The "Don't Be Sh*t!" Series - London Marathon Special

Most passionate marathon runners like to remind non-running friends that there are plenty of other marathons other than the one they watch on TV every April.

The fact is that the London Marathon is frequently referred to as “The Marathon” by a large percentage of the population and in my opinion it lives up to the billing! 

As far as I’m concerned there is no bigger stage on which to play out your marathon dreams than the streets of London (and yes, I’ve raced New York!).

For my first serious marathon in 2008, I knew it had to be London, I wanted to experience that atmosphere, the massive crowd support and I knew the extra adrenaline would help me to my goal. I smashed my target that year ending up just outside the Top 100. After the initial celebrations of my achievement my immediate thoughts, like most runners in these situations, was the need for more.

Since then, London has been a constant in my 8-year journey with me returning every April and together we have shared some of the best moments in my running career.

Don’t get me wrong, there have also been some lows like having to pull out of the 2013 race due to an injury but these only help to make the successes sweeter. 

Standing out by a mile as my most treasured memory was 2014, specifically the last 385 yards running down the Mall. Having gone into the race with very few expectations I found myself sprinting down the Mall all on my own knowing I was about to smash my PB, qualify for the Commonwealth games and it would be live on the BBC as I could see the tracker camera was following me! I raised my arms to gesture the crowd and the response sent shivers down my spine.

If this is going to be your first London, then make sure you take in the atmosphere, next year you’ll be preoccupied with trying to beat your PB.

And watch out for Tower Bridge, the crowd are so electric they always make you speed up too much...