The name “Marathon” comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, who was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon.
Well before I even started running regularly, the Marathon was a challenge I have been enthusiastic to achieve. Combined with my determination to raise a significant amount of money and profile for CF, the Marathon seemed an obvious (although ambitious) goal for part of my GAP year.
I always remember struggling in our weekly Cross Country runs at Prep school, and it was not really until the start of the Upper Sixth at Tonbridge that I actually took it upon myself to do some running, albeit for purely fitness reasons. By the time the Lent term had come along though, I had joined the Cross Country team and under the guidance of Huw Evans (a member of staff at Tonbridge School, and Welsh over-35 Cross country champion) my running improved significantly.
So, in September 2007 I set about training specifically for The London Marathon. The training was hard work and there were various periods where I had to rest due to injury; despite this it was an enormously enjoyable and rewarding 6 months or so.
I finished the Hastings Half Marathon in 1 hour 32 and then completed the London Marathon in 4 hours 11. The second half was agony, but the feeling at the finish line was unbeatable and as a result, I have decided to put myself through it all again this year!