Gregor takes on the London Marathon for WaterAid

Gregor in action, and after the race with his medal.

WaterAid's own Gregor Peterson ran the 2008 London Marathon in an effort to give some of the world's poorest communities access to safe water and sanitation. Here he recounts the big day.

Hooray!! I did it! I bloody well did it! 4 hours, 24 minutes, 13 seconds!

The London Marathon was a truly awesome experience. It was very emotional, the support from the crowd was amazingly uplifting, and when I approached my support crew at the WaterAid cheering point, I admit I was choking back the tears. The dam burst when I crossed the finish line, though.

I'll spare you a pace-by-pace account, but here are some of the highlights.

Pre-start
A friend dropped me off in the early morning, and without any idea about what to expect, I soon joined the throng of people as we made our way to the top of the hill. I dropped off my gear, went to the loo and joined the start at the back pen.

Start
Chatting to people around me, it seemed that almost all were running for a charity of some sort, and like me, few were natural-born athletes. The horn blew and we shuffled forward for ten or fifteen minutes to the start line. I needed the loo again! 

The YMCA
The South London tour was great. The runners were in good spirits, the kids held their hands out for high-fives, bands dotted the route. We passed the YMCA where they were playing "YMCA" on their sound system, and like out of a movie, the runners did all the actions on cue to the chorus! Hilarious. I couldn't help myself.

Dave
There was some pretty amazing costumes - camels and bears and bananas (loved hearings kids shout out “Go Banana!”), but my personal favourite was Dave. Dave was dressed in a G-string, with a bunch of helium balloons emanating from the rear thong... and nothing else. Where did he keep his race number? 

Tower Bridge
Just before I reached the river we got a burst of cold rain that cooled us nicely. But then it was cold and it went on long enough to dampen us. But then, like you get in London sometimes, we turned a corner to see Tower Bridge and that meant we were almost half way already! 

The Maasai Warriors
It was a pretty good marathon for raising awareness of the need for water and sanitation in developing countries. This year, six Masai runners entered to raise money to build a well to bring safe water into their village. They had lots of coverage in the press. I saw them on the run and wherever they went the spectators gave a huge shout. 

The WaterAid crew
After the half-way mark, I was feeling wonderful - on a true runner's high. As I approached WaterAid's cheering point at mile 14, I came around the corner and saw the WaterAid banner and started welling up. Feeling emotional, I was so glad to see my friends. They gave me such a mighty shout that someone running next to me said “you'll be glad of that when you see them next”.  He knew what he was talking about. 

The Dark Ages
Don't really know a lot about what happened between mile 18 and 21, only that the miles passed slowly and I hurt a lot. 

Gregor on a runner's high!

Credit: WaterAid / Jane Scobie

Sprint to the finish
Nearing the end, I once again saw everyone who had come out to cheer for me and the other WaterAid runners. It was so great. All of a sudden my pain was gone and I was on the home stretch. Seeing them gave me a total lift. 

By the 23rd mile I suddenly found that I was completely pain free, and what's more I had a surge in energy. It was huge! I flew - I couldn't find enough people to overtake.  

The finish
I crosssed the line, covered my face with my hands and wept. So much time and energy to get to that point, so much support and good vibes from so many people.  Brilliant.

A massive thank you to everyone who offered their support along the way. I've so far raised an amazing £1,849 for WaterAid! There's still time to sponsor me - visit www.justgiving.com/hardasnailsme.