In 2023 I ran at London. In the days following my right knee hurt. Later that year I had a hyaluronic acid injection in my knee (paid for out of my back pocket) which I’m not sure did anything. After months of minimal running I was able to get back into it a bit and find some short-distance speed again (for a man in his 50’s).

I was fortunate to get a ballot place in the 2024 London Marathon. Due to my knee issues, I had to defer this to 2025. There was no way I could run a marathon, so in 2024, we went and supported the race.

I hoped to be able to run it in April 2025.

When your legs fail the wheels on the bus go round and round!

Things were looking reasonable and at the end of 2024 I began to increase my running mileage and started to work on longer runs. Towards the end of January I got up to 15 miles but this time my left hamstring really hurt after a run. I cut right back and just over two weeks later in mid-February I got Sharon to drop me off on the way to her work and I’d run the nine miles back home. I got to three miles and it went again. I walked a mile to the bus stop and got the bus home.

This was far from ideal.

At this point, about eight or nine weeks before London I’d pretty much resigned myself to not be on the start line. Over the next few weeks I was able to run five miles with no issues. Only 21.2 miles short!

London was 99% not going to happen. I was happy with that decision. Maybe another year… maybe never.

Over the previous couple of weeks I’d been reading online about a friend of a friend who was going through a horrific time. His girlfriend had very recently gone into hospital and was diagnosed with a pathological back fracture caused by tumours. Further tests were being taken, and they arranged and got married in just a few days. Jack and Vic married on the 11th March.

Vic was training for the London marathon. She was fit and otherwise healthy. Now she was living in the Leeds Cancer Centre.

I’d regularly been getting emails from the London Marathon telling me about the training I should be doing this week and getting ready for the big day in about four and a half weeks from now. I had this feeling in the back of my mind that it’d be a real shame to not take part this year.

Surely if I ran a little slower, I could maybe get myself round 26.2 miles… Sharon was not keen on this idea! What if my hamstring goes three miles into London and I have to try and get around town back to her in pain. I said I’d just try and build up a couple of longer runs and make a decision on London a day or two before if I wasn’t broken by that point!

On the 1st April I ran 9.7 miles for my long run.

On the 6th April I ran 13.7 miles for my long run.

On the 12th April I ran 18.5 miles for my long run. I’d originally planned to run 16 but Sharon suggested that wasn’t far enough for potentially my only proper long run before London.

This is not how long run mileage should increase week on week. Pretty much any book you read says to add one mile extra a week or 10% further than the previous week’s long run.

With London on the 27th April I was two weeks out. I’d done 18.5 miles - this was great.

When I got home from my run and sat in the garden I read that Vic had died the day before. It was heartbreaking. She’d only been diagnosed 45 days beforehand. She was 32 years old.

Only 32 years old. I struggled to get my head around that. Jack had been writing so emotionally over the previous weeks on Instagram and raising money for different charities that’d helped along the way - Maggie’s, Leeds Hospitals and then St. Gemma’s Hospice.

Jack and Vic

Surely some aches and pains can’t stop me running London. I just have to get to the start line. The following week I started my ‘taper’ (nothing much to taper from to be honest) and ran 10 miles nine days before the marathon. I then did a couple of shorter runs and three days before the marathon, headed up to London to collect my race number - and what a great number as well - 5678.

My focus was to take part in the London Marathon because Vic could not. I stuck a post on Facebook and Instagram to this effect and linked to a fundraising page that Jack setup for the hospice where Vic spent her final days. A number of our friends made donations, which was incredible.

Running kit ready to go

I thank you all.

I got to Saturday evening, and that was it - I was as ready as I could be. Train tickets purchased, petrol in the car, bags all packed.

Let’s do this.

2nd breakfast on the train

The alarm was set for 4:20 am. I covered myself in suncream as the forecast was for clear blue skies, had a bowl of porridge and a coffee. We left home just after 5 am and drove to East Croydon. Parked up and on the train platform at 6:40 in time for the 6:50 train. Late running engineering work delayed things until about 7:15. Eventually, we got to London Bridge - this is where I left Sharon and headed to Blackheath on another train. Thankfully, I got one of the last seats on the train, and two hours before my start time (9:45 am) I had a tin of rice pudding.

