The excitement is palpable. It’s London Marathon week and 50,000 runners are gearing up to take on this epic race.
But what is it about the London Marathon that makes so many people want to push themselves and take on such a challenge?
In this bonus episode of our Talk of Hope podcast, we hear from three of our runners. Joe Gill and Khang Le are taking on the iconic course this year, while Ruth Chappell ran it in 2023 and 2024.
The mental challenge and benefits
“When you’re on these long runs, your mind gives up long before your body does,” explains Joe. Your body can go for a lot longer, but your brain starts saying you can’t do it. You get there eventually, but you definitely learn how strong the mind is.”
Ruth adds, “There was a saying that I kept hearing when I was training. It’s sometime like – run the first 10 with your brain, the second 10 with your legs and the last 10 with your heart. And it’s so true!
Khang has a different take. “Prior to taking on this challenge, my mindset and my physical health were not at their best. I was grieving for my mum so I wasn’t doing too well mentally and couldn’t find the motivation to go out and run.
“But then, I watched my friend run the marathon in 2023. Witnessing so many people run for charities that were important to them inspired me, so I applied for a charity place. Having that focus has really helped me get back into healthier habits and that’s been good for both the body and the mind.”
Coping with grief
Both Joe and Khang are running in memory of their mums and running has helped with the grieving process.
“Grieving is not something that goes away,” said Khang. “You learn to cope with it better through time but it’s something that never truly goes away.
“I see grief like a book on a shelf,” describes Joe. “You always keep that book on the shelf and sometimes you need to get that book out and other times you need to leave the book well alone.”
For Ruth, who lost her mum in September 2023, running gave her an outlet to talk.
“I joined a running club as part of my training and became really good friends with one of the other runners, Claire. We were always at the back behind everyone else, chatting away. At that point, I didn’t really talk much about Mum’s illness, but I was able to talk to Claire about it on these runs.
“Because we were side-by-side rather than looking directly at her, I found it much easier to talk. I was able to talk about what I was dreading, what I’d miss the most and what I was scared about.
“These weren’t conversations I had with anyone else, even my husband. I just found being outside in the spring sunshine, jogging along, made it really easy to open up. It helped me a lot.”
Stopping for a wee can ruin a PB
“The second time I ran the London Marathon,” recalls Ruth “the time on my watch and my official time didn’t match up by about five minutes because I had to stop for a wee!
“I stopped my watch, and the queues were that long that I didn’t start it again for over five minutes!”
Something for this year’s runners to bear in mind!
Running and fate
“I couldn’t run a bath,” laughs Ruth “but during the pandemic, I started doing couch to 5k and like so many people caught the running bug.
“I started doing 5k races and a couple of 10k and then, when Mum was diagnosed in late 2021, I thought I should do the London Marathon. That would be great!
“I told Mum, and she thought it was hilarious. She thought me running was hilarious because I’d never shown much interest in it before. She used to joke that I was her daughter, the non-athlete!
“Mum and Dad were very active. They had run the marathon before. Mum was 48 years old, and I ended up running it for the first time at the same age which felt a little like fate.”
“It definitely feels like fate played a part for me too,” Joe agrees. “I had always wanted to run the London Marathon. I entered the ballot 11 times and was rejected every time! I could have applied for a charity place but until Mum’s diagnosis, it didn’t feel right because there wasn’t a charity I felt passionate about to run for.
“That obviously changed after Mum got lung cancer. She had great support from Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. All those rejections made sense. I was meant to run it for them and for Mum.”
Finish lines, not finish times
Joe is hoping to finish between 4-4.5 hours. Khang has surprised himself and, with his training going so well, he’s now aiming of 3 hours 20 minutes.
However, as Ruth rightly points out, the times are not important. It’s the experience.
“I still get goose pimples thinking about the London Marathon and if I could bottle up that feeling and sell it, I’d be very rich but just to keep for myself and keep feeling those feelings. It was life changing.
“Mum was still here the first year I ran it, but it was a mammoth task to get her to London. We’d stopped treatment and we knew we didn’t have long but we kept putting these milestones in place. There was their wedding anniversary. There was my birthday. There was the London Marathon.
“We managed to get Mum into the stand on the corner of the Mall, so she saw me cross the finish line. That’s what it’s all about.”