As ever, I applied to run the London Marathon. I need to do it just once. I need the lump of metal that you get at the end of it just to say that I did it.
It’s getting harder and harder to get in as more and more people apply. A record 414,000 people applied to run in the 2019 London Marathon.
Just like many others, I got my rejection in early October.
I was already due to run the Royal Parks Half Marathon in mid October so I thought I would make do with that. It’s a race, in London and it’s more feasible to run a half than a full marathon.
But as I crossed the finish line in 1:31:20, a mere 80 seconds off of my target, it motivated me to look for other ways to do the London Marathon and strive to run London once more.
I applied to the NSPCC for a charity spot. These spots are so sought after that I needed to pay £100 just to get into their ballot. But I’ve been donating to NSPCC every month since 2010 so I was confident that my good natured approach to this invaluable charity will result in a spot.
So there I was, sitting at work when the email popped into my inbox, you have a place!
And now starts the months of training, dieting and fund raising in order to raise money for charity and reach the goal of the finish line.
I’ll continue to blog about various facets of marathon training over the next five months and hope to cover:
- Fundraising efforts
- Equipment/preparation
- Dieting
- Training plan
Mixed into this will definitely be some podcast recommendations too so I can stay sane whilst treading the streets of London.
