18^th of April 1999 was a special day in my life. A day I will always remember. It was a day of mixed feelings – excitement on one hand, fear on the other. What fear? The fear of not being able to complete the entire route in the Flora London Marathon 1999. A stunning 26.2 miles for those who know the statistics! It was my first marathon and training and preparation began as early as December. I was given a training guide, something which most of us would like to follow but none actually did; I tried to but the workload at Imperial was forbidding (only an excuse). However, I made the effort to run at least 3 times a week. Rumours from friends saying that I won’t be able to even walk to college after the event was a real concern for me as my exams were only 6 days later.

I had 2 regular running buddies, See Fong and Matthew. They provided much motivation for my rounds at Hyde Park. As the day drew nearer, it was deem that running round Hyde Park was not going to be sufficient for long distance training. Of course, one would not feel like going round and round it. Therefore, new running routes had to be sought after. Training then began to take place along River Thames. My longest training session was from my flat at Wetherby Place to Tower Bridge. That turned out o be 2 hours of precious revision time gone!

The London Marathon is also one of Britain's leading and most successful annual charity fundraising events. Many runners chose to run for charity. The race in 1998 saw a staggering 15 million pounds being raised for charity. This huge sum of money would never be possible without the support of many friends, family and companies. For the marathon, I had chosen to run for Shelter - a registered charity who is committed to help homeless and badly housed people. The reason for choosing Shelter was because few of us could envisage having no home to return at the end of the day, in this dreary city of London.

When the big day came and all preparation done, Matthew and I, accompanied by See Fong, our photographer cum supporter headed for the starting point in Greenwich. Long distance enthusiasts from all over the world gathered early in the morning for this world’s famous event. We saw many runners wrapped in bin liners and were curious why it was so. After some questioning, it was realised that bin liners were a cheap and convenient way of keeping the body warm before the start of the race – an ingenious idea we thought and certainly a tip for first timers in the future.

At about 9am, we cheered after the gun shot declaring the start of the race was fired. It took me quite a while to get into the actual act of running as we were shoulder to shoulder some 1 km away from the actual start line. You can imagine the ingress route to the start line was packed with lots and lots of runners. Once I got across the start line, I had a fair amount of running space. The start was fresh and exciting. I thought what really impressed me in this marathon was the vibrant spirit and enormous continual support you received from the people that lined along the streets. Their clapping and cheering were apparent from every single part of the running route. Occasionally, you can hear the tradition ‘Oli Oli Oli’ cheer which was very motivating for the runners as well.

It took me nearly one and a half hours to reach Tower Bridge from the start line. That was slightly under the half-way point. That would mean another 14 miles to go. Soon after the half-way mark, I began to feel the terrible aches on my thighs and calves. They gave me the feeling that they were about to cramp anytime. I told myself to push on as I knew that if I were to stop, it would be likely that I would stop more often later in the race. However, the pain was really killing me when I reach the 16^th mile mark and I had no choice but to stop and messaged my legs. Lack of fluid intake was later cited by the medics as one possible reason for the stiffness of my leg muscles. I wanted to push on and I could not do it for long. I was unable to push on for more than 1 km. Gradually, the situation became worse. I often had to stop after running not more than 500m to massage my legs. I stopped at every drink station to replenish myself. I looked out for medics who were able to message my legs to relieve the pain. Mile markers were my only motivation. But they seemed harder and harder to come by. The thought of giving up flash across my mind for one nanosecond but that was definitely not Lai Hock’s spirit! I knew I could do it. I finally knew what the feeling of "Hitting the Wall" among long distance runners felt like. No one could help me and only I can help myself. With 6 more miles to go, all target timings were abolished. I would be glad to reach the finishing line. Then, that was my only objective.

Step by step, I tried all ways to move past the last few mile markers. Jogging, and fast walking were all I could do. (No crawling was attempted!). By the time I reached the 25^th mile mark, I was somewhere near the Embankment. Crowds of people were just cheering for our last mile. Out of a sudden, I heard my name being shouted. I turned my head and I saw Chee Kiong handing out sweets to the runners. He did the marathon last year. I was motivated to push on but there was an acute pain on my right knee. With much struggle, I finally saw a sign board saying "800m to go". I became very motivated. Despite all pain, I started running towards to the finishing line, crossing it with my arms open wide into the air, a clear sign of victory and accomplishment. Immediately, I was attended by the medics who helped to message my legs to relieve the intense pain that had built up. That was really helpful and soon, I was able to walk again.

Next, it was the moment I was waiting for. I received a souvenir medal which was put over my head and wore round my neck by one of the support staff. A large silver foil, sponsored by Times newspaper, were then handed out to us to maintain body heat. Many photographers were present to capture this joyful moment. People were also giving out mineral water and sandwiches to thr runners. With so much energy expended over the last 5 hours, immediately, I tucked into 2 sandwiches, grabbed 2 along with me and 1 for See Fong. We had agreed to meet up me at the waiting area under the tree marked ‘T’. Unfortunately, it was such a long walk to the waiting area and after moving down the rows of trees marked ‘A, ‘B’,…..,I finally reached the one marked ‘T’. At last, there was sight of him and we shared that happy moment by taking a few pictures. There were just so much stories to tell him. I showed off my medal and the souvenir pack which included a T-shirt with its front printed "26.2 miles, if you have to ask me WHY?". On the back, it said "Then I know you have never run a marathon".

Slowly, we made our way to the Underground station and it was finally time to head for my bed. The event was such a memorable one. The pain and satisfaction of completing a marathon had transgressed all the accomplishments I had achieved before. I hang my medal proudly on the table lamp in front of me. 4 hours 48 minutes and 11.47 seconds was my timing and on my mind, I was already looking forward to the next marathon to improve it. With the help of my friends – Ivan, Alvin, Eng Soon, Cathy, Chin Ghee, See Fong, Xiang Yuan, Hwee Chuan, Patricia and Yihan, I managed to raise a total of 133 pounds and 20 pence to Shelter. Flora London Marathon – I salute you.