This year Freddie’s Uncle (my brother) ran The London Marathon for The Lily Foundation and we took Freddie to watch.
I can’t remember exactly how it came about but, I’m pretty certain, I initiated my brother running the marathon! I know he’s naturally good runner and I knew a marathon was something he would like to do ‘one day’. So I saw it as an opportunity to raise money for the charity as well as him achieving something he would like to have done anyway.
All along we weren’t going to take Freddie into London but a couple of weeks before I had a change of heart. James and I have never been to watch the marathon so I started to think how special it would be if we did it as a family, something to add to the ‘dream list’ that I have for Freddie and another first we would have all experienced together. Besides, for the first time, I think James was much more positive about achieving it than me. Usually I’m driving force behind trying new things with Freddie.
After speaking to a couple of people at The Lily Foundation I decide to consult the accessible tube map and plan our route, we’d already decided to drive to Westfield Stratford and park there. On paper the whole thing was quite simple and certainly not scary, exhausting or stressful.
Getting to Stratford was easy, all we had to do from there was get to Limehouse to The Lily cheer squad at mile 14! London wasn’t too busy at this point so it seemed like it might be much more simple than we had thought… then we realised the Docklands Light Railway wasn’t operating it’s usual service and it would actually require three changes to get to where we wanted to go. In theory three changes is nothing but when you have a wheelchair it’s quite a different experience. Trying to locate lifts is actually quite long winded, let alone queuing to wait to use them and inconsiderate pushing past Freddie as though he wasn’t there. Luckily for us he doesn’t mind busy places.
Something that gave James and I a boost was how much Master Cheese loved being on the trains. It’s been over a year since we’d taken him into London and the developmental leap and interest in his surroundings had not gone unnoticed by us. He was dancing, waving at people and pointing out the window. Various people responded to his excitement and waved back or chatted to him, and for anyone that knows Freddie, the will know he loves a bit of attention when he’s out.
Once we got to Limehouse we couldn’t reach The Lily cheer squad due to various road closures etc but they got our attention when my brother reached mile 14. It’s a shame we weren’t closer to him at that point but I felt very emotional seeing him standing there, in front of The Lily crowd in his Lily t-shirts. Once we saw him we headed for some shade to protect Freddie and set him up for a feed. Then we managed to meet up with my parents and sister-in-law to see my brother come past just after mile 21. As he approached and we were calling for him people moved away so we could get to him. Again, I found it quite emotional and pretty surreal.
It was difficult to concentrate fully, and enjoy the atmosphere quite so much as we had to make sure Freddie was okay at all times. James and I had known that would be the case when we decided to go. It was hot enough to spectate let alone run.
After that we separated from my family, Freddie was exhausted (he’d woken up at 5:30 and not slept) so we thought he needed to get home but just as we got to the car he fell asleep so we stayed put and he slept for almost an hour. We didn’t get further down the course to see my brother again, or get t meet him at the finish line but after Freddie woke up we decided to head to the pub that the charity were at and see everyone. In hindsight it probably was a bad decision on our part (to go to the pub), he really rallied when he saw everyone and got very excited (he loves his public) but it’s left him out of sorts and exhausted all week. You live and learn.
London wasn’t as accessible as I thought it would be, the tubes were hard work. I presumed that a lift to the exit would just be one lift but sometimes that wasn’t the case and it felt like walking around a rabbit warren trying to find the next one. Not only that but a lot of them were only big enough for one pram/wheelchair at a time which meant queuing was really time consuming. I guess it wouldn’t be so bad on a regular day (as long as we avoided rush hour) but it would still be quite a challenge to find lifts etc. Not to mention packing everything Freddie would need for an entire day, including medications (and trying to keep them cool) is always pretty stressful. However, we did it. We survived and there were a few highlights that will stick with us forever and that’s why we decided to go. I’m sure I will always look back on 22.04.18 very fondly, although we have agreed we will never take him to London on marathon day again.
As for my brother, to say I am proud and touched that he did this for Freddie and The Lily Foundation is an understatement. Not only was it the hottest marathon records but he’s raised, just shy, of £4,350.
