Treasured possessions no.1

A tee shirt commemorating one of the madder races I have run, the one-off Greenwich Foot Tunnel Centenary Marathon. Held on Sunday 4th August, 2002, the full marathon was run entirely within the 100-year-old tunnel beneath the River Thames.

Fifty-eight laps were run by 100 runners between 2am and 8am when the tunnel was least used by pedestrians. Reputedly, it was the first time a marathon had been held in a foot tunnel.

The tunnel is 8ft 9in wide with a significant ascent/descent at each end. The marathon included approximately 7 miles of 1 in 15 (6.7%), 2600ft vertical, climb, 7 miles descent and 12 miles on the flat.

Winner was elite runner Hugh Jones, former London Marathon champion, in a time of 2:45:40. Amazingly, for a rank amateur, I came a healthy 15th in a time of 3:41:05. Results