13. When the author watched the end of the first marathon he saw people who were1) extraordinary steady.2) feeling weak and exhausted.3) losing consciousness.4) having a glorious time. The London Marathon celebrates its 23rdbirthday. That is 23 years of stresses and strains, blisters and sore bits, and incredible tales. Somehow, yours truly has managed to run four of them. And I have medals to prove it. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I watched the inaugural London Marathon onMarch 29th, 1981. It seemed extraordinary that normal people would want to run 26 miles and 385 yards. And, it must be said, they looked strange and not quite steady at the end of it all. There are, indeed, terrible tales of people losing consciousness by the time they reach that glorious finishing line. But I was captivated. I knew I had to do it. Three years later I was living inLondon, not far fromGreenwichwhere the event begins, and it seemed the perfect opportunity to give it a go. I was only a short train ride from the starting line, but more than 26 miles from the finish. Who cares? I thought.By the end I did.The moment I crossed that finishing line, and had that medal placed around my neck, was one of the finest in my life. The sense of achievement was immense. It was a mad thing to do, and ultimately pointless. But knowing that Id run aMarathon that most historic of all distant races felt incredible. Londonprovides one of the easiest of all the officially sanctioned marathons because most of it is flat. Yes, there are the cobblestones while running through theTowerofLondon, and there are the quiet patches where crowds are thin and you are crying out for some encouragement those things matter to the alleged fun runners like myself, the serious runners dont think of such things. This yearLondonwill attract unprecedented number of athletes, a lot of title holders among them. It is set to witness what is probablythe greatest field ever for a marathon. In the mens race, for example, among numerous applicants theres the holder of the worlds best time, Khalid Khannouchi of theUSA; the defending champion El Mouriz ofMorocco;Ethiopias Olympic bronze-medalist Tesfaye Tola. And, making his marathon debut, is one of the finest long distance runners of all time Haile Gebrselassie. Since 1981, almost half a million people have completed the London Marathon, raising more than $125 million for charity. For the majority of the runners, this is what it is all about. It is for charity, for fun, for self-development. It is a wonderful day. I have run it with poor training, with proper training. And I have always loved it. Its crazy, and its one of the greatest things Ive ever done. If you want to feel as though youve achieved something, run a marathon.