There will be runners shifting anxiously from one foot to another under London’s clouds, feeling the flutter of a few more butterflies in the stomach than usual tomorrow. Not that they will admit it.
There will be up to a million people gathered by the roadside, smiling and cheering the runners, even as they snatch a glance around them for an unattended bag or a suspicious figure among the crowd. But they will be there anyway.
Black ribbons will be worn to show solidarity with everyone affected by the horrifying atrocity in Boston. There will be a silence to remember those innocent people caught up in the bomb and then the London Marathon will surge ahead with an almighty roar of defiance.
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I have completed the event twice. They remain two of the more satisfying moments in my life. The runners in Boston were looking to experience that same deep sense of achievement and well-wishers lined the roads to share it with them until two bombs destroyed all of that.
It is why there will be 40 per cent more officers on duty in Britain’s capital, with the accompanying increase in scares and alerts. Of course, with 26.2 miles to cover, it is impossible to police the whole course, and the field itself is nearly twice the size of Boston with 37,000 runners pounding through the streets.
One of them contacted me this week. They admitted they felt distinctly frightened about the prospect of taking part. They had seen the horrifying photographs of lost limbs and blasted flesh that were too gruesome for any newspaper to reproduce and found it difficult to shake those nightmarish images out of their mind.
They wondered aloud if they could pull out. So I volunteered to run instead. Rather than let down the charity they were supporting, I thought I would try and hobble to the end in their place.
I wasn’t remotely ready, but an orange Womble and a man wearing a biplane made from papier-mache overtook me in a previous attempt, so I figured the humiliation of a slow time was bearable.
I could also understand their fear. Back in 2007, two car bombs were found in central London. A Mercedes was dumped in Haymarket with gas cylinders, 60 litres of petrol and a substantial quantity of nails inside.
By chance, an ambulance crew responding to a 999 call noticed wisps of smoke coming from the vehicle and bomb disposal units arrived to defuse the deadly device before it did its evil work.
Fun and games: The streets of London will be awash with colour on Sunday DM.has('rcp',"twitter"); Loading tweets...Just 36 hours later I was participating in the British 10km race —and the route took us directly past the scene. I’d be lying if I didn’t confess I stepped up the pace a little as I came through Piccadilly and past where the bomb had been, illogical as I knew it was.
People have a right to be apprehensive. The organisers were sympathetic to this anxiety, too, but not quite so keen for me to start swapping names and numbers with another runner this late in the day. They have enough security issues to address without the likes of me adding to them.
But the London Marathon is worth protecting. It is unique. In the wake of tragic world events, sportswriters always scrabble around for ‘meaning’ in the games people play and usually end up in Pseuds Corner in Private Eye for their trouble.
It has always seemed rather simple to me. Sport is life. It is a part of our existence. It’s no different to music, theatre or the arts. It has the ability to unite, inspire and lift the spirit. It is a reason to be.
Even with its appearance fees and half-distance cameos, the London Marathon remains among the purest examples of sport we have left. It is the only mainstream event where the best professional athlete in the world can line up alongside an enthusiastic club runner, a half-fit plumber with a dodgy hip raising funds for his local care home, a female wheelchair racer aiming for a new best time and a student dressed as an ostrich.
All human life is there. All human life is celebrated. We should never surrender that. Boston proved it when the bombs went off and runners went through the finish line and straight to the local hospital to donate blood.
So I’ll be there in London to provide a cheer tomorrow, especially now my friend has decided to run after all. It’s what we do. We get on with life. Run if you can, walk if you must, but never give up.
Blasts: Explosions ripped through the spectator area near the finish line at the Boston MarathonSorry Tony, your squad are a right shower
Queens Park Rangers owner Tony Fernandes believes he has the measure of his players. He says he knows who is up for the fight.
'I went to the dressing room after the game,’ he said. ‘Talked to the players. It is clear who is committed. Last man to leave was Christopher Samba.’
