Just over a week ago Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee stood on the start line of the London Marathon and he admits the nerves and emotions were off the scale.
That’s quite a statement given the high-pressure rollercoaster he’d negotiated the summer before when striking gold in the most dramatic style in an unforgettable men’s race in Paris.
But taking part in the London Marathon had been a lifelong dream – he ran in the Mini Marathon several times – and one he was able to realise on the back of those Olympic heroics, focussing for months on his 26.2-mile debut and rewarded with a hugely impressive 2:11 time – good enough for 14th place overall and the second-placed Brit.
‘What’s going to happen here?’
Speaking to RUN247 in the aftermath, we first asked if the day had lived up to expectations: “Oh, definitely, it was such an incredible experience. Something I recommend everyone do at some point in their life – whether that’s going to watch it or taking part.
“And without a doubt, racing it was a whole different level to what I ever expected it would be.
“To kind of have that level of competition, so close to my doorstep and for it to be my first marathon – I really felt the love from everyone. But also I think just in general that London shows its best face on that day and humanity just comes together and we represent the UK running London on the best possible scale.
“I’d always heard that the first 20K, when you’re south of the river is a little bit more quiet, and you’ve kind of got to fight some demons a little earlier on than you think.
“But honestly, I don’t think there was a metre of the course which didn’t have somebody there. And particularly for me south of the river, to hear all the people cheering for me was just so incredible.
“I was actually quite emotional, to be honest. The first 15, 20K – even standing on the start, my heart rate was about 135. I was thinking 135 beats per minute at rest, what’s going to happen here?”
Emotional
Asked why he thinks everything was magnified, he added: “Just combination of a whole load of factors, starting from so close to where I grew up and all of that.
“For it to be so close to my doorstep, such a big part of my athletic journey, to get to this point, I think was a very full circle moment to be able to finally stand on the start line, which has been a bucket list thing for me all my life.
“Also the fact that I stood on a start line of what proved to be a world record number of people who would go on to finish. Each person has an individual journey to get there and we all conglomerate on that one day at Blackheath Common and go on a journey together and share that.
“I think that’s very surreal to have that experience – within triathlon we probably don’t have that opportunity to share that kind of massive participation. Participation where people are influencing so many hundreds of thousands of other people, if not millions of people around the world who are coming to watch, but also donating their money and making a difference to humanity.
“So for me that’s emotional.
“So it was just one of those moments where everything kind of hits home. Once you just realise what’s happening and what a special moment it is. It was definitely the most emotional I’ve ever been on a start line and, probably as a result, one of the most proud, proud moments of finishing a race as well.”
Personal journey
Given his experience, Alex was soon able to get everything under control but in common with the vast majority of runners that day – elite and amateur – the last quarter of so of the race presented an additional challenge given the unusually hot conditions.
Talking through his race-day experience once things got under way, he told us: “I think there is something about knowing that you don’t have to go full out from the start which is a little bit soothing. The first 5, 10K are critical, but then they’re not the be all and end all.
“You’re not going win or lose your race at that point. So I think there is a little bit of ease from that. Everyone is very, very friendly in marathon as well. It’s a lot about being internally driven and getting to that point at the finish in the best possible place for you, we’re all on a personal journey in a way, to get to the start line.
“There’s similar camaraderie within triathlon, but at the end of the day, we come to the 10K of the run and that’s where you get your placings from.”
Heart over legs
But how did he find the last part of the marathon?
“That last 8K was going to have to be a bit more heart than legs and yeah, you pay the price the next few days. I’m still pretty sore now. I don’t really know what I expected to happen, but I thought I’d be a little bit more mobile than I am now!
“But I’m fairly pleased with it [my time]. Given the weather conditions. One of the ideas around going to Portugal for what was meant to be warm-weather camp was to try and get a little bit of heat stimulus. And unfortunately it rained pretty much all the time so I wasn’t able to do that.
“When it’s got a few degrees hotter and you’re in the hardest part, it does get a bit savage. Stepping into that race the heat probably wasn’t something I respected enough. I think we have a lot more cooling opportunities within swim, bike and run where you can actually moderate your effort and stay within a quite a good zone.
“Whereas this is just felt like it rose and rose and rose throughout it.
“So yeah, I’d say I’m satisfied, but definitely feel like I learned so much in that first one which is exciting. It fills me with a little bit of excitement about the future and the opportunity to still keep on growing, which is great.
“I just had to go and experience it for the first time and step into that unknown. And if I’m being honest, at the time it was really painful and really hard, but so exciting at the same time.
“I definitely relish finding out stuff about myself. That’s quite animated me really and to be able to apply a lot of that stuff back into triathlon, but also into myself as an athlete as well, is really exciting.
“And yeah, there’s potential that I could have run at a better time with a better temperature and other stuff. But as an experience, as a moment, I just wouldn’t change it for the world.
“And looking back on it, I only have pride because of that.”
