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To prepare for this marathon I did a few things. The first thing I did was look on the marathons website to see what they could do for people with a stoma. I found out that you can get a toilet pass if you have stoma, so I made sure I got one. I also posted a message about running with Crohn's disease and a stoma in the hope that there were some other people who are also running the marathon with the same "disabilities" as me. Trough this message I found Alex, he is gonna help me while i'm in London. To prepare for the long run I did a few things. I made sure to run a few kilometers every day to train my body. every time I would run i would train to increase my speed and endurance.

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I flew from Schiphol Amsterdam to London Heathrow airport. The flight went really well I had no difficulties with my stoma and the flight was on time. I went to London two days before the marathon, I did this so i have enough time to settle and prepare. I stayed in a hotel in the middle of London. I also sent a text to Alex and we agreed to meet up the next day.

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Alex and I met up in the morning, a day before the London marathon. He was going to show me the city of London and where the marathon starts. The first thing he showed me was the Big Ben, it was way bigger in real life than on social media. We also walked to Tower Bridge to see a part of the marathon. It looks really great and I can't wait to run tommorow. We walked to the centre of London and looked into a few shops and he showed me where all the locals eat. After he showed me the city we went to the start line of the London marathon. He showed me where you have to pick up all of the supplies and where you have to stand before the marathon starts. It was already getting kind of late so we split up and i went to bed early to fully prepare myself for the marathon.

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I woke up very early because i was really nervous, but also very excited! I ate some breakfast and changed my stoma bag to make sure i didn't have to change it during the race. I packed a fanny pack with some supplies, enery tablets, energy gels and some stuff for my stoma. I met up with Alex and we walked to the start together. I went to a stand and picked up my starting number and my toilet pass. I went to the toilet one more time to make sure my bag was empty and then i started walking towards my starting group. We started walking forward and slowly we started jogging. I saw the start line in front of me and knew that we were about to start the marathon. I crossed the starting line and the first thing I noticed was that there a a lot of supporters. This made me feel very great because everyone is cheering you on. The first few kilometers went by really fast, I was feeling great. The run went very smoothly and after some time i noticed the sign that I already had ran 1/4th of the marathon. the next quarter also went great and i didn't have any difficulties or obstacles. about half way trough i felt my stoma bag getting full trough my shirt. i saw the toilets down the side so i took a sprint and showed my toilet pass to the staff. I went into the toilet to empty my stoma. When I was done I got back into a group and continued the marathon. The rest of the marathon went pretty smooth. I felt my legs getting a little bit tired but nothing big. It was a long and hard race but i finished and it felt really amazing!

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My experience of the marathon was great. The staff was really amazing and accomodating. The race was hard but if you prepare really well it is possible. The crowd was really supportive and they made you feel great about yourself. I feel really great that i have completed the London Marathon!