Wow - what a race that was.
I speak, of course, of the women’s Olympic marathon. I started watching about half an hour before the finish, having just come in from my measly 5.5 miles, and I stayed engrossed on the couch from then til the end. I saw Paula Radcliffe drop out - shocking, and heartbreaking, that - and I saw Deena Kastor turn on the jets as she moved into third place - and I saw Mizuki Noguchi hold off the reigning World Champion, Catherine Ndereba, for the win. It was an amazing experience; I think this is the first marathon-watching I’ve done since I started running, and it was inspiring.
It was just amazing stuff wasn’t it? In the heat. Up those hills. And they just kept going, some of them getting STRONGER as the race went on. My jaw hit the floor!