Jillian Vs The Brighton Marathon

After some limited sleep I woke to see some natural light coming in to the room, I had set my alarm for about 7 and had some time to kill before it went off i laid in my bed and chilled. Then the farts started and after a fart there was a very feminine giggle. Jillian was the only girl in a room of about 6 people and if i had to guess all the other men had eaten beans the night before. Sure I may have let one go but I made sure it was a quiet one. After about 15 minutes my alarm went so I rolled out of bed and started getting ready, as we weren't coming back to the hostel everything needed to be taken with us, I went for a shower and Jillian talked to some of the other runners (turns out just about everyone in the hostel was there for the run). I came back Jillian went for a shower and I finished packing. A little while later we went downstairs for breakfast. She had been fixating on eating Peanut butter on toast with banana's on top she had been going on about this for most of the time we had been travelling so I was a little disappointed after she made 2 of these and only ate 1 saying she would eat the other on the way. As we sat in the canteen of the hostel one of the guys who had shared the room with us offered us the chance to walk up to the starting line with him, I was interested Jillian was not. Jillian had been told about a shuttle service from the station to the start line and was adamant that this would be the way we would travel. Even though we where only about two miles down the road to the starting point.

It was time to  make our way to the starting line, with all out bags with us with left the hostel and headed further away from the start then where we were to go to the station. Although no other runner new about this service except for the experts we had spoken to the day before, like I said Jillian was adamant. All the time Jillian was carrying her piece of toast with peanut butter and banana on. As we walked to the station I became more and more concerned that every other runner we passed was walking the way we had just come, but Jill still wanted to continue and as she was a bout to run a marathon I decided to do as she wanted and then I flat out lied to her and said that when we get to the station and find no shuttle I would not say told you so. We did get there after a little trek and asked anybody we could about it but nobody had any idea what we where talking about, we asked one more group of runners who all told us it was a 15 minute walk from here to the start so we may as well just walk it. With this Jill gave up and we headed back the way we came still with toast in hand. We got back to the road with all the other runners and Jillian had another change of heart, this time about the toast, she was no longer hungry and soon after binned it, sad times and I still feel bad as this toast didn't get used for the purpose it was created for. Not long after we found the racing start line. It didn't look to busy at first maybe only a few hundred people but as soon as we past some hedges there where thousands of runners and few hundred spectators. We saw some trucks of in the distance in which you could give them a bag and they would take it to the finish line for you, Jillian's bag was to big so we maid a stupid mistake and gave them my bag. We had about 5 minuets from this point to walk down to Jillian's starting point ( there are different starting points for how professional the runners are as this was Jill's first run she started at the back). As we approached the runners only point we said good bye and i tried to give an inspirational speech to help her along the way. I said something like 'Jill you might feel a lone at times on this race especially when it gets hard, but your not I'm always with you, so are your friends and family and also everyone your running this for' she responded with 'ok'. I felt a little stupid and a bit deflated but she was a lot more focused on the race then what i was saying so I just said goodbye again and let her walk down to her starting point, I walked down the side barriers with her. It got comically awkward at this point as both of us had said goodbye moments before we then spent the next 20 minuets talking, It takes a while to get the people moving and every time the line moved slightly we said goodbye again and then carried on chatting. Finally it did get going and I did get to say goodbye for the next 4 and half hours.

I took as many pictures as I could but mostly of the back of her head or someone who looks similar, and as the starting mile does a little circle on itself i decided to cut across the field and take another picture of her, this didn't work and even though my walk was a lot shorter then her run i did make the mistake of not realising that running is as it turns out faster then walking. From here on I would only see Jillian once before the finish line and the story will mostly feature about me entertain myself in Brighton. It started with some fresh cooked doughnuts they where selling on the field, the guy selling them had 3 left he sold me for a £1 I didn't need 3 but I thought whatever I'll take them, just as I walked away a family came to stand and asked for some doughnuts to which he happily answered I had just brought his last ones, I thought about giving them the other 2 I didn't really want but then i decided that if they where serious about getting doughnuts they would have got there sooner so fuck 'em. I followed the route of the runners and cut as many corners as i possibly could to get a head of Jill's group but it was no good. I walked past one poor sod wearing one of the tops for the faster runners who had collapsed about 4 miles in, I felt bad for him and didn't want to say that I was walking this and doing better then he was. Watching a few thousand people run has never been one of my hobbies so its fair to say I got a little bored at times, I looked in a few shops and then I had a brain wave if i cut down to the half way point I would definitely be able to see Jill again. I walked the most direct route I could and this time I would definitely beat her to a point so I could take some more snaps. When I got to a crossing point there was already some of the faster runners there at the half way point but this guys where pros so I know I had at least some time to cross the road and find a good point to take some pictures and shout my support, sadly crossing the main road of a marathon takes some time as they close half the road at a time to let people cross but not disrupt the runners to much, it took about 15 mins just to get across. I finally made myself to a good point and then I waited and waited and waited. This isn't a negative comment and anyone reading this wants to have a stab at running 13 miles any quicker please have a go. The problem is I waited so long my camera that was in my hand went in to sleep mode and when I did finally see Jill it took a bit to long to wake up and all I got was a picture of the back of her head. I was more then a little pissed of about this, but on the plus side it had given me a rough estimate of what time to get to the finish line to try and get a better picture, now all I had to do was kill another 2 hours.