I’d planned to have an energy gel before the start, then one every three miles. I’d sip on water throughout (they hand out small bottles every few miles which are easy to drink from and run with), and take some sports drink if I could whenever it’s handed out (at two or three places I believe).

I’ve never seen the trains so busy. Blackheath was heaving - the walk up to the start was extremely busy. I was starting to get excited at this point.

Walking from Blackheath railway station to the starting area

I got to the start area (I was on the Yellow start again - which is a nice area as it’s quite small with only three starting waves) at 8:20 am and joined the toilet queue, which took about half an hour.

Runners waiting around - even more runners were in the toilet queue

I felt pretty relaxed today as I’d given myself a target time of getting under 4 hours - I set my watch target time for 3:59. When I first entered I’d predicted a finish time of 3 hours 10 minutes. Rather than 7:15 minute miling (for a 3:10) I’d be aiming for just under 9:05 miling (3 hours 59 minutes). In my mind, I just wanted to tick off miles close to 9 minutes apart. I can happily run at this pace, it’s just the endurance I don’t have - and certainly not in this heat.

The weather was warm (I believe the temperatures in the day were around 22 degrees - and that’s out of the sun), and there was no need to wear extra clothes before the start. Before long my bag was loaded onto a baggage lorry and I made my way to the start. I was in Yellow wave 2. After the first wave set off we were funnelled to the start and sent on our way. It’s a really efficient process.

I’d normally not have my phone with me at a race like this but because there was a possibility that my hamstring would force me to stop I wanted to have a phone on me so I could get in touch with Sharon. I decided to capture a few photos and some video as well during the race.

Within the first half mile someone ran up alongside me and said hello. It was Adam who was also at Epic Camp in Canada in 2014. We had a good catch-up, chatted about life and injuries and ran together for about three miles or so. We then drifted apart in the crowds of runners.

David and Adam - just after one mile (we are running when this was taken)

The miles ticked by. The support at the sides of the road was incredible. The music, the cheering, the signs, everything.

Around 3.5 miles

Cutty Sark is a little after the 10km (6.2 mile) mark. It’s iconic (not quite as much as Tower Bridge) and the crowds were huge. I’ve never really felt emotional running around here, but today was different. I just felt sad that Vic couldn’t be here experiencing it.

Cutty Sark

I saw a few familiar faces before Tower Bridge at 12 and a quarter miles - some from parkrun and also one of our neighbours! The shoutouts were fantastic.

Tower Bridge is a wall of noise - much like most of the course but it’s just special.

Here, I must have spotted a photographer but was in the wrong place for him/her. I tried to be in the middle of the road for the best opportunity. You can see me hugging the white line in the road!

The lady in the lobster outfit beat me by just under 10 minutes

I then spotted one directly ahead of me. People were moving all over the road to try and get photos - but I just had to hold my ground and hope for the best - and this is the best that came out of it.

I went through halfway (13.1 miles) in 1:57:28, so a little ahead of schedule. I had every intention of running slightly slower in the first half and hopefully speeding up in the second but that plan was out the window. Based on my half way split I was on track for a finish of 3:54:56. I wasn’t convinced that this was going to happen. Hmn.

It’s great to see the super fast runners heading back towards the finish on the other side of the road around the half way point (for me, not them). I recognised one of the fast club runners and gave him shout of Boom Shakalaka! (if you know, you know)

Narrow Street was narrow as always.

At about 15.5 miles I knew I’d find Sharon in the same place as we both were last year. I saw her, she saw me - I stopped for about five seconds for a quick kiss and to tell her that “this is bloody hard.”

When I saw anyone I knew I tried to smile and wave.

Around 16 miles

My legs were aching, I felt like I had blisters on my left foot (from a few miles earlier), and it was hot. Only another 10 miles or so to go. I can do this.

Vic never had the opportunity.

