To think the London marathon isn't all it's cracked up to be?

[Upstairsdownstairs30]

Starting a thread as have no one to talk about this with in real life...

I ran the London marathon on Sunday, it was my first ever marathon. All of my friends and family made such an effort to support me throughout the marathon and training for it... BUT I didnt have the best experience and didn't get the huge high I was expecting to feel at the end..?

I felt like there were so many people I had no space to run and kept barging into people, I also don’t think other people running it were that chatty? I've always had lots of people strike up conversations at local half marathons but London... none? (Maybe it was my focus face?) The course also wasn’t that exciting, it was mostly just high streets and by the time you got to the landmark I was too tired to notice. The finish line was also ready odd. I thought it would be really obvious but just looked like the bridge they'd set up for spectators so wasn't 100% sure I'd actually finished, there also wasn't the music/ party atmosphere I expected?

Is it just me or has anyone else experienced this sense of anticlimax? I expected a massive rush! Is it just me? Or is it because I was 4 minutes off the finish time I wanted?

Brighton is a nice one I thought. I met some lovely friendly people (not that I had enough breath to talk much)

I'll bear that in mind! 😊 loved Brighton when I went a few years ago and I imagine running along the beach is lovely!

Currently of the 'I never want to run again stage' although I am sure that will pass! And... I do have all the gear now soo... 😂

How could you miss the cutty sark?! 😂 I’ve never experienced such a roar of sound!

and I can’t agree that tower bridge is meh. Honestly one of the best moments of my life-blue sky, cheering crowds, London sights in either direction, nearly half way…

parks half is good-lots of sights, nice time of year. But it’s expensive-I think it’s over £60!

I haven’t done any other road marathons-I tend to do trails and don’t really have any desire to do any others but I’d do London again in a heartbeat.

One thing I will say-last year the photos were a MASSIVE disappointment. Not many full stop, none from any of the key landmarks, nothing at the finish and only one with me in the middle and the backdrop is of a charity shop! So be prepared that you might have further disappointment to come

Milton Keynes 😱 that does sound like a special kind of torture. Well done for that!

I don't think the staggered start helped either. Slower runners were finishing 5/6 hours after the elites and a lot of the crowd had drifted off.

This is very valid. A friend of mine ran it. We'll call him A. He was expecting a sub-4 hour time (and on the advice of someone who's ran it a few times) A over-egged his estimated finish time so he could avoid running with the big crowds. What this meant was that A had ran NINE MILES before someone else I knew (we'll call her B), who admittedly was going to be much slower - around 5+ hours - had even crossed the start line. That just seemed unfair.

In the end, A finished in 3h 20 and B finished in over 6 hours. Because B also started later than A, A had finished, travelled home, ordered a takeaway and eaten it (!!) while B was still out on the course. That just seems wrong.

I've run a fair few marathons and agree London is overhyped. Manchester and Brighton are both amazing - fast, flat, and incredible crowds pretty much all the way. The finish of Brighton, on the sea front, is just a spine-tingling experience.

But then trail marathons are brilliant, if totally different, experiences too. Ok, so you won't be getting a "good" time and you mostly have to carry your own stuff rather than relying on water stations. But the sense of achievement, and the views, are so much more than if you've run 26.2 on city streets.

I ran it last year and it was honestly one of the best days of my life. I still remember how amazing it felt to have tens of thousands of strangers wishing me well and urging me on to finish. For the last 6 miles I was carried on a sea of cheers and encouragement. It was so emotional.

I ran it in 2018, it was my 7th marathon I think. I prefer small scale, hilly, scenic trail marathons so it wasn't my usual thing but I entered the ballot on a whim and got a place first time! I wasn't that fussed about it - in fact I felt a bit guilty at how unbothered I was given how many people in my running club had unsuccessfully entered the ballot for years. On the day though I had a great time. Agree that the course is probably 80% meh visually and not quite the amazing tour of central London I had imagined. But the crowds were incredible along the whole route and the atmosphere was amazing. My DH heard that a good tip is to wear a t shirt with your name on it, so he got me one with my name and and exclamation mark on the front and back! It worked, I felt like a celebrity all the way round with people calling my name. I guess the end is a bit strange as your friends / family are quite far from the finish line, but overall I loved it and it's probably my most memorable marathon despite not being my usual type.

Do it again just to make sure? 😁

I'm really sorry it wasn't what you wanted. I also ran on Sunday (also first marathon, also delayed due to covid and a baby!)) and for me it was an incredible experience. I've always been very deflated when I missed a goal time in previous races though, so maybe it's partly that? There's something about coming just a few minutes after a goal that is particularly gutting (my half Pb has been 2 minutes off my goal for 4 years now 😬)

Hope it levels out for you - and remind yourself, you've run a marathon! That's a phenomenal physical and mental achievement, and it drains you for a while after.

Interesting to read others' reflections. My best friend hated Brighton, thought too much of it was round a dull industrial estate and a nasty long hill in the middle.

I also missed cutty sark until I was about 90% of the way round it. It's because the bottom third is encased in a building, it just looks like you're running past a bloody office block! 😂

Well done on running it, you should be very proud of yourself!

I ran it in 2017 and it was one of the best days of my life! After children being born and wedding day of course!

