pickupthepacepaul

On 27 April 2025 I ran the London Marathon. I make no secret of the fact I love this event. London Marathon is more than a race for me, and I have so many fond memories of this event. In 2011 I ran London Marathon for the first time. It was my first marathon, and after years of rejection in the ballot I took part for charity, Save the rhino… oh, and I wore the costume. Since then I have now ran London Marathon 13 times in person and 1 time virtually (2020). I have PB’d twice at London, ran for charity 4 times, had a ballot entry 1 time, and been an official pacer 8 times. Having lived in London for almost 20 years, it is my home, and this will always be a highlight in my diary.

Fast forward to 2025, I had the privilege to be back pacing London Marathon for the 8th time, this time as the 4:10 pacer. This was my 168th Marathon (plus) and my 125th time as an official pacer (including 62 marathons). It was my 7th marathon of 2025, and 6th as a pacer so far this year.

London Marathon starts with the expo. Having been to many expo over the years, personally I don’t spend a lot of time looking around myself. I know what I want, and get it. So this year I got my kit and my race nutrition. I opted for some powerbar jellies and some saltstick tablets.

As a pacer this year we all did a 4 hour shift. I love spending time at the expo, not as a visitor, but as an exhibitor. I spent the time chatting to runners about pacing, handing out pace bands, and just generally answering questions and reassuring runners. We also collected our race kit kindly gifted to us by New Balance. This year we exchanged our new trainers with an old pair to donate.

I am a strong believer of not overdoing it the days before a big race day. At a major event such as London Marathon it is so easy to overdo it, but I spent the Friday and Saturday doing as little as possible. On Saturday evening I got my kit together ready and tried to rest ahead of a very early start.

London Marathon 2025

Race morning I set my alarm for 04:00 because I needed to get the first bus, and first tube to get to our pacer meeting point for our 07:30 meet. This was ridiculously early, but with so many pacers to organise, it is normal at big events to be required early as a pacer. So I spent a little while chatting with other pacers before our briefing and team photo, before it was finally time to go to the start.

I was red start, wave 8, setting off at 10:30. When I got to our wave I chatted with runners around me, trying to settle nerves, get to know people and just generally get everyone’s spirits up ready for a fantastic day. I had a big group form for the 4:10 group, with many first time runners and others running London for the first time. It doesn’t matter how many times I have ran London, when I get with a group of people at the start I always get so excited at what is to come. The mixed emotions at the start remind me of what is good on the world, the running community at its best.

The organisation at the start, with so many runners, was faultless. It is incredible that on the 8th wave, we started precisely at 10:30, as planned. There were some 4:05 pacers in my wave, and so I started half way back. I was the only 4:10 pacer with a 4:15 behind me.

The beginning is always so enjoyable running through the residential streets. From start to finish I don’t recall seeing a single section without spectators. At the beginning I like to set off as we mean to go on, at perfect pace. Remembering that the pace on your watch is not what will show with course markers. This year my watch says I ran 26.6 instead of 26.2, and in a race like London it will always be further because of the course bends and any navigation around runners. But with a desired pace of 09:32 min/mile, we came through the first mile in 09:30. I reminded everyone that this was the pace we wanted all the way until the end, and each mile doesn’t get harder, we just get tired. A marathon is all about positivity and mental strength, often believing in yourself can take you further.

One of my favourite sections is always going over Tower Bridge, and it was lovely to get a photo shared with me taken crossing the bridge. The sun was out this year which made it hot and very difficult. But it also meant that the spectators were on good form, and I swear it felt even busier than normal.

Water stations were well organised as always and I encouraged everyone to stay hydrated. I am pleased that so many runners stayed with me from start to finish. But as we got to about 20 miles more and more people were walking and this led to some congestion and delays. It is always difficult seeing people struggle, and the hotter it is the more this happens.

I started to feel a little sick from about mile 22, so I stopped taking on water. I knew if I took any more fuel I would likely be sick. I had got to about 30 seconds ahead of schedule at half way, which is what I told runners we would do, and at about 22 miles I was 25 seconds ahead of schedule.

The last 3 miles felt pretty brutal. My plan was to hold this steady pace. With everyone starting to struggle I didn’t want to pick up the pace, instead opting to maintain a desired 9:32 minute mile. This meant I would lose a few seconds because of the added distance, but thought I would hold on for my planned 4:59:45 that I today everyone I was aiming for.

It was hot and hard at the end and more and more people were walking. I usually look forward to getting to Birdcage Walk where my family are usually waiting, but this year they could not come. I also usually love that London Marathon do a countdown from 800 metres which makes evaluating pace at the end very easy. But this year they did not have the countdown for some reason.

They have good crossings for spectators throughout and one is always on Birdcage Walk. It gets narrow but its fine. This year as I approached there were two police officers supporting a runner in the middle of the narrow section. But there was a runner either side walking the same pace, so it created a complete standstill, meaning I came to a sudden stop with just 800 metres to go. I tapped the runner on the shoulder and said excuse me please, and we were able to pass with a brief delay. I checked my watch and the section I though was usually the 400 metre section, and thought I was still on for perfect pace.

It is always so difficult at the end. I was so tempted to run faster to be sure, but equally I knew I was on pace. I realised I was cutting it very fine, but by this time I was happy to be on time and just stuck with the pace.

Finishing in 04:09:59 could be seen as perfect. Usually if people get it this close I would say the chances are they either slowed right down at the end, or needed to sprint to make it. For me the delay in the crossing probably took 10 seconds off, and whilst I’m happy with my time, trust me I would rather achieve 15 seconds under every time. I am happy with the consistency with only a variation of 4 seconds between the fastest and slowest average pace, with 09:32 being the goal time.

I finished and had a number of runners waiting to thank me. I got my medal and then needed to go over to the side and be sick. I had held it off for about 5 miles, and my body just gave out. It is strange because I was sick a few times (just water) and then after a minute I felt better again, and took the photo above.

We had a pacer tent that I made my way to to relax for about an hour and chat to other pacers. A fantastic day, and London Marathon didn’t disappoint.

Did you run London Marathon? If so, how was your experience?