Have you ever wondered what it might be like to walk a marathon?

After all, how hard could it be?

Very, very difficult actually as a work colleague of mine Susan and her 'significant other' Rob found out in Dublin this year. Susan ran this race last year in just over four hours and so she knows a thing or two about both running and this race.

If you're ever tempted to walk a marathon read this first.

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It all started well, it was a nice morning and we got to the start line at around 8:55 so we had about 15 minutes to spare, and it was a lovely day, blue skies and no rain but just a little chilly. Then the start gun went and we were off. It took us over 5 mins to even cross the start line, and then we were really off. The first few miles just sailed by as there were lots of supporters out on the route and there were a lot of people walking it as well as us, so for the first 5-6 miles we just kept the head down and steadily passed people, then we entered the phoenix park around mile 4-5 and that was nice for a while but boy does that park go on and on and on. I thought that we would never get out from green fields and back to roads and traffic and buildings but we did, and then we were on mile 8, at this point having been walking for 2 hours we started to tire a little and slowed a small amount but not too much. We were passed by two other marathon virgins who told us that they had spent the last 2 hours trying to catch us, and catch us they did and that was the last we saw of them.

Needless to say from here on out we didn't really catch and pass many more people, everyone now seemed to have the head down and be focused on the task at hand of continuing to walk. We passed the half way point of 13.1 miles in 3 hours and 20 mins, so we were still on track for what we had expected to be our finish time of 6 and a half hours. However, at this stage knowing and feeling the 13 miles that we had just walked, it began to dawn on us that we still had 13 more to go with no fresh legs under us. At 14 disaster struck, I got a piercing pain in my left knee and I had to stop for a few moments to stretch. We managed to get going again but at a much slower pace. I had been keeping the splits up until now, however as I saw our time slipping further and further from 14-15 minute miles to 16-18 min miles I realised that I was just depressing my self even more so I abandoned the watch.

Over the next 4-5 miles we both yo-yoed between highs and lows, but luckily we were able to keep each other going as we never hit a low together. Our moments of despair were when people on the footpath who aren't even in the race are passing you by and there is nothing that you can do about it, also the lack of supporters on the second half of the course was hard, although we were out about 4-5 hours at this stage so you can't expect people to hang around all day. The higher moments were crossing a busy Dublin road with traffic flowing on it and when the gardai saw us coming stopped it all so we could cross (we were now some sort of royalty, having traffic personally stopped for us in Dublin). Also another high was a good Samaritan supporter who was handing out lolly pops around mile 18 (it all starts to blur together along here), I have never been so overjoyed to receive something so simple from a complete stranger, that I could have hugged and kissed her right there. However onwards we went.

Our spirits were now up a little probably from the sugar we were receiving, (we had neglected to plan correctly for the walk as we didn't bring any food or snacks with us for along the way) But again a lollypop can only last so long and as we were walking along and passed the mile marker for 19, we were trying to console ourselves that it was only 7 miles let, just one mile then a simple 10k walk, how hard could that be. On we went again, at this point if we had to stop at all for anything we were finished so we just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, all talking between us had ceased really only to ask periodically was the other ok and then to offer a complaint of the latest ache or blister that we felt in our legs. Then after passing 20 we tried to picture it as just another 10k walk, how hard could that be as we had done it many times before. But it was hard, harder that I could ever have imagined as in our minds we still had an hour and a half of walking to go. Then a fellow walker, started to pass, at this point so many people were passing us that we stopped taking any notice. However, he was obviously feeling a little low too and so asked could he join us. This was a welcome distraction for us, as we began to introduce ourselves to our new friend it gave us some new focus and stopped us thinking of the aches and pains we felt.

It was still a long way to go but soon we were passing mile 25, as we pressed on now knowing that there was only 1.2 miles left it lifted our hearts and legs a little. There is one point on the final mile that is torture, you pass a point where you are only a few hundred yards from the finish line, but there is still about a mile to go on the course, seeing this gives you hope and a little frustration that you have to continue forward and down towards Trinity before you are finished. As we walking on I thought that Trinity college would never come into sight and as it did I gave a little cheer as now I knew that the end was close. As we rounded Trinity, three abreast walking down the middle of the road, it felt strange, the city just seemed to be carrying on as normal and no one seemed to pay much attention to what we were doing. Did they not know we had just walked 26 miles, the only people who cheered and offered support or even knew what we were doing marching down the middle of the road were those who had already collected their medals and were walking back. Then there is was mile 26 marker, now it was only to walk up and around the corner and then we were there.

Having previously ran it, this part it what felt the strangest, there were little to no supporters, the barriers were being disassemble, the race stewards offered some support with a few claps and cheers, and then we were over the finish line. After 7 hours and 20 mins of walking it was finally over, we collected the goodies and that was it. By now the legs had totally seized up and we begin the slow short trek to the hotel, which thankfully was only 2 blocks away. As we walked we met a Dublin couple who were out walking and they asked had we finished. We told them we had walked and how long it took us, they did congratulate us but looked at us in wonder as to why you would want to do that as we could now hardly walk now. I suppose that answer to that question is that no matter how long it takes you to complete the course, it is still a great achievement to say you have done a marathon.

Now the foot note of warning, if you are going to walk it here is some of my advice. Walk it in a group of more than 2 people, Train properly, don’t adopt the attitude of how hard can it be to walk 26 miles, which I am ashamed to admit is the category that we fell into, walking it is as hard as running it, if not harder and it requires a level of training to ensure you fully enjoy the experience. Be prepared on the second half of the course to have few to no supporters, after 4-5 hours people give up waiting and watching for people to come around unless they are specifically waiting for you. Most of all enjoy it as the memory of the pain you felt on the day will fade however the memory of crossing the finish line will stay forever with you.