The London Marathon celebrates its 32nd birthday. That is 32 years of stresses and anxieties, blisters   and painful knees, and tales that are hard to believe. Somehow, I've managed to run four of  _ . And I have medals to prove it. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I watched the first London Marathon on March 29th, 1981. It seemed extraordinary that normal people would want to run 26 miles and 385 yards. And, it must be said that they looked strange and not quite steady at the end of it all. There are, indeed, terrible tales of people losing consciousness when they reach the finishing line. But it drew all my attention. I knew I had to do it. Three years later I was living in London, not far from Greenwich where 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 great. Knowing that I'd run a Marathon felt extremely good. London provides one of the easiest of all the officially approved marathons because most of its course is flat. Yes, there are the cobblestones while running through the Tower of London, and there are the quiet patches where crowds are thin and you are crying out for some encouragement -- those things matter to the "fun" runners like myself, but the serious runners don't think of such things. 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. I have always loved it. It's crazy, and it's one of the greatest things I've ever done. If you want to feel as though you've achieved something, run a marathon. According to the author, one should run the London Marathon to   _  .
feel a sense of self-achievement win the prize raise money for education see the sights in London