Canary Wharf was busy but didn’t seem as crazy as I thought it would be - maybe it’s just that I was knackered and hurting, maybe partly due to the slightly different route that the course follows for this year. As per usual my GPS splits were all over the place because of the tall buildings but that’s not a problem with how my watch is set up. I just press the ‘lap’ button at every physical mile marker on the course and everything is calculated from that.

Somewhere around Canary Wharf

Just before 20 miles, you make the turn for home and start heading west towards Big Ben and the finish line. This is a really long 10km. I was exhausted. My head was telling me to just walk bits of each mile. Maybe do a run/walk type strategy. I was convincing myself that I can walk pretty quickly and wouldn’t slow down too much. In reality that wasn’t true as I would slow to a crawl but that’s what my head was telling me.

My watch said that I was about 1 minute 40 ahead of schedule (for a 3:59:00 finish). My head was telling me that walking wouldn’t make too much of a difference. I had to somehow fight off these thoughts.

I came here wanting to get under four hours if I could. I can do this. Shut Up Legs! I refused to stop and walk. It was bloody tough. In the last three miles I knew I could slow a little if I had to as my target time on my watch was for 3:59 - so even if I said I was behind target I still had a minutes grace to get under four hours.

Running any distance when you’re not ready for it is really hard. OK, some people can blag their way round and maybe I could 10 odd years ago but not any more. I gave myself my best chance and went into the race with a target nearly an hour slower than I’d love to run but today for me was about completion.

There were lots of people walking and pretty much every St John Ambulance person at the side of the road was helping a runner - who was either lying down on the road after collapsing or in a wheelchair being taken to safety. A lot of people were suffering out there.

Looking back on the day I don’t know why but I don’t recall a single time thinking about breathing, running form, not slouching or anything that I should do to keep my running form better. I just didn’t. I just put one foot in front of the other.

I saw other people I knew in the second half, including Danny, Rodney, Mark, Andy, Emma, Lucy, Kirstee, Allen and the rest of the Tone Zone gang, Anna, Alison, Mark and Julia. It’s so good to see people you know out on the course. Thank you.

I saw Sharon at about 24.5 miles. She had a bit of a nightmare getting from Canary Wharf back to this part of the course due to the huge numbers of supporters. We’ve never seen anything like this before. The beautiful weather (for watching, not running!) seemed to bring every man and his dog, and baby, and double buggy pushchair out onto the streets of central London today.

I carried on, getting closer and closer to the right hand turn at Big Ben shortly after 25 miles.

The longest mile in the world is ahead of you. I’m sure this road has got longer over the years. I even tried to run a bit faster. I wasn’t much faster. Although my pace was fading, I was still on target for a sub 4 hour marathon.

Birdcage Walk - the final half mile or so

You then start to make the final turn and reach 26 miles. This is the ‘385 yards to go’ sign that is on a walkway over the road. Just under a quarter of a mile left to go.

As you go past this sign and turn into the finishing straight the crowds have thinned out (due to barriers), and on the final run into the finish it’s just the posh folk watching from their VIP seats!

I’ve been past Buckingham Palace each time I’ve run the London Marathon, and once again never even noticed it!

I crossed the line and immediately stopped. My legs had had enough. I found the nearest railing to lean against for 30 seconds or so.

I then hobbled to collect my medal - and it’s a beauty.

I collected my kit bag from the lorry and then sat down to change from my vest into my finishers t-shirt and to change my shoes. Standing up took about 30 seconds. I then headed off (very very slowly) to find Sharon - which was far from easy as my phone was flat and I’d misread her last text telling me where she’d be. I walked about a mile, managed to snag a USB power charger off of someone for five minutes and managed to make contact. She then walked to where I was. I was exhausted. We then headed to the tube station for the journey home. You cannot blag a marathon (and I think I tried to today).

I would have loved to have hung around a bit to support, but my post race navigation skills let me down, and by the time Sharon and I were reunited, I just wanted to get out of the chaos of London.

I love the London Marathon, and today was the craziest I’ve ever known it. I’ve been fortunate enough to have now completed it five times. I dragged my unfit body around 26.2 miles, and during those hours I had many thoughts about Vic and her husband Jack. This should have been her day.

Victoria Halstead
3 Feb 1993 - 11 April 2025
#BeMoreVic