Any fitness coach will tell you to rest well before a marathon, but Norfolk’s Michael Eccles is made of sterner stuff.
The athlete achieved an amazing top 100 finish out of 39,000 runners in yesterday’s London Marathon.
It was his first marathon, it came after he had been ill during the week and was just a day after he helped his cricket team to a first league win of the season.
Mr Eccles, 36, of Whistlefish Court, Norwich, finished 87th with a time of two hours, 31 minutes and 24 seconds.
Mr Eccles said: “Playing cricket before a marathon probably isn’t the most sensible thing to do, but cricket is a team game and I didn’t want to let anyone down. I was ill in the week which is the absolute worst timing, and during the race I didn’t feel as comfortable as I normally would,” he said. “I was in a lot of pain towards the end. I thought it would be nice to run past Big Ben and the other landmarks but actually the finish-line couldn’t come quickly enough.”
It was Mr Eccles’s first marathon and though he had hoped to run under two and a half hours he said he was happy with his time.
“I was ill in the week which is the absolute worst timing, and during the race I didn’t feel as comfortable as I normally would,” he said.
“I was in a lot of pain towards the end. I thought it would be nice to run past Big Ben and the other landmarks but actually the finish-line couldn’t come quickly enough.”
He was cheered on at the marathon by his son, Billy, aged eight, and partner Elaine Allen.
Mr Eccles had qualified to run the race after achieving a sub-75 minute time in a half-marathon last year.
His feat was made all the more impressive by the fact that he had played a full day’s cricket for one of Norfolk’s top clubs less than 24 hours earlier, finishing the game as top wicket-taker.
Mr Eccles, who works for the County Court, featured heavily in Swardeston Cricket Club’s win over Sudbury on Saturday in the curtain-raiser of the East Anglian Premier Cricket League.
His figures of four wickets for 56 helped his team to a two-wicket win over their Suffolk rivals.
“I was probably the only runner on the start-line with sore feet,” Mr Eccles said. “Playing cricket before a marathon probably isn’t the most sensible thing to do, but cricket is a team game and I didn’t want to let anyone down.”
Report and pictures courtesy of EDP Sport.