Bored and a little bit in pain from carrying Jillian's backpack (the heavier and larger of the 2 we brought with us) I started to walk along the coast, annoyingly as we had handed over my backpack I only had my wallet and phone with me and not my eclairs I brought the day before, much sadness. But then it hit me with the force of a thousand atomic bombs or one extra spicy vindaloo. What do all tourists do in Brighton to keep occupied, they go to the pier. I'm sure as a child I had been to Brighton but I had not been in 20 years and to be honest the pier was the perfect distraction. Loads of great seaside food like rock and paper cups filled with sea food plus some rides which I didn't go on and lots of arcade games and those claw grab games which could win you a toy. I decided that what ever medal or certificate they gave Jill at the end of this that a stuffed Mario or Luigi toy would be a much better gift, so I spent about 90 minuets and maybe £15 trying to win one for, I failed completely at this and got more and more annoyed with myself, Mario and Brighton for my failing. I stop ed trying and played some shot em up games, which all though fun was also very annoying. As most of these games are 2 player I would very quickly find some kid standing next to me and pretending to play. Sadly I'm to nice to tell people to fuck off, and even if I was enjoying a game I would pretend to be out of coins and move on. I think one of the best things abut getting old and having a job is that I could have played one of these games all day still had money left over. Time was getting on and it was time to head back to the finish line.

When I got to the finish I saw some poor sod who had collapsed at the 300 meters to the finish line mark, I felt bad for him for the first 15 mins then lost interest as the paramedics seemed to be helping him and when they got a stretcher to him they happily pushed him past the finish line, of course I have to wonder if that counts as him finishing the run and would his sponsors have to pay? I didn't have to wait long for Jill maybe half an hour and it was nice to see the other runners get big yet very tired smile across there face as they got to the 300 meter mark, sadly this point looked a lot like a finish line to some people and they almost stop ed there. Jillian came about and I made the same stupid mistake with my camera only taking pictures of her back. But  she had made it she had ran 26 miles in 4 hours 36 minuets, well done her.

I walked down to the finish line and then what felt like an extra half mile to the end of the barricaded area, if i thought crossing the road was bad this section was worse, hundreds and hundreds of people on a tiny stretch of path all barging in to each other all trying to get past, at this point I was tired and as it would turnout slightly sun burnt. As we slowly made our way forward 3 impatient hags kept pushing me trying to make me go faster, now for those who don't know me I'm a calm reasonable person, unless I'm tired. After getting prodded in the back(pack) one time to many I waited for then to do it again and as I felt a hand start to prod me i slightly pushed backwards causing all 3 woman to come to a rapid halt and knock in to each other, they made a comment under their breath but I turned around and gave them daggers and after that moment they didn't push or make any noise for a long time. I eventually made it through the crowd and luckily bumped it to Jillian i say luckily as I had her bag with me including her phone, so I had both phones. If we missed each other we could have been in trouble, but it worked out. I gave her a hug she gave me a bottle of power aid and then she told me she needed to sit down and get changed and rest. If i knew then what i know now I would have carried on walking all the way to the station as after she rested for a moment her legs stiffened up and she could barely walk. But she wanted to go to the beach and speak to the charity she ran for. She told me about her run and how it wasn't that bad and how she didn't stop and it never got to much for her, I told her how proud I was and how grateful I was for not making me wait for more then 5 hours. She spoke to the charity she ran for and they told her how grateful they where, they gave her free things mostly more drink and crisps and Jillian got changed. We rested on the pebble beach for a while and then very slowly headed down the coast to find somewhere to get food. e found a pretty lousy restaurant on the sea front and decided what the hell lets get some food. I made the terrible mistake of ordering burger while Jill made the wise decision of ordering fish & chips, it would be very funny to write 1000 words on what was wrong with the burger and what was right with the fish but I'll keep it simple and say this. Inland eat farm animals pig, chicken and cow, by the sea eat things from the sea. After a disappointing burger we again headed off to the station. It took a while and Jill looked like she had been riding a horse that was to big for her for the last few hours as she walked, sadly to make matters worse the journey to the station was all uphill and what would normally be a 15 min walked to twice as long as that but we did get there and to make things better there was a train departing soon. We clambered on board and got some good seats, as we waited more and more runners climbed aboard, until the train was jammed full. I wish I could say that I gave up my seat for people who had done the run but that wouldn't have been practical as it would have involved getting lots of people to move as well so I just stayed seated. I was pretty tired and Jillian was exhausted so not a lot was said on the journey home, some obese couple a seat over did talk a lot about doing the run in 5 hours 30 it made me think that anyone could run the race but when anyone suggest that I run one I tell them that I'm fine thanks and its not something I can see myself doing. What got to London Bridge and it was time to say goodbye, I asked Jill to phone a friend to come meet her and help her home but she told me she was fine, I wont lie I was a little worried but I was even more selfish and just wanted to get home myself. We hugged said goodbye again and went our own way, I had another boring 45 min train journey to do but my adventure to Brighton was over, I forgot to come out while I was down there so maybe if I go again I'll do that next time but apart from that it was a bloody good weekend.