RUNNING LONDON WITH BLIND DAVE AND MAC

22-04-2008

Blind Dave Heeley’s incredible achievement of running seven marathons on seven continents in seven days has been well documented on The Stirrer, but he’s also inspired other runners to try their hand at long-distances – among them Philip Calcutt.

I had the privilege of running with Blind Dave and Mac’s for the last leg of their 7 magnificent marathons. 

I had been challenged by Dave in October last year to become one of the runners raising money for the Guide Dogs. After my initial “I’ll think about it” response, his persuasive powers worked on me and I purchased running shoes and started the training for my first marathon. 

Lining up at the start in Greenwich was the culmination of 20 weeks training running 4-5 times a week with increasingly longer runs on Sunday mornings.

I bumped into Paul Cole, another local runner inspired by Dave who I had met at the 7 marathons start event at the Hawthorns a week earlier.

We began amongst thousands of runners trying not to get carried away by going too fast and keeping an 11 minute mile pace, hoping to catch up with Dave and Mac who had begun at the green start.

The sun came out and the first few miles were great, very enthusiastic crowds including a pub on the way to Charlton with the regulars all in Wild West costumes, determined to make it a party for the day. 

After 8 miles we saw Dave, Mac, pyshio Phil and nutrition expert Dave waiting for Mac to outside portaloos.  Mac had diarrhoea and needed regular stops, not that easy when there are hundreds of runners waiting at each toilet stop.

We all ran together with Mac making a couple more emergency stops, then heavy rain came as we made our way towards Tower Bridge, which was nearly half way and crammed with thousands of people roaring on the runners.  

I was spurred on seeing my wife, son and friends as we headed towards docklands, although it was sobering to see hundreds of fresh runners on the other side of the dual carriage already 10 miles ahead of us appearing to sprint towards the West End.

Water was available every mile and isotonic drinks every 5 miles and along the route people offered oranges, jelly babies, banana slices etc so refuelling was not a problem. 

As we made our way through the towers of Canary Wharf the runners thinned out and it became easier for the cheering crowds to spot Dave and roar encouragement.

Overall for spectators the runners in bizarre costumes – rhinos, soldiers in full field kit and boots, thongs, superheroes etc were easier to pick out and cheer. 

Mac was running on pure determination but struggling when with 7 miles left, the heavens opened and we ran straight into blustery rain which became sleet, Mac needed another toilet stop and we started to get cold.

Fortunately after 20 minutes the weather changed and as we slowly ran down the miles the sun came out. Slower runners or people suddenly stopping to walk became a problem as it was all Mac could do to keep going so the rest of us had to politely ask runners to move over for a blind runner.

All did once they realised but runners with headphones on needed to be gently pushed over. The best part of the London marathon is the crowd atmosphere and interaction so why be cut yourself off from this amazing support?  Dave said that many marathons including New York ban headphones for safety reasons.  

The Embankment was heaving with cheering crowds, many spotting Dave and Mac and as the miles slowly wound down we ran past Westminster towards Buckingham Palace and the cheering became louder as we ran past the spear wielding Masai Warriors who were running in sandals made form tyres to raise funds for water for their village.

They had been quoted in the press as saying London would be easy because there would be no lions, an amazing sight but all I could do was focus on only half a mile left. 

Then we turned into the Mall and the final 365 yards to the finish. Dave and Mac tearfully embraced, amazed at the enormity of what they had acheieved and literally on their last legs, they then went into a reception area to meet their families and do interviews.  

Paul and I collected our medals and goodie bags with drinks and food and went to the Guide Dogs reception close to the finish to meet our families and have a much needed massage.

The atmosphere of this incredible event is seductive but then I remembered the training slog over the winter as my joints all ached. I celebrated a personal achievement, a day I’ll remember for the rest of my life as I’d been privileged to run with real life heroes and be part of a unique feat by two extraordinary, down to earth guys from West Brom and Smethwick.

To see The Stirrer’s exclusive footage of Blind Dave and Mad Mac from the London Marathon click here