How the sport works
You run 26.2 miles. Pretty straightforward!
I’ve run a few marathons and have decided I prefer to cheer on the marathoners rather than be one myself, so that’s exactly what I did at the women’s marathon this morning.
Being summer in London, I put on sunblock as soon as I got to my spot just under two hundred meters from the finish line. Forty minutes later, I put on my raincoat and still got soaked in a downpour that lasted for well over an hour! At one point when the rain had let up somewhat, the emcee interviewed me about having come from abroad for the Olympics and about marathon running. My big screen debut!
Not even rain phases the Dutch fans.
Runners gather at the start.
The pack stayed very tight for the first lap.
The marathon course led the field of one hundred eighteen runners past me a total of four times over the next few hours. Each time, I got faster at picking out the running kits of the different countries. I noticed the South and North Koreans running together during the first couple of laps. For the first two laps of the race, Timor Leste’s Juventina Napoleao was in last place and the crowd roared for her. She ended up finishing one hundred and sixth out of one hundred seven runners.
A breakaway of Kenyans, Ethiopians, and a Russian produced the eventual medal winners. An Ethiopian took off in the last mile and left a Kenyan in second and the Russian took third.
Just after winning the race and setting a new Olympic record, Tiki Gelana came running back down the course with the Ethiopian flag on her shoulders. I didn’t get a picture but I did get a high five!
Americans Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher finished tenth and eleventh, respectively.
New Zealand’s Kim Smith finished fifteenth.
With the finish line in sight, a few of the marathoners, like sixty seventh place Ivana Sekyrova of the Czech Republic, got excited and waved to the crowd, prompting even bigger cheers.
The medal ceremony took place after the last runner had finished, Caitriona Jennings of Ireland. She was in visible pain already on the first lap so it must have taken tremendous courage and determination to finish the race. Eleven runners abandoned over the 26.2 miles.
Medal results
Gold: Tiki Gelana, Ethiopia
Silver: Priscah Jeptoo, Kenya
Bronze: Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova, Russia
