On a 54-year old, punter level… I pulled my own humble version of a Laidlow yesterday and spectacularly blew up. My God, that marathon was a slog.
However - an all-time incredible moment was walking up Palani… coming to the aid station… and who was standing there with a cup of water… the GOAT! He walked up to me, gave me some water, put a hand on my back and wished me well.
Now… this was at about 4:00pm in the afternoon. There’s no reason he needed to be out there. Just really really cool…
Dan, I had the exact same experience. Cup of water, hand on my (disgustingly sweaty) shoulder and a few encouraging words. I was never a fanboy, but all I could think - what a class act this guy is.
I had this happen to me in the energy lab in 2006. I am going along and suddenly Peter Reid jumps out of an aid station with a coke and runs beside me, hands me a coke and gives me a pat on the back and tells me to lift my knees…and I did for maybe 200m until Peter could not see me and then I went back to the no knee lift shuffle. Awesome experience for you!
I had the same experience. Saw Jan there, walked up and asked “what have you got for me?”, and he said “I can offer you is some ice water - here you go”. There was also a camera guy filming - would love to find that footage!