Monday August 25, 2008

Well here we go again

Well here we go again, another tale of pain, torture, anguish and severe mental and physical punishment. No I�m not talking about auditioning for X Factor, that'll be far too easy. I'm actually talking about the Flora London Marathon. I ran it back in 2007, the year when everyone was told "good luck" and by the way this is the hottest Marathon for ten years. As if I really needed to hear that, after all I had already committed myself to 8 months of training, consisting of numerous hours in the gym toning up every muscle in my body (some of which I didn't even know I had!), consuming surplus amounts of practically every nutritious food type that exists and oh I almost forgot, hundreds and hundreds and even more than that of physically, mentally and emotionally spent miles on road, grass and cinder path.


The idea of taking on such a task would be a stretch too far for most people. My name is Mark Scales; I am visually impaired and have never run more than 3 miles before in my life. I suppose you were expecting me to introduce myself at the start of this blog, well what can I say, I guess I do things a bit differently from the others. Like I said my vision isn't what the majority of people would call the norm. I'm not special; I�m just me with an added special need. I needed a great deal of support when I decided to run 26.2 miles around London. Luckily for me I got that from my running guide who volunteered to help me. He had run in every kind of race, everything but that Marathon which I guess seemed so far out of reach. Finishing the biggest race in the world together seemed like a pretty good idea, doing it was something totally different. It would take strong will, physical and mental strength and belief, patience and an enormous amount of guts and courage. I had to search really hard to find out if I had any of these attributes. Somehow over time (a lot of time), something I can only describe as miraculous happened, I began to enjoy running. It was never easy just easier to do, I was kind of getting used to the pain, the feeling of phenomenal adrenaline rushes performing acts of World War 3 inside me. My feet were covering 8 to 15 miles a time. Then 17 to 20 miles a time. I'm writing this slowly otherwise I�d lose count. Many, many more than I�d have ever envisaged.

Before I knew it, RACE DAY! Due to the fact that my last race, the Silverstone Half Marathon took me 2 hours 15 minutes, I had thought that this one, the big one would take double time. I'm not that good at maths but even I could work out that 2 hours and 15 minutes x 2 = 4 hours and 30 minutes. That is exactly how long my running partner and I would take to complete such a challenging run. Nope, man we were close but yet so far. A time of 5 hours and 19 minutes was on the clock as we crossed the finishing line, a little worse for wear, extremely exhausted but still alive. I was so proud of what we both achieved, visually impaired but with gallons of extreme determination to complete the biggest race of my life. I had to train a little differently to the other runners but I still managed to conquer all my fears of giving up, breaking up, and probably throwing up. Others fitter, stronger and more experienced than me didn't finish. I made the impossible possible, well that's what it says on my Marathon finishers t-shirt.

Raising money for adults and kiddies with various degrees of vision felt amazing. �1200 in the long run through sponsorship and some very kind people. I never asked for it but I was nominated for a sports award in the town where I lived. When I held the award in my hand, the Corby Disabled Sports Award of the year, I realised that people I had never met and most probably never will had believed in me.

Guess what? I'm now starting to believe in myself. I'm going to run the London Marathon AGAIN! Some would call me a glutton for punishment, well they might be right, I�ll let you know. This time my running partner and guide and friend Michael Staddon and I will be attempting to raise money for the Royal London Society for the Blind. An association which I have great faith in as they encourage blind and visually impaired people to seek employment, assisting them with advice, support, training and a shoulder to lean on. Pretty good ha?

I'm another year older (33); hopefully a little wiser when it comes to sizing up the gargantuan race of life that is the London Marathon. I genuinely believe that I�ve still got it in me to do this and between us, Michael and I have still got the magic that is essential for such a challenge.

My legs were aching, I was out of breath and this was only after 3 and a half miles. You've got to start somewhere I know, I hadn't run for about ten months so I didn't really know what to expect. I shouldn't be so hard on myself, there's a long way to go yet. I've run on the treadmill in Michael's studio, that was exciting but nothing like I felt when we pounded the hard concrete for the first time together on Monday. Another 3 and a half miles, not bad I guess but you know something, I think next time we run I will set myself a challenge. Yes next time I�ll try 4.

Mark Scales
Scared but thrilled and a little bit excited


To find out more about donating, this blog and my videos visit the Create Yourself Run London 09 page here.