The Flora London Marathon was a particularly special occasion for me this year as my father and best friend were running the 26.2 miles. I have never been up to London on the day before but my experience this year filled me with patriotism; us Brits can really support one another!
From a certain perspective, you could view the Marathon as a 26 mile long catwalk. After all, many months consideration would have gone into which sportswear is most suitable for wearing on the day; a similar length of time to which designers spend co-ordinating collections for seasonal catwalk shows. Moreover, many brands would have been tried and tested for which provides the most comfortable and supportive trainers, socks, vest etc. Therefore, those brands identified en route would truly represent function. Also the clothing acted as key advertisement for the charities they are running for. My father ran for the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation who provided him with a vest for his name and charity logo.
There is a huge amount of publicity around runners in fancy-dress too. On the day I saw an octopus, donkey, devil, skeleton and bumble bee! The temperature in London was stifling for even the spectators. I cannot imagine the discomfort the fun-runners experienced.
I must just mention my surprise as seeing Peter and Jordan running along Jamaica Road (the 11 mile mark). They were holding hands as they lapped up screams from supporters (I, of course, was one of them! And I got a smile from Peter too!) although Jordan looked to either be in some discomfort or just concentrating!
If I were ever in a position where I could run the marathon, it would certainly be an interesting experiment on all sport-brands as to which would make the final cut!
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