one of the marshals took me in her arms and gave me a huge embrace. I have never experienced anything like this feeling before.
“I managed to complete my first ever marathon in a time of 4 hours, 30 minutes and 21 seconds – almost exactly the time I had wanted to achieve and never thought I could… but my immediate thought was, oh maybe I could do it next year and maybe I could do it in 4 hours… Then I thought back to myself at exactly this point last year, I was so impressed when one of my friends ran the marathon, I thought it was something that I would never be able to do myself. At the time, I drank a lot, smoked and I was around a stone and a half heavier and I couldn’t run for more than a mile without needing to walk. But running really has made me feel happier in my own skin, and I have a new found respect for my body and what I can do when I really focus on a goal. It has also made me feel much closer to James and his mum, and really made me think about Katherine, who I so wish I could have met.
“And to top it all off, as I met everyone at the meeting point, my mum told me that I had more than hit my £3,000 fundraising target as I was running. How incredible that people were following my progress and donating as I was actually running…
“It has been an amazing journey over the past few months, one that I am almost sad is over. Training for the marathon has been such a huge part of my life since November last year. And now I have been advised by a physio to take a month off and let my hamstring heal. I guess once it has, I can start chasing my next running dream. Bring it on. Let a life-long love affair with running really begin…”
You can read more about Sarcoma UK and donate to Alice’s fundraising on her justgiving page.
Things&Ink editor Alice Snape is currently in training for the London Marathon 2015, she’s running for Sarcoma UK. Read more in her first Marathon diary entry.Here’s part four of her marathon diary – some video inspiration.
This video went viral last year, but I still love it… I find watching it comforting and it just makes me want to get out there and go for a run – providing me with much-needed motivation during my marathon training.
Directors Matan Rochlitz and Ivo Gormley released the short film – ‘The Runners’ – on 15 November last year. Using a bike with a cart attached for the cameraman, the duo interviewed runners through the seasons, which you can see change beautifully throughout the short film. The runners keep on running through rain and shine. In a piece published in The Guardian, Ivo Gormley wrote that one interviewee had been “humbling” in his honesty about his determination to run a marathon for his father, who suffers from dementia.
Runners are united in this film by one thing – running – and they run for all sorts of different reasons.
Published on Nov 15, 2013 – A short film by Matan Rochlitz & Ivo Gormley
“Pounding the tarmac through the seasons, a band of runners are brazenly challenged with intimate questions as they pace their routes. Liberated from responsibilities, their guards drop dramatically, releasing funny and brutally frank confessions, and weaving a powerful narrative behind the anonymous masses.”
I am running the marathon for cancer charity Sarcoma UK, as my boyfriend’s sister Katherine died from Sarcoma over three years ago, just a few short months before James and I met. I am running the marathon for Katherine, who I never met, but so wish I could have. I want to do this for James and his family. If you could donate as little or as much as you can afford, it will make my training seem so much more worthwhile. My JustGiving page is justgiving.com/AliceSnapeMarathon
Part 1 of Things&Ink editor Alice Snape’s Marathon Diary…
Around three weeks ago, I got the news that I had been waiting for… I had been accepted to run the London Marathon 2015 for the cancer charity Sarcoma UK …
My heart filled with a mix of excitement, fear and happiness. Excitement, as running the marathon has always been one of those things I want to achieve, and fear, as I have never run close to that distance in my life. I have slowly been building my fitness levels over the past five months, and really enjoying the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle. But a marathon is a whole new level entirely and I am ready for the challenge (I hope). It feels like the right time to do it and for a charity that is very close to my heart.
Let me tell you a little bit about why I applied to run the London Marathon for Sarcoma UK. My boyfriend’s sister, Katherine, died from Sarcoma over three years ago, in fact she died just a few short months before James and I met. James and his mum, Glenys, support the work of Sarcoma UK to help other families who are affected by Sarcoma. I never knew Katherine, although over the years that James and I have been together, I have slowly learnt more about her – what sort of person she was and her likes and dislikes. In some way, I guess I want to fundraise for Sarcoma to pay tribute to Katherine, who I never met, but so wish I could have. This is also the reason, why I chose to give all the profits from ‘Miniature Ink’ (the collaborative exhibition with Atomica gallery to celebrate Things&Ink’s two year birthday) to the charity.
But on a very selfish level, I also want to run the marathon, I want to see if I can physically achieve it. To see if I can run the entire distance and do it in a time that I can feel proud of… I am currently on week 3 of the official London Marathon training plan, and I am enjoying being competitive with myself. Beating my own times, and gradually building up the time and distance I can run. (I recently downloaded the RunKeeper app and completely obsessed with miles per minute and figuring out what my “race pace” might be).
So I am running this marathon for Katherine, for James and his mum, for those who are affected by Sarcoma, to support the work of this wonderful charity and, mostly, for myself, because I want to say I have ran a marathon, and also because I want to say that I ran it for Sarcoma UK. So please give as little or as much as you can, so that I can think of all those pennies when I am doing training runs in the cold and dark over winter… Here’s a link to my justgiving page.
I will be keeping you all updated on how my training is going over the coming months in ‘My Marathon Diary’ on this blog, so please offer words of support and encouragement…