It seems being slow in the shower is an act of commitment. I would have thought desire would be evident out on the pitch, not measured by whether someone wastes time taking two bottles of shampoo into the shower.
But QPR chairman Fernandes is certainly taking a bath as his club haemorrhages cash. Back in February, the Rangers chairman was insisting: ‘I am an accountant. I run businesses. We are sensible. I don’t think there’s any recklessness here.’
But any accountant in their right mind would take one look at the numbers being crunched at Loftus Road right now and smash themselves in the face with their calculator in disbelief.
QPR have signed players in every one of the last four transfer windows and it has singularly failed to work. They are like the guy at the roulette table failing with every spin and doubling the bet in the hope of recouping his losses.
Heading down? Queens Park Rangers look destined for relegation from the Premier LeagueIn 2012, 92 per cent of the club’s turnover went on players’ wages. That was before the arrival of Samba, Loic Remy, Julio Cesar, Park Ji-sung, Jose Bosingwa, Esteban Granero, Junior Hoilett and Robert Green.
Last year, they were running at an annual loss of £23m, but that figure must have doubled by now and they are already £89m in debt.
Rangers will inevitably be relegated this weekend or the next. Even with a parachute payment, the figures are frightening. The good players will leave. The overpaid dross will stay.
It’s reached the stage where the underperforming squad might as well turn up for training each day in balaclavas, since they have been guilty of daylight robbery this season. But if they hang about in the shower, at least Fernandes will be fooled into thinking they feel sheepish about it.
FA’s V-sign to the fans
The Football Association took a pounding on this page last week for their attitude to long-suffering supporters travelling down from the north of England to Wembley.
The game’s governing body responded immediately as they announced the arrangements for the final between Wigan and Manchester City. They stuck two fingers up at everyone.
So the Wigan fans that found there was no train service to return them home after the semi-final will endure a repeat of the experience, thanks to the same 5.15pm kick-off and the same shocking scheduling by the rail operators.
Nightmare: Wigan and Manchester City fans face travel chaos after the FA Cup final at Wembley next monthIn a patronising, dismissive statement, the FA said: ‘The kick-off time is unchanged from last year and this allows more football fans around the country to watch the Cup final in its entirety.’
It sure does. Just as long as those fans don’t want to do anything radical like actually GO to the match, rather than watch it on television.
The FA also waved away the lack of trains home for the 60,000 or so expected to make the trip, saying there would be ‘additional coach services which National Express are running’. What a coincidence. National Express also happens to be the Official Travel Partner to Wembley Stadium.
The FA then capped it by briefing that their research showed only around 3,000 people went to the last FA Cup final by rail. But is it any wonder? It’s because there are never any trains.
TIME magazine shredded the credibility of its ‘World’s 100 Most Influential People’ list by including footballer, party boy and ongoing psychological treatment conundrum, Mario Balotelli, in their spurious roll call. How can he be among the most influential people in the world, when he wasn’t even the most influential member of his team in Manchester? Although I suppose, on one level, Balotelli does influence me. He compels me to buy any magazine other than Time.
Really? Mario Balotelli was named as one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazineSir Chris Hoy has always performed with calm courtesy, total dedication and an understated pursuit of excellence throughout his career. But Britain’s most successful Olympian (right), with six gold medals, has now decided it is time to retire. And he bowed out in the manner we have come to expect from him. He did it with a quiet style and dignity. He remained a gentleman.
Andy Carroll has recently sprung into life at West Ham, scoring goals and making the lives of various defenders a misery. It could be a coincidence that the £35m striker needs a new home and a fresh contract next season, but I doubt it. In some quarters, this is called ‘doing an Adebayor’.
More... I crossed the line in joy, then it was carnage: One Briton's account of Boston bombings Absolute security is not possible at a sprawling event like a marathon Step it up! I'd like to see my Marathon mark go, says last British winner Martin London's defiant message in aftermath of Boston Marathon horror: Get on the streets, celebrate the race and show solidarity
