Running the London Marathon: Mile-by-Mile
It’s the London Marathon this Sunday, and if you’re a normal person, you’ll probably put the telly on, see the live coverage, and change the channel with a shake of the head. I was once like you. Running? What’s that all about? Well, in a twist only Agatha Christie could see coming, it turns out that the boy who could barely breathe after 400 metres of the school cross-country became a sometime runner. I’d never had any serious ambitions to run the London Marathon, but by the time I approached the age of 40, I realised that if I did, it might be an idea to act on it before my knees took on the texture of the arse end of a bag of Rice Krispies. I’d originally planned to do the Marathon in 2019, until my not-at-all-suspiciously-planned wedding coincided with the event. I was all geared up for April 2020, definitely the fittest I’ve ever been. When I came out of lockdown, I was pretty close to the fattest. In 2020, I was aiming for a sub-four hour time. By the time I was allowed to race,