It was a sunny Sunday in April 2025 when I found myself standing on the pavement of Tower Bridge waiting for my friend, who was running the TCS London Marathon, to shoot past. An electric atmosphere, gorgeous weather and experiencing a rare day in London where strangers were being nice to each other were the perfect recipe for my most foolish thought to date: ‘I’d love to run this’.
At that point, I was a hobby jogger totting up a few 5ks a week and the occasional 10k when I was feeling brave on a Saturday morning. On reflection, I definitely underestimated how gruelling an undertaking a full marathon would be. Nevertheless, I committed myself to the challenge and on 26 April this year, I crossed the finish line of the iconic London Marathon.
Your body and mind are so resilient
Before I started training for a marathon, I wasn’t aware of just how resilient the human body and mind are. There were points throughout training and the day itself where my legs felt impossibly heavy and my brain started seriously bargaining with me to stop – and yet I didn’t. Some deeper force inside me took over and refused to give in.
And what’s great is that this subtle drive now feels embedded in my subconscious. I was battling with constant injuries during training that cast real doubt over whether my body would carry me to the finish line. But when the moment came, it did. I’m taking it as a lesson that my resilience will reveal itself when it’s really tested – something that’s giving me confidence to embrace challenges that I may have otherwise shied away from in my everyday life.
Be warned, you might get injured
Ask any marathon runner about the impact training has on their body, and they’ll probably tell you that they’re always managing niggles or injuries. Serious ones include shin splints, runner’s knee, IT band syndrome, plantar fasciitis and the like. Training for a marathon exposed a lot of weaknesses in the bottom half of my body, which is why I picked up my fair share of injuries. This pushed me towards all manner of solutions: sports massage, acupuncture, cupping and shockwave therapy, to name a few.
So, one thing I definitely learnt while training for my first marathon – which common sense may have told me if I’d thought about it properly beforehand – is that you probably will get injured if you’re going to shock your body into training for 26.2 miles as a hobby jogger, and you should be prepared for that. And whatever the problem is, but especially if it’s bad enough, you’ll need to speak to a medical professional to ensure your training doesn’t cause any long-term or permanent problems.
Bone broth is liquid gold
A byproduct of my never-ending list of injuries during my first ever marathon training block was an obsession with eating and drinking my way to recovery. And I genuinely believe one of the keys to me being able to cross the finish line of the TCS London Marathon this year was bone broth. A savoury stock made by simmering animal bones and connective tissues in water for up to 48 hours, bone broth supported my recovery by supplying my body with collagen, amino acids and minerals that aid injury repair.
I drank a cup on an empty stomach every morning in the three weeks leading up to the big day. Sure, my left knee still gave in at 22 kilometres (a problem I had for the entire second half of my training block) but it was nowhere near as bad as it had been before I was having a cup of Borough Broth every morning. Easily the best-tasting broth on the market and slow-cooked to extract all the goodness from the ingredients, I actually looked forward to having it before my morning coffee. Alongside the much-needed nutrition it was providing to my muscles, tendons and ligaments, I also noticed it was helping me sleep better and making my skin glow – two things that made me feel on top of the world come marathon day.
The crowd is all you need to carry you through
When training for the distance, I couldn’t fathom where I’d find the strength to run 26.2 miles. Just the thought of going that far made my eyes water. Due to injuries (I promise I’ll stop moaning about them now), the furthest I managed to get in my training was 17 miles, which meant I had to find an extra 9.2 miles in me on the day. I didn’t see how this would be possible… until I experienced the crowd. Motivating, uplifting and often hilarious, the energy of the spectators was absolutely magical. I wish I could’ve bottled it up. Plus, thousands of people were handing out sweets, so being able to grab a handful gave me much needed sugar boosts.
I burst into tears the second I crossed the finish line – not because I was in pain (I was, just not enough to make me cry), but because I was genuinely struck by the energy that ran through London on marathon day and how it had propelled me forward. It was impossible not to get caught up in it. So, London crowds, I want to say thank you for carrying me when even my own legs were struggling to.
The ballot for the TCS London Marathon 2027 is open now. Throw your trainers in the ring here.
