Race Day!
See you at the finish line!
I felt a twinge at 2 and a half k in my calf
I've been hurting for quite a lot of miles. Like really hurting.
Welcome back to quarantine to qualify here on The Running Channel. The series,
following my journey as I attempt to run a Boston marathon qualifying time,
that's three hours and 30 minutes at the Berlin marathon.
Now with the help of added us along with experts in physio, psychology,
strength, and conditioning and nutrition,
as well as all of the support from The Running Channel community.
I've been training so hard over the last seven months,
and now it's nearly time to put that in to race day.
There's one part of team Anna that I missed out of that list.
A very important one. And that is my coach Andy Hobdell.
So now it's time for one last catch-up with him ahead of race day.
Everyone has a different journey into the marathon.
You've done everything that you can do, or I can't fault you,
you can't fault yourself.
And we would both be absolutely honest with each other and say,
you've given it everything, but you know, your body and,
and nature has been battling against you with illnesses and
bits and pieces to mean that
we haven't necessarily been able to get you to start line as fit as we wanted
you to be. No, but what I would say to you, I'm not going to lie to you.
Cause that's not what coaches do.
I'm not that type of coach who will lie to you. Is that, there's been kind of
elements of marathon prep where we've had six or seven weeks continuous.
And it's kind of like, great. So if we have another five weeks like this,
you're going to be that runner.
So you've got so close to being that runner. I can tell you now, you,
you certainly have that potential and talent to,
to crucify three hours and 30, you know.
Thank you so much. Thanks for everything. You've been more than a coach.
Um, yeah, I'm going to get emosh now.
It's been awesome. I've got to know you. You're a superstar I told you, and yeah,
we'll see you on the other side.
Okay. Stay on the other side. Thank you.
So this is it. I'm here. I'm in Berlin. The marathon is tomorrow.
I'm so nervous.
All I've got to do now is head into the expo behind me and pick up my.
bib, eat some food, get a good night's sleep. And oh,
just the small matter of 26.2 miles.
So I'm back at the Airbnb that we're staying in for the Berlin marathon weekend it's
been a long day and feeling very tired.
I've done a grand total of 19,000 steps today,
which is probably a few too money the day for a marathon, but not to worry.
I like to get all my kit out the night before to make sure that I've got
everything. So most importantly, I've got my race day shoes.
So I've got the adios Pro 2s ready to rock and roll,
then shorts, vest. It's going to be a hot one tomorrow.
We're expecting about 22 degrees. So nice and light. That's it.
All the other stuff to do now is to have some dinner and get some sleep.
I've been up for hours.
It feels so amazing to be back on the start line of such a huge and prestigious
race. I mean,
who would have thought like 12 months ago when everything was going on?
Oh my God, I'm getting really emotional.
I'm good. I'm good.
It just feels so amazing to be back on the star line of such a prestigious
race and like a year ago,
who would have thought that we'd be all back all together,
running marathons again. Um, I'm really emotional. As you can tell,
thank you for all of your good luck messages. They mean, so, so much to me,
and I'm just pumped and ready to go all in for Berlin.
It's always an anti-climax.
See you at the finish line!
And we are off! Start the watch. Nice little long run round Berlin.
One kilometer down
5:37 coach is going to be, so off.
First 5k. Parkrun done. Seven and a half to go,
um,
I felt a twinge at two and a half K in my calf, but,
I'm going to finish it, whatever happens I'm finishing today.
So just gonna manage it, take it at my own pace,
smile a mile and just have fun.
What a beautiful city.
This is amazing!
Nearly at 10k and we've just had to have a little walk. My, um,
my calf is like rock solid. Um, I'm having to run really,
really flat-footed whereas I'd normally run on my toes.
So it's creating a few problems. But I'm having a lovely time.
So coming up to the 12k mark, my watch says, 12k,
it's just a tiny bit out. This is the furthest I've run.
in 2 and a bit weeks because of my injury.
This finish is gonna, like mean a lot.
The one thing that I've got to remember about this whole series is that it will
quarantine to qualifier.
I started again,
with my coach helping me to literally get out of bed in the morning,
just to go and run a couple of miles,
so even though this might not be the qualifier that I wanted and I've worked for,
I haven't failed,
I've just taken a big step forward from where I was 12 months ago.
and that is fine with me.
Everyone at home will be tracking and they've got their next update now
an hour and a half in.
there's a place for us, for we are glorious, when the sharpest words gonna knock you down,
Gonna sing the words gonna drown them out. I am brave, I am bruised
I am who I'm meant to be, this is me.