Well done. Just well done, it really is a big deal, especially to those of us who can barely run for the bus.

I hope once the exhaustion fades you find some fond memories.

And if not, well, that's okay too. You still did it.

a nasty long hill in the middle

It's really funny reading other people's reflections of races because it all depends so much on what you're used to. To me, Brighton is practically pancake -flat, though there's a very slight incline at around mile 10 - which you just turn round and come back down. To put it in context, the whole race has only around 500ft of ascent over the whole 26 miles!

As a Northerner who is used to running up hill and down dale, races down south are always entertaining as people around you start complaining about "hills".. even when there aren't any 😄

There is a horrid industrial bit in Brighton from mile 22 to 24 but apparently that is being re-routed for next year. Though by that point in the race you're practically back on the seafront and the home straight anyway.

I'm with you. I ran it years ago and found it quite stressful. I ran a very average pace along with a gazillion other people and so spent the whole race staring at someone's back! It was also hot and sweaty and with the crowds it was all a bit much!

For me quite possibly even better than those two. Maybe don't tell then that 🤣

I ran it last year and I could have written your exact OP! I was hugely underwhelmed. Couldn't even muster an expression at Buckingham Palace and also was expecting the finish line to say it was the finish!!

I hear ya! I was chuckling to myself watching the Tv coverage on Sunday when they kept calling it the friendliest marathon…..I don’t think I’ve ever done a race where I got so little chat, support etc from fellow runners. It was truly awful from start to finish IMO.

I ran it a few years ago and I felt the same. I found people to be unfriendly and it was my first marathon too. I have run a few since and London was the most boring and unfriendly. You are not the only one. They are not all like that I found Edinburgh to be really friendly and really enjoyed that one.

York Marathon is on next weekend. How does this compare, does anyone know? I've not entered but a colleague is doing this and I might give it a try one day as it's possibly the nearest one to me.

I would imagine it's completely different! I don't know anything about that one specifically, but London is the odd one out in terms of marathons.

It will have a much smaller field (maybe in the mid-hundreds to very low thousands), and will most likely have large sections of the course with few supporters. It may well also take in some very scenic views too. I imagine it has a few hills along the way.

Like anything, some people love that kind of event, but others need the big event vibe that only the major marathons have. Neither is right or wrong, just horses for courses.

Like a PP, I love events where you're out on the trails, enjoying spectacular scenery. But if I want to try and go fast, I need a 'big' event to do so. I need the adrenaline that comes from nerves (don't get nervous before a trail run) and the support of crowds to spur me on. I love a big city event for those reasons.

York is very much in the sticks once you get out of the small city centre. Consequently very few supporters which makes a lot of the run mentally challenging. I couldn't have got through the last 6 miles in London without the crowd, York is a very very different, solitary marathon.

I loved it and had a very different experience to you. I was way off my normal pace due to injury so maybe that made a difference as I was with slower runners but I’ve never spoken to so many people during a race! Some amazing stories that moved me so much. The crowd support was amazing. While much of the race did feel like streets that could be anywhere, the supporters reminded you it was London. Tower Bridge and Cutty Sark huge highlight areas, as was The Mall at the end. To anyone unsure, do it! It really is the best in the world for atmosphere.

Somebody mentioned Brighton which is a marathon I hate! Horrible long boring segments with little crowd support. I’ve done a few big city marathons, in this country and abroad, but feel London deserves its reputation.

Perhaps where you run makes a difference as being a slower runner this time meant I could soak it up and people not going for a time maybe are more willing to chat along the way. I had a great race, despite being frustrated by my time (which I knew would be slow before the start).

I’ve also done London Landmarks several times which I don’t really like and would say what you’ve said about London! No sense of any landmarks (I missed them all) and people not chatty (don’t think I spoke to anyone last year) but I know people who love that race so very aware personal experiences differ so much!

Yy Brighton has that 3mile boring straight section along the sea front to Shoreham where you have to turn around at the end and do it all over again....

They've actually changed the route because it was so shit.

I'm really interested in the comments. I ran on Sunday - would have been my 11th Marathon/5th London Marathon but unfortunately I had to withdraw just past half way as my temperature dropped too low.
But I have always loved the atmosphere. The crowds , music etc. Sometimes even a bit too overwhelming. I did find it a bit more crowded at the start and when running than last year. But I think the waves do really help to keep it moving properly .
I'm a similar pace to @HundredMilesAnHour friend A and I'd find it really annoying if I was starting with people of friend B pace. You can't have runners of different paces all going off at the same time otherwise faster runners are going to be impeded and frustrated and slower runners risk being mown down by faster ppl behind them.
I'm really focussed when I race - happy to talk to you at the start or finish but not when I'm running! The first time I did it I was so in the zone I didn't even notice Tower Bridge when I ran across it!!

York Marathon is on next weekend. How does this compare, does anyone know?

I really don't like York. It's not flat, fast and full of supporters (like Brighton/ Manchester) but nor is it scenic either. It's about 22 miles of slightly undulating farmland with few people around; a couple of pockets of support in villages; and a city centre bit which is over very quickly and on cobbles. Which is annoying.

I would rather do one thing or the other; a proper city road marathon for a decent time, or a hilly trail marathon. York isn't really either. Wouldn't recommend it.