pickupthepacepaul

On the 26th April 2020 I didn’t run the London Marathon. For those that know me, you will know how much I love the London Marathon, and I want to try and run it every year I can, preferably as an official pacer leading the sub 4 #funbus. I have ran London marathon 8 times so far, and this would have been my 9th London Marathon. Instead I decided to take part in the #twopointsixchallenge and run a marathon on my treadmill.

First marathon in London Marathon 2011

Before we talk about my treadmill marathon for the #twopointsixchallenge let’s have a little recap about my #LondonMarathon journey. I ran my first ever marathon at London in 2011, for charity, as a Rhino. I then ran London again in 2013, this time I had a ballot place and completed it in 3:08, which remains my PB to date. Since then I have ran London Marathon every year as a pacer for runnersworld, and absolutely love it. For a proper recap about what London Marathon is all about, and what it means to me, check out my review from last year HERE.

Leading the sub 4 #funbus in London Marathon 2019

#twopointsixchallenge

I don’t usually raise money for charity for running a marathon. I have ran 53, so people are pretty used to me running them. However, people raise a lot of money in events, and this isn’t happening at the moment. These charities rely on donations to keep them going, and that’s why the #twopointsixchallenge was created. I am raising money for Samaritans as people rely on them at times like these, more so than ever, and they count on us to keep them going. Check out my page HERE.

My treadmill marathon #flatlay

I had initially thought about running the marathon on my treadmill for the challenge… but that’s not enough… Also Brooks have set up an awesome 2 week long #runhappyrelay for people to virtually run a relay together. So I am going to combine the two. After running 26.2 miles on my treadmill I will be handing over my baton (banana) to start the relay. To do my part, I will run at least 6.2 miles a day for the two weeks, so I can help keep the relay going. It would be great if you could get involved and help me keep the baton going. It doesn’t matter how much you can run, just get involved on #teamfunbus, pop me a message to get involved.

Not the London Marathon 2020

I decided to start at 08:00 hours because there was a marathon on Zwift. Technically earlier than London Marathon, but so what, I’m running it in my shed. I haven’t ran on my treadmill for more than 45 minutes for many years, and the thought of this is a challenge in itself. I’ve actually been meaning to run a marathon on my treadmill since Lockdown began, but it’s been far to easy to make excuses not to. So this time, I announced my intentions on social media first, to hold me accountable. I don’t have a lot of time to run a marathon on my treadmill, but I would never not show up for a race. So I can do it, I just need that little bit of motivation. So I put it out there, and arranged for someone to take over on my relay 3:30 later, which I thought sounded like a reasonable target for me.

It was hard work on the treadmill. I found it mentally and physically tiring. I started with my AfterShokz but they stopped after about 30 minutes. I didn’t want to stop my watch, so carried on without. I also expected my family to be bombarding me pretty early on, but after running for 90 minutes they still hadn’t. I ran out of water, I was hot and bored out of my head, but I kept going.

I got hold of Kirsty and she restocked my water, gave me a fresh towel, put music on for me, and also noticed the heating was on… that explains why it was so hot. It got a little better in the middle, when it was a bit cooler and I had water. I fuelled solely on haribo strawbs, and had zwift running on my phone. I ran around 12 km per hour average to get in under 3:30. I decided to #pickupthepace a few times, and eased off slightly when my wife came in with more water, making it easier to talk.

My zwift isn’t accurate as when I went off to use Instagram it paused, but I made that up at the end. I got myself up to 26.2 miles on my watch and then ran a little further after just for Zwift.

I am so gutted not to be able to run London Marathon today for the 9th time, but I ran a marathon and hope that I can raise some money in the process. It was nice to still have my cheer squad at the end, as the have both seen me at the finish line of London Marathon every year they have been alive. This is the one event they dont miss.

Remember I also started off the #runhappyrelay and hope that many of you will get involved. It’s simple, you catch the banana to your left, run any distance you want, then throw to the right. Tag @brooksrunninguk #teamfunbus #runhappyrelay so I can track you and make sure you nominate friends to keep it going.

You dont have to run a marathon to be involved, run whatever you can. But if you are thinking about running a marathon, here are my Top 10 Marathon Tips.