Have you ever wondered what our esteemed coaches Paul and Ben V get up to on the weekends when they’re not terrorising us? No, me neither…. until I heard what they were doing the weekend of the London Marathon.
It’s amazing what you learn when you actually engage with people. Not only do they parade around Hampstead Ponds in the summer wearing nothing but Speedos (whilst on life guard duty) they also are responsible for protecting the front runners at the London Marathon and have been for the last 4-5 years.
I was interested to learn exactly what this entailed and as I listened to their Ali like antics I also realised that there are perks a plenty – so good are the perks I was thinking of putting my name down for next year until I learned that there is potential live combat involved!
To be fair – this is a pretty serious job and they have to be prepared to take on any nutter who tries to get near the front runners; streakers, protesters… pretty much anyone who looks suspicious enough to run into the road and disrupt the race. After all, marathons of this calibre build their reputations on how well it is organised and how fast the track is – protecting its reputation is paramount. So while I type this with a little tongue in cheek this is a serious job.
Ben and Paul arrive the night before the marathon at an undisclosed location (a big hotel in St Kathryn’s Dock) to receive their security briefing from an ex-top cop – they’re informed if any of the runners have had threats, have stalkers and the likes – they’ll be given pictures of all potential protagonists.
They are then treated to a slap up meal and a hotel suite for the night – alas they don’t share as apparently Paul snores, which has kept Ben awake in the past. The next morning, after a full English and a glass of freshly squeezed juice the fun begins.
Astride their BMW ourer bikes, I had this rather fetching image of them both head to toe in leather…but of course no athletic warrior would wear leather, it would restrict their nimble moves. Instead they don their sports gear because if their services are required they need to be quick as lightening.
And so to the real w
ork. If you’ve ever watched the marathon you will notice that there are motorbikes, which stay reasonably close to the stars of the race – next year you will know that riding pillion are Ben and Paul. In the event of a nutter approaching one of the runners Ben and Paul’s combat skills spring into action. The driver immediately slams on his breaks, flipping the back wheels of the bike up – Ben and Paul place their hands on the drivers’ shoulders to leap frog over the driver and land ninja style in front of the roadside rebel and are instructed to do whatever it takes to stop said delinquent. As fully trained MMAers they of course know how to do this without causing major injury but be under no illusion – their brief is to stop anyone getting near those runners, whatever it takes.
Both are mic’d up and communicate with the team of four bikes throughout the race – if one spots something suspicious they’ll let the others know. Paul had to stare someone out several years ago – it must have been a mean stare coz the guy got right back on the pavement. And it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve had to wrestle a nutter to the ground – thankfully neither Ben nor Paul has been seriously injured in their annual roles as The Marathon Minders.
Stayed tuned to the blog…in the coming weeks we’ll literally be getting closer to some of you – I may even invite the ring girls along to cosy up on the mats with you!
By Sue Finnegan
