The Calm Before

A little more than twelve hours now stands between me and the 2025 Manchester Marathon. We - the whole family - have spent the day travelling 'oop North to the city. We've taken cars, multiple trains, and walked through the streets to get here. Now I'm writing this from a hotel room at the Premier Inn. Everything is done. Everything is ready. There is nothing left for me to do... nothing except sleep. This is the absolute worst part of the marathon experience.

Yep, this is what it's like.

Now I have the time and space to look back on everything I've done and the road to get here. Have I trained enough? Did I push myself hard enough? Were my sessions sufficient to carry me around the course tomorrow?

Back in June 2024 when we signed up, this seemed like such a long distance goal. Neither of us really thought about it. We had almost a year to get ready, why worry about it?

Well, that time has flown by. Months to weeks to days to hours. I think I've done enough. Maybe I didn't push the miles as early as I should have - there was a two week period of sickness at the end of February that really held me back. But aside from that, I did well. At least two runs a week. I upped the distance and relaxed and finally found my groove again. I persevered and pushed and powered through. I am here.

Tomorrow is a huge day for runners everywhere. Not only are the Manchester and London marathons going ahead, but there are thousands of people taking part in virtual marathons around the world. This year, around 36,000 people are completing Manchester and 55,000 runners will be taking on the streets of London. I believe that over 814,000 applicants registered in the ballot to have a crack at London, myself and Scott included. There could be hundreds of thousands of people around the country, and the world, running some kind of marathon tomorrow. How amazing is that?

My friend Ed is in London right now, preparing to meet at the finish line in the Mall and run the marathon course backwards to Greenwich. He'll be setting off in little more than one hour. By the time I wake up, he will have smashed his first marathon. I'm so excited for him.

I'm also really excited for my brother. We had a fantastic experience in Bath last month, and this one is set to be larger on every way. At least three times as many runners will be taking part and there will countless supporters and spectators cheering us around the city.

All that remains is to fall asleep. Just fall asleep and conquer the world. Thank you everyone for your endless support; for asking questions, showing interest, reading these silly blog posts, and helping me train. Nobody ever truly runs alone and tomorrow that will be proven right all over again.