The starting pistol will ring in marathon runners for this year’s London Marathon in Greenwich Park, where participants will travel through the capital, taking in sights such as The Cutty Sark, Tower Bridge and views of the Thames.
The London Marathon first took place in 1981 and has since welcomed a huge number of runners from around the world. Ahead of the big day, we hears from participants on how they’re feeling, their inspiration for running and what they are most excited about.
Mary McCarthy is running her second London marathon and, after achieving a 3:03:03 time in Valencia, got a championship place.
Home turf
She says: “After my first marathon, I was so excited to get back into a training block and the fact that it’s London – home turf with all my friends and family watching – pushed me through so many hard sessions.”
Feelings of nervousness and excitement are common among runners, including Mila Carter, who was inspired to run when her sister Darina was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer: “I proposed the idea to her, which she said would make her very proud. I was meant to run last year, but Darina unfortunately passed away a couple of weeks before, so I delayed to 2024.
“Running has been a lifeline for me in dealing with my grief, as well as finding a way to honour her. Running has become my way of meditating. It makes me feel strong and like I can deal with whatever I am faced with.”
Ready to tackle life
Jane Rose was inspired to run to “prove to my children we can do hard things”, she says. This is Jane’s second London Marathon; she says running makes her feel “liberated, fresh and ready to tackle life”.
Theo Wilson is running for the first time, he’s feeling “excited, nervous and sore” – as we imagine lots of the hard-training runners will relate to.
“Running or exercise has always helped me to calm a busy mind,” Theo adds. “When I’m running everything slows down and I can focus on a single task.”
Representation matters
Lorraine Chastanet is a member of the running group Black Girls Do Run and runs with her partner Ray Mitchell as Black Couples Do Run.
She tells The Weekender that she was “inspired to run as representation matters”. Lorraine has been running for seven years and took up the exercise at 50 to help with menopause.
When running 10k and half marathon races, she explains that she saw “very few brown women who looked like me” and added: “If you don’t see, how can you be?”
Lorraine ran the London Marathon in 2022, as the city was emerging from Covid lockdowns, but “as we ran through Deptford, there were so many diverse children out on the route and I didn’t care about time, I high fived every single one to show them yes, you can. That was my marathon highlight”.
Running means strength
Mary says the crowds are one of the best parts of running the marathon, too: “I’m nursing a knee injury post running an ultra-marathon, so I’m most excited for the crowds carrying me along.”
Gillian Russell is another returning runner, and “feels ready to take on my first live marathon race” this year. Also a member of Black Girls Do Run, she says that “this sisterhood inspired me to run distances I could only ever dream of”.
She says: “When I’m out running, I feel free and can clear my mind of all the hustle and bustle of life. Running gives me the strength and attitude that I can do anything.”
Sunday 21 April 2024
Starts Greenwich Park, SE10
