The first marathon attempt - April 2010

Note: this was written with a public audience in mind, for a competition the Vienna Marathon was holding. I never submitted it because I had no desire to enter the Vienna Marathon again, what with the new plans for Dublin. I stumbled across it today. I'll post the actual marathon report soon..!

Three days to go before my first marathon, and we met in the pub to discuss the news we’d heard during the day. Volcanic ash had closed airspace in the UK. We truly believed that we’d be delayed by maybe a few hours, this kind of thing never lasted long, similar to high winds, bad ice or terrorist alerts. We believed we’d be running through Vienna, experiencing the pain and excitement of the race, on Sunday. The training was done, the injuries dealt with, the plans to meet friends and have a great holiday after the race made.

The following day, Friday, we drove to Manchester airport and it looked like nothing we’d ever seen before. Police lazily walking around, a few people with blankets sleeping, but otherwise it was eerily empty. At the point the lady at the airline desk said ‘we can’t get you there until Sunday afternoon’ it became real and I experienced a physical reaction. There’s no need to try and explain how it felt, I know thousands of others felt the same way.

The following morning I woke super early, turning the radio on in hope that maybe the restriction had lifted and we’d be going after all. The bags were all still packed and ready. BBC radio 4 told me that UK airspace was closed until Saturday night. Full of energy and emotion, I decided I had to do something with the day. Both Jon and I had the same idea ‘let’s go and climb a mountain’! By 9am we were at the beginning of the path up Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales. We reached the summit at 11am. I didn’t stop once on the way up. Adrenalin and anger propelled me. At the summit I became calm, thankful for the beautiful weather and the small achievement which, whilst not matching the planned 'big tick in the box', marked the beginning of my exploration of the great mountains of the country of my childhood.

The following morning the group of us who had planned to go to Vienna set off for Scotland. We spent a week exploring the Western Isles. I took a day trip alone to Kerrera, a tiny island just off the mainland off Oban. There I sat on a beach created by volcanic rock and reflected how things come full circle – here I am sat on a volcanic outflow, because a volcano prevented me from achieving my goal. We had a great holiday exploring a part of the world we hadn’t been to before, and the Scottish weather was very kind to us. After some time to relax, I am now planning my first marathon all over again.