A happy day - Number 22 in the box

 London Marathon 2021 result: 4:31:34, 133rd M65 of  333, 19,600th overall of 35,867

As you see in the photo, my 22nd London Marathon was a very happy day. The world seemed to be back to normal. More than 35,000 runners on the route, the crowds were nearly as big as ever and the people's behaviour let me forget the Brexit. Londoners are as polite and helpful as they have been in better times.

My race plan - alternating 5 km running by 500 m walking - worked until km 32. Then I had to extend the walking parts and to shorten the running parts. It was a strange feeling to walk already after 5 km when everybody raced by. But it payed. In spite of my limited preparation I was able to keep my pace far into the race and was very happy to finish after roughly 4.5 hours. This experience makes me hope that I will be able to keep on running for some more years.