London Marathon 2018 plus weekend away in London

Been trying to write this blog post all week, but as per usual my life had other ideas and I was crazy busy! Anyway here is the rest of the post about our trip to London, for the London Marathon 2018.

Friday 20th April 2018

So after getting the train into London St Pancras, we headed straight to Leicester Square to get tickets to a show. We had already decided on either The Book of Mormon or Aladdin. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get tickets to The Book of Mormon, so Aladdin it was!

After getting the tickets, we went to check into our home for the next few days – The Premier Inn at Blackfriars. We stayed in the same hotel last time so we knew it was ok and in a good location. We managed to check in a little earlier than the usual check-in time which was handy. Next stop the expo.

The Expo – Excel London

The expo was full of the usual stalls. Ones giving away flapjacks etc to try for race fuel, energy gels an even beer! Eddie managed to get his name on his running vest, which was one of the main things we wanted to do on Friday. He obviously picked up his number and timing chip too! He also managed to get his legs all taped up. Some for injury prevention and some to try and help fix niggles!

Aladdin

A quick trip back to the hotel and then we were out to Leicester Square again. We decided to have dinner in Leicester Square at Bella Italia – cheap and actually really good portions and taste, followed by a walk around China Town.

Aladdin was better than we could have even hoped it would be. The genie has played the same character on Broadway – he was larger than life and really added to the experience. The visual effects were amazing as we the sets and costumes – all so colourful and vibrant. The music was the same as in the Disney film (which I love). Neither of us pretends to be huge fans of musical theatre. We have seen West Side story and Chitty Chitty bang bang (which was amazing btw) but this was our first West End show, in a West End Theatre.

I couldn’t take any photo’s once the production had started, it just wasn’t allowed (understandably) so if you want to see more, please book and go – I think it’s on until the end of September here is the link.

Saturday 21st April

Last year when Eddie ran the marathon we seriously overdid the walking on Saturday. This time I vowed that as he was already partially injured, it wasn’t happening this time around.

Camden

We had a lazy start but headed into Camden as I have read on other blogs and websites about the food and market. After getting off the tube we walked through the high street, where there is some brilliant artwork on the front of the shops.

We got there with still time for breakfast and just went to the local Wetherspoons, which was nice. The Wetherspoons overlooks the lock end of Camden – that’s my favourite bit. Pretty lock that leads on to some lovely street food stalls. Then there is a maze of markets which includes a mix of food, vintage and new clothing. I got the kids a Tshirt and myself a new bag, with a promise to go back down with my daughter who I know would love it.

Natural History Museum and Harrods

From there we headed up to Kensington, where we paid a visit to the National History Museum and Harrods.

We have often spoken about going to the Natural History Museum when the boys were smaller – I wish I had. It was good, but definitely would be better if visited with children. There are some good exhibitions, but I was just too hot!

Next, we wandered down to Harrods. I had never been, and I must admit it was a grand building inside and out, but I am not sure that I would buy half of the stuff even if I did have the money! The food court was amazing, but a lot of the other stuff wasn’t really to my taste.

We headed back to the hotel and had a rest whilst watching the FA Cup semi-final. We decided to head out to Nando’s for tea. It was the One New Change branch and I must admit it wasn’t the best I have been too, but I have given feedback via email so as far as I am concerned I do not need to say any more on the matter.

Sunday 22nd April – London Marathon 2018 Day

Last year I went straight to St James Park to wait for Eddie to run in and finish. It was an agonising wait. So this year I decided to get the tube over to Tower Hill and try and get a spot around the corner from Tower Bridge. I managed to see Mo Farah running, plus my brother in law, a few members of our running club and Eddie running about halfway. It broke records as being the hottest London Marathon on records, 23 degrees – in April!! and it felt a lot hotter as there was no wind! My sister and my other brother in law (Teresa and Kevin) were also at the same spot which was nice.

After seeing him run past we got the tube over to St James Park, where we had a bit of a wait to see Eddie finish. Despite all his injuries he managed to finish and in that heat!! in a respectable 5 hours 18 mins – not his quickest marathon, but he did it and raised a lot of money for charity too 🙂

We later found out that a runner sadly died after collapsing at mile 22.7 It just goes to show you how hard it is to run a marathon. I am not sure what the cause of his death was, but he was also raising money for

charity and as I write this post his giving page is at over £300k which is an amazing tribute. RIP Matt Campbell

After going back to the hotel, Eddie had a bath and a bit of a sleep. We went to Jamies Italian at Covent Garden with Kath and Michael (my other sister and brother in law) for dinner. It was delicious. Even better, Jamie Oliver offered all marathon runners a free main course – such good value for money too.

I am so glad that we booked another night in the hotel and planned to come back on Monday. It was such a tiring day and it meant we had a nice meal and nice end to it.

The ballot opens again tomorrow (30 April); and despite saying he will not run it again, I am sure Eddie will enter the ballot! Who knows even I might enter it!

Let me know in the comments if you have run the London Marathon.

Julie x