I have my number, chip and kit-bag, along with several sachets of anti-chafing cream, some shoe laces and a free can of Fuller's London Pride, the official beer of the Marathon, an odd gift as I haven't touched a drop for weeks, and, to judge by the absence of queues at the Fullers stand, where they were pouring free beer, neither have most of the other entrants. I got to see and drool over the new Garmin, the 405, and a helpful man on the Garmin stand told me how to configure the display on my 205 so I can see the figures without my glasses.
I picked up a couple of pacing wristbands, along with leaflets on the Cologne marathon and the Paduan Maratona S. Antonio. In preparation for a study of the marathon in antiquity, a writing project I have in mind, I bought a signed copy of John Bryant's The Marathon Makers*, and, intrigued by a reference in poster on his stand to his interest in horse racing, I bought from the author, who inscribed it for me, a copy of Jim Hogan's The Irishman who ran for England†.
*Bryant, John The Marathon Makers London: John Blake, 2008 ISBN: 978-1-84454-560-5
†Hogan, Jim The Irishman who ran for England Blackrock, Co Dublin, 2008 ISBN: 978-1-85607-958-7
