Running For A Reason: Mexico At The London Marathon:
The Canadian athlete, Jeff Scaff, once remarked that “ If you want to know what you’ll look like in ten years, look in the mirror after you’ve run a marathon”. On Sunday 22nd April, around 35,000 people will find out if he’s right. This year’s London Marathon will start in Greenwich Park at 9.45am – so most of them will hope to have completed the course ( just over 42 kilometres/26 miles) and crossed the finishing line in front of Buckingham Palace by mid-afternoon. This doesn’t include the world-class runners – who will be there to compete , win and cover the distance in not much more than a couple of hours. The IAAF (International Association Of Athletics Federations) men’s world record is currently 2:03:38 – set by Patrick Makou (Kenya) at the Berlin Marathon on September 25th 2011. The women’s world record has remained at 2:15:25 since Britain’s Paula Radcliffe achieved this time at the London Marathon on April 13th 2003. The majority of participants, however, will simply want to ensure that they finish and don’t drop out at any stage due to cramp, blisters or sheer exhaustion. Some will manage this better than others. As Australia’s Rob de Castella (The IAAF 1983 World Marathon Champion ) has observed: “ If you feel bad at 10 miles, you are in trouble. If you feel bad at 20 miles, you are normal. If you don’t feel bad at 26 miles, you are abnormal”. So if it’s such an ordeal, why do so many people apply? Proving to themselves, their friends and colleagues that they “can do it” is only one of the motivating factors . For a large proportion of the “amateur runners”, the real (and far more important) objective is to raise money for the charity which they have chosen to represent.
According to the “Guinness Book Of Records, the London Marathon is the world’s largest annual fund-raising event. Its original sponsors were Gillette (1981 -1983), then Mars (1984-1988). The margarine brand “Flora” occupied this role between 1996-2009, then was replaced in 2010 by “Virgin Money – whose “London Marathon 2012 Charity Listings” feature a very diverse range of organizations, among them: Arthritis Research UK, the NSPCC ( National Society for the Prevention Of Cruelty To Children), Oxfam, Leukaemia CARE, the RNIB (Royal National Institute For The Blind), the BHF (British Heart Foundation), UNICEF, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, the Institute Of Cancer Research and Asthma UK. The “Prostate Cancer Charity” has been designated as the “official” one for this April’s London Marathon. In 2011, Oxfam was awarded this classification.
Every year, an estimated 500 marathons take place around the globe. The “Runners’ World UK” magazine’s “top ten” are: London, Berlin, New York City (November), Chicago (October) and Boston (April), followed by Stockholm (June), Paris (April), Honolulu (December) and Amsterdam (October). Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro and Peru’s Pacasmayo hold their marathons in July; Buenos Aires (Argentina), Beijing (China), Guayaquil (Ecuador) and Melbourne (Australia) all have theirs in October; Havana (Cuba): November; Madrid: April; Moscow: May; Pyongyang (North Korea): April; Mexico City: September. The ‘Maraton-CAF’ 2012 took place in Caracas (Venezuela) on February 5th with almost 5,000 runners. “Half-Marathons” ( about 21 kilometres / 13 miles) are also popular internationally – especially in Bogota, Colombia (late July/early August); San Francisco (February), Edinburgh (May) plus other venues such as Monterrey (Mexico), Burgos (Spain) and Disneyland (California). Gothenburg (Sweden) hosts the world’s biggest half –marathon. In May 2011, 59,417 runners started, 43,026 finished. The organisers anticipate that the numbers this year could exceed 75,000.
At least two Mexicans will be taking part in the London Marathon 2012: Marysol Alvarado (owner of the Mestizo Restaurant in Hampstead Road NWI) and her son Daniel. Their aim ( inspired initially by her husband’s own encounter with this issue) is to collect at least £2000 for Prostate Cancer Research. Marysol is well aware that it will be tough. She has no experience either as an athlete or of following a strict “keep fit” routine. She trains from about 7.30am onwards until she goes to work at her restaurant throughout the day and has set herself the goal of getting from Greenwich Park to Buckingham Palace in five hours. She’ll be “very pleased” if she can manage it in four & a half: “it’s more mental: You have to believe in something”. The marathons in Mexico, she points out, are held in a different town each year. Unlike in London, they are not for charity. They tend to be (asserted Daniel) rather “macho” compared to here. She has spoken to the Mexican Tourist Board in London about her involvement: their reaction was “great”, but they “didn’t seem particularly impressed or really understand the point of running for a charity”. Despite this, she’s already raised about £1,100, so is well on the way to possibly surpassing her target: Most of it has come from friends and Mestizo customers: One pound of the £14 price for a “taco tray” ( four types of meat, guacamole, pico de galo, onions) goes towards the prostate cancer research fund. At an Adidas “induction session” in Regents Park in February , they were given advice on matters such as nutrition and the correct trainers they should wear (assessed by requiring them to run over a foot-scan several times). At another full-day meeting, they were apparently told that they should eat a whole jacket potato one day before, porridge in the morning of the 22nd April and drink two litres of water three hours prior to the start of the race. Every mile there will be a “water station” and every 10/15 miles a lucozade bottle will be provided. In April they will be allotted their London Marathon number and receive their (light blue) running vests with their names and that of the charity they represent. “It’s amazing (declared Daniel) that “So many people want to raise money to help others.”