I feel much better now.
Come on.
Let's go Anna. Not fast though.
So when I ran Berlin in 2018, it was the year that Eliud Kipchoge,
set the world record and I was running through this bit and,
there was a guy who at the side of the road with a scrappy piece of cardboard.
And all it said was 02:01:39.
So I knew when I'd got to halfway, oh, I'm getting goosebumps.
That Kipchoge had set a world record. And that really sped me on,
in that second half to want to go and chase down the goal. Cause I wasn't injured,
when I ran it that time. Um, so yeah, I mean,
we all look good, two hours and seven minutes.
And so it will already have been won. Is there a new record? I don't know!
Um, marathons are hard. Sometime it's your day.
And sometimes it's really not. Today really isn't,
but,
When races were getting canceled and postponed last year.
Like we probably couldn't have imagined being back in this,
so I just felt really lucky. I'm really grateful. Um,
and really emotional just to be around other runners again,
and I got so many lovely messages before coming out to do this,
so it felt like I was running for all of you.
So like I'm taking these messages through with me.
I'm reminding myself that you're all here with me. Um,
which is why I keep pushing on, which is why I'm going to finish this.
Which is why I'm having a lovely time,
because I'm very lucky to be running this for you guys.
What the *! Yay! You are awesome! Get it done. Come on now!
Thank you so much! Thank you so much!
That means so much to me.
I saw the smile a mile sign. And was like smile a mile
And then she had team Anna written on them.
It makes such a difference having supporters,
and because I'm in Berlin and because travel is because of COVID,
I've gone my Running Channel buddies,
but normally my mum would be here.
Other friends or family, whatever. I don't even know them.
And they made me a sign,
Oh my God. Oh,
pull yourself together
Weirdly. I just saw them at three hours and 30 minutes,
The original goal, it's still a goal. Not for today we'll do that another day.
Hello! Not Anna Harding here. Freddie the camera man, actually. Um,
Anna is ploughing on, we've only got two miles to go and her calf is on fire,
but she's been an absolute trooper. Very nearly there.
She's plowing through, she's doing excellent work and super proud of her.
Fell really bad saying it, but I really want this to be over now
I've been hunting for quite a lot of miles. Like really hurting.
I came here to finish this and I will finish this.
and I will feel proud when I've finished this
Because I got a chance to run a marathon again.
Come on Haroon, come on, come on, yes!
let's finish it together. I've got so much cramp man, ah I'm dying
but we're here.
I know, come on.
I'm so pleased to see you! Check out our video about running and ramadan to see more of Haroon.
I wish my legs still worked like that!
I haven't been good for about 20 miles. I said, I finished it and I have.
I'm so pleased I have
for everyone
Who struggled over the last 12, 18 months.
Be it mentally, physically, whatever,
if you've struggled, that was for you. I'm sorry.
I didn't do what I set out to achieve originally, but today,
wasn't my day.
But that was the victory lap of
Kipchoge, what a guy. So I made it, I've got my medal.
I'd like to say in one piece, I'm very much in a lot of pain. Um,
but I finished it and sometimes you have to adjust your goals when it
comes to marathons. I didn't think I was going to cry again.
I'm really sorry that this video has just been full of tears,
but it's been a really emotional day. And, um,
I think it's really important as well,
just to show that when it comes to marathon running,
it's not always all going to go right on the day for you,
if it all clicks into place then that's great.
And I've had some amazing marathons where that has happened,
but at the same time, it's sometimes it's not your day.
And I went in with three goals today and my final goal of the three was to
finish it. And that, that was just the non-negotiable. So I'm really,
really proud and really happy.
And that doesn't mean that this is the end of my journey to try and qualify for
Boston. I'm getting a piece of paper oh God.
Uh, it's a message from adidas. Thank you.
We've been rooting for you every step of the way through all the ups and the
downs.
And we know that you've encouraged others to be
brave and ambitious with their goals too.
What the !
That's why we're excited to invite you to run the Boston marathon
in 2022 as our special guest.
oh my God, see you on the start line. Your friends at adidas.
Well I better get bloody training because I can't walk at the moment.
That is amazing. Thank you adidas for everything that you've done. Thank you,
team Anna,
for everything that you've done to get me to both the start line and the finish
line today,
but also thank you to The Running Channel community because without you guys,
I definitely would have called it quits today.
It's been a really tough day at the office, but thank you everyone.
I hope that you've enjoyed following my journey. Um,
as much as I've enjoyed putting it out there for you.
