London, April 18-22, 2024

Written By Gary Wong

#runldnii

Date: July 6, 2023
Subject Line: Your 2024 TCS London Marathon Ballot result

Body:

You're in Gary!

We’re delighted to offer you a place in the 2024 TCS London Marathon, which takes place on Sunday 21 April – you just need to pay the international entry fee to secure it.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat…

Every year, I enter the ballot for a place in the London Marathon. Every year, I expect to get the same “Commiserations” rejection result email. But not this time! Success! Wheeeeee!

This was actually the first trip to London I had planned for in 2024 and when I started putting it together, I quickly came to the conclusion that I really really wanted a lie-flat bed for this one so I wouldn’t show up in London feeling like crap right from the jump ahead of a marathon. At this point, I’d already flown long-haul in Delta One so it was really a no-brainer to see how Virgin Atlantic Upper Class compared.

I started my trip off on the right foot with a stop in the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse for dinner. I’ve already covered this lounge in a previous trip report, though this time was actually my first-ever visit during their departure banks (they’re open when there aren’t any VS departures but it’s possible the experience is dialed back for Priority Pass users). I’ll just leave it at this was a wonderful first impression of their a la carte dining and it would remain in my number one slot among JFK Terminal 4 lounge options until the Delta One Lounge opened later that year.

The Food and Drinks

When it comes to marathon trips, I kinda treat them like a business trip where I try to stay as focused on the task at hand. When it comes to food and drinks, it’s pretty basic - carbs, carbs, and more carbs whilst minimizing the alcohol in the 1-2 days leading up to the race. That doesn’t mean it’s all business as this trip coincided with Zwanze Day 2024 and even though it was the day before the London Marathon, I just had to have some Cantillon. Thankfully, Beer Merchants Tap out in Hackney where the London iteration of the festivities took place did small enough pours and early enough in the afternoon where I didn’t feel it the next day.

As for the carbs (though beer does have carbs), I did my usual ramen loading the day before the race with two bowls, one each at lunch and dinner. The standout bowl was the one at Monohon Ramen, which may just be the standout ramen place in London and I’ve been to quite a few in town so I like to think I know what I’m talking about here.

If the food before the marathon can be described as in service of being able to run a fast marathon, then the food afterwards was very much in celebration of running a fast marathon. I celebrated and commiserated (individually, it can be either or both at the same time, really) with fellow London Marathoners and running friends at The Tamil Crown where we had a delicious Indian Sunday Roast.

For my final meal in London, I had lunch at the Michelin-starred Kitchen W8 which offers a set lunch for under £50. That’s absolutely insane for a bougie joint in Kensington but it’s in keeping with their theme of a neighbourhood restaurant, just fancier. It’s not a meal that will blow your mind but the execution is impeccable and the service was fine throughout.

The Race

I had a a pretty crappy training block to put it mildly and the fitness I had in 2023 was definitely lost by the time London rolled around. At a certain point during the build, I knew I wasn’t going to PB at this one and decided to dial it down a notch so I could focus on just running a fast time that wouldn’t break me. All I knew is that I wanted to get under 3:40 with a stretch goal of finishing sub-3:30.

So. Fucking. Close. UGH.

My half splits were 1:46:08 // 1:44:22 which is nearly a two-minute negative split so it’s not hard to see that I probably lost my shot at 3:30 early on but, really, it coulda been at any point. Maybe I coulda gone out a little faster or maybe I coulda turned the jets on sooner as the finish line drew nearer. Hard to say. I just know that I finished with something left in the tank. There wasn’t a lot of something but it wasn’t nothing.

Ah, well, it’s on to Chicago.

The Race after The Race

Hey, so normally I would have loved to have posted photos of the actual marathon experience. Maybe some photos from the start village or maybe even from the race itself. I swear, I took tons of photos at the start village as I didn’t do much of that back in 2017 when it very overcast on race day compared to this one.

Too bad you’ll never get to see them because some hood on a bike snatched my phone from my hand and sped off. My marathon-addled brain left me vulnerable to the theft and then compounded it by not listening to my body when I decided to sprint after the thief.

That’s right, my tired-ass post-marathon legs decided to tack on some strides to go after a thief on a bike. JUST WHAT THE FUCK WAS I THINKING (or not).

I actually did alright, keeping him in sight for a block before he turned off at a corner and he, along with my phone, was lost to me forever.

I hope someone enjoys the parts of my iPhone cuz I sure as heck never released it from my Apple account so that’s all it’s good for now.

➾ Related Foto Feed Posts

The List

Restaurants

Breweries

Bars

Coffee

Bakeries

Gary Wong
Next

England and Portugal, July 2-13, 2025