21 stone to 26.2 miles in 18 months - can it be done?

Turning onto Tower Bridge was a cacophony of sound, just such an uplifting experience.
https://youtu.be/B2FGCMYSLas
Lots of messages between my family were popping upon my watch and I had to slow down and take my phone out each time so I put the chat on silent. What I didn’t know was that the tube was mad busy and I made it to mile 13 before the family. I switched the chat back on, realized they wouldn’t see me until mile 23 and carried on.
London is supposed to be a flat marathon, they lied! Docklands, which could be flat, has sooooo many inclines, not massive but just enough to be annoying. Still having so many people cheering ‘Come on Wobs’ meant you had to keep going. I passed the guy with the fridge on his back around here somewhere. Somewhere in mile 18 I saw the Stroke Association cheer team and a couple of people from work and gave high fives all round, which was such a buzz.
Everything felt great until mile 19 when my stomach decided it didn’t want to keep hold of whatever I had consumed. I decided to walk for a bit just to keep things together in case I was on camera, not take any more gels or water with salt tablets. At mile 21 the 5hr 30 pacer went by me so I broke out into a jog again which I kept up until I saw the family as mile 23. The best hug I’ve had in ages! A quick break, catch up and the off I go, it was just over a 5k from there and we can do them any time, right? By mile 24 I had lost site of the 5.30 pacer and decided to walk again rather than eject the contents of my stomach.
They say train to 20 miles and the crowd carries you for the last 6, nonsense. They cheered ‘Come on Wob, you can do it’. I smiled and, in my head, said ‘really can’t’. I managed to break into occasion jogs interspersed with walks during the last two miles. My family made it to see me for the third time at mile 25, just what I needed for the last bit of encouragement to run further.
Really felt for a guy who was literally 800 metres from the finish who tripped and broke his leg. He shuffled on his bum back to the St Johns Ambulance point. I don’t know if he finished.
I saw the 600 metres sign and decided this was the point I had to properly run, around the turn in front of Buckingham Palace and down the Mall to the finish.
That is a long, long 600 metres. 5:42:37. I lost nearly 15 minutes in the last 4 miles, but I had finished, intact and raised nearly £3k for the Stroke Association.
I collected my medal, thanked the person who gave me the medal and told them how much I appreciated them giving their time to make an old man feel worthy. Found a less busy spot and my stomach finally won the battle with my brain, the unripe banana being the guilty party.
It took a while to change my socks and shoes. There were annoying types around looking like they were just off to the shops they were so fresh.
My family found me, their pride in me was just the tonic to get me moving, just far enough to a Brazilian restaurant where I has a steak that put the world to rights again.

As my school report always used to say, “Andrew must try harder”. My charity bet runs until the end of 2024 so I will hopefully be at the Chester marathon on Oct 6th as I know I can do better.

I also have an idea for a world record attempt for next year to celebrate the crowd who were unbelievable all the way around. Watch this space!