88

22nd April 2007, and the London Marathon sets off at 9am sharp.

Am I one of the 36,000 odd competitors one the start line, all trained and ready to go? Er, well no.

I wanted to do the race to mark my 40th birthday, but had a disappointment when I didn't get in the race (there were around 120,000 applications for the 36,000 places!)

Since I write about goal achievement though, I decided that wouldn't stop me, so carried on training to get ready for the 22nd April.

My intention was to run my own marathon on my own at the same time as the London race, so while the masses were ready in the country's capital, I was stood on my own start line, and started my stopwatch at 9am.

I'd put in a year's worth of training, so considered myself ready, but was a bit wary about the heat, which just my luck equalled the hottest in the 27 years of the London Race!

I ploughed along, and got to 26.2 miles in 5 hours 45 minutes, about 15 minutes outside my target, but not bad considering the heat and a dubious groin muscle at 20 miles!

So, how can we benefit from those 36,000 runners, plus me, that achieved the distance? Well, that's the first thing, the achievement itself.

No-one finishes a marathon without dedicated training. The levels of training vary hugely, but *all* the finishers put a lot of time and effort in, and every single finisher would have felt a great deal of discomfort/pain.

It's motivation and inspiration to remind us of what we can achieve if we set our minds to it, and that's something most of us rarely bother with.

Of course it's possible to also benefit financially from the fact that 36,000 did the marathon. There are marathons all over the world, and running is a huge market for business.

You can either set up your own dedicated running business website, or you could earn commission by sending visitors to existing websites.

The method I like to use though, is providing information. With today's technology it is quick, easy and free to do this, and with my technique I've found no shortage of willing customers - after all, I know what they want as I did the marathon too!

So, whether you took part in the actual race, or a solo effort like me, or whether you sat back in your armchair and watched with a cool drink, take heart from the 36,000 London Marathon runners, and make sure you take all the benefits available!

Gordon Bryan is the author of 'Make Money From Sport,' a guide where he takes you through the single technique he uses again and again to profit from any sport! Find out more at: http://www.gordonbryan.com/sport

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gordon_Bryan