TV coverage evoked memories of my Marathon experiences

In our weekly From The Newsroom column, Jeremy Ransome remembers his London Marathon experiences…

Twenty-five years ago I ran the first of my two London Marathons and memories of both wonderful occasions came flooding back when I joined five million others watching this mazing spectacle on TV on Sunday.

I watch it every year and marvel at the fact that the world’s best athletes are running the same course as club runners and charity joggers. I don’t think there’s any other sports that can make that boast.

And the great thing is, when you’ve seen all the elite runners complete it in just over two hours, you can concentrate on all the other wonderful stories playing out on the course, thanks to the BBC’s excellent coverage.

You can witness the joy of those who break the magical three hour barrier for the 26.2 mile race, marvel at some of the amazing costumes and hear the stories of those who don’t mind being briefly stopped for a chat on TV. You can even look out for celebrities and people you know, which this year again included local MP James Wild.

And, of course, it’s a wonderful fundraising event with an estimated £30million donated to those running for charities this year.

I ran London in 1999 and 2003, completing the course in three hours 15 minutes in 1999 and being two minutes slower four years later. I raised quite a bit for some worthy charities too.

I can vouch for it being an amazing event to participate in and, once you get into it the three or four months of quite intense training needed can be quite fun. The whole build-up to London consumes you, with plenty of advice to read up on and lots of online chat communities to join in with. And you’re burning so many calories you can eat what you like!

My only small word of warning for anyone thinking of giving it a go is, places are hard to come by and all that training can mean you miss out through injury, as happened to me when I planned a third attempt in 2018.

I don’t think my knees would manage the distance now, let alone the training, but then there’s always our own GEAR 10k in Lynn every year. I’ll be tackling that on May 5 and my weekly parkrun is all the training I need to get round that lovely 6.2 mile course.