Hi I’m Dave and I was fortunate enough to win a 2025 London Marathon place via the Clwb Run Wales ballot. I had said for the longest time that if I ever do a marathon I want London to be my first; including this year I had entered the ballot and been rejected 5 times.
To give some background on me as a runner, I started running in 2017. My first run was around the block, late at night when no one would see me. No GPS watch and no concept of pace or distance, by the end of it I was exhausted and defeated. Unbeknown to me I had just completed my first interval session. A few days later I joined a running club and with the help of some jeffing I completed my first 5K and was hooked.
When I was getting into running there were two people I secretly looked up to. I’m not sure I would be doing the things I do today without them sharing their journeys. Stuart Baldwin who was running Cardiff 10K and Cardiff Half raising money for Diabetes UK Cymru and Caroline Tinsley who I watched go from a weekly Parkrun to Marathons and now Ultras. I can remember following their journeys and being in complete awe of the distances they were both tackling. At some point I said “why not me” and here I am today in the 1% club! So to Stu and Caz (and everyone else who is out there doing something) you are always inspiring even if you don’t know it!
Stepping up to 26.2 miles was going to be a challenge but not something I was going to do alone. I reached out to Gareth Warburton who offers online run coaching and together we came up with a weekly plan.
In an Ideal world I’d have liked a longer training plan but with the timing of the club ballot it just didn’t work out that way. The plan mixed speed work, hill work and gradual longer runs. From week 12 onward I think I had already had enough of the long runs; Cardiff is not a very big place!
It was during this training run where I think I may have started to lose my mind! 30 x 1K loops!
I documented my runs on Instagram and created a story to keep them together. It was a bit of fun and allowed me to bring friends and family who normally have no interest in running along on my journey, it also gave me a great platform to share my fundraising for Kidney Wales.
Having a consistent training plan has taken 14 minutes off my half marathon PB and almost 5 minutes off my 10K PB. I have enjoyed the speedwork and how much more comfortable I feel in my short and medium runs.
Days and weeks ticked off and we headed off to London on the train, after bag dropping at the hotel we headed to the ExCeL. The bib collection was straight forward and didn’t take very long but the running EXPO? Too crowded and busy, people walking in every direction, huge queues in the New Balance store. I got out of there as quickly as possible. For anyone who has the time I’d recommend getting to the EXPO on either Wednesday or Thursday before the crowd arrives.
Race day arrived and I took advantage of free transport on the underground which is available to anyone with a bib number (before and after the race). I had an idea of the route and changes I needed to make but I was still a little stressed over trying to remember the stops and the times. I shouldn’t have worried, I stepped on the platform and was greeted by other runners whom I followed the whole way to Greenwich park. I bag dropped and sussed out the toilet situation (like most events everyone queues at the nearest toilet, however if you work your way to the far end there are completely empty urinals and much smaller queues for the toilets). Race day is going great, that’s two of my pre-race stresses all ready over and done with.
My starting wave went off at 11am, it was already hot! I managed to find my family around 19K (another thing I was stressed about. The original plan was they would find a spot and then message me letting me know the rough distance and which side of the road they would be on. Those messages came through when I was at 41K).
I was making good time and had just set a PB for 30K, then a wall of pain hit my lower stomach. I tried to push through but the only thing that would alleviate it was to stop running, a few seconds of walking then back to running, but the damage was done, tension, fatigue, dehydration? Whatever it was had now hit the hamstrings and even jeffing felt like a max effort. A sense of shame and disappointment loomed over me as the crowd cheered me on, I was in good company with other jeffers yet I felt alone in the moment. I passed several distance milestones and told myself I’d kick on from here and get it done, each time I rallied the stomach or hamstrings dragged me back to reality, no amount of David Goggins quotes were getting it done, but slowly, one foot in front of the other I edged towards The Mall.
“I’m not walking across the finish line!” I could see the final bend and mentally hiked my knees up and gave it everything I had left, and then it was over. It wasn’t the finish I wanted, it wasn’t the experience I wanted but I had done it, my first marathon! I still carry a burden of disappointment with how it went but the support around me has been fantastic and having documented my progress I can see how far I have come with my training.
I wish I had done things differently. I went into this training block treating London as “another race”. I was head down focused on my time and had I finished strong I think I’d be telling you how amazing it was, but I feel like I missed so much of what was going on around me. I’m in two minds if I am ever fortunate to do the London Marathon again; either treat it as a shot at redemption or treat it as a celebration of running and plod along and enjoy it. Despite feeling miserable for the last 12K there was a real carnival atmosphere, a real sense of collective achievement and belonging and I blocked most of it out with my headphones and focus.
Here are my tips for running your first London Marathon:
- Get to the EXPO earlier in the week
- Don’t get your name printed on your shirt if you don’t want people shouting it!
- Leave for the starting area early but don’t stress about getting there, follow the crowds (its busy and your family can’t follow you the whole way so leave them at home)
- Look out for cameras (I missed a lot of them)
- If it’s hot then wear a hydration vest, there were lots of aid stations but I couldn’t take on enough water.
- Ditch the headphones, I use Shokz and it was hard to hear them with the noise of the crowd. There is so much noise and music on course you really don’t need them.
- Go there to enjoy it, you’re part of something amazing, don’t let predicted times spoil it.
- Arrange to meet your family somewhere away from the finish line. It was so busy and it was difficult for them to get across London to meet me there by the time I had finished.
- Mobile networks get jammed up, messages are delayed so don’t count on being able to communicate with anyone during or just after the race.
So what’s next? I have an ultra on the horizon and I have signed up to do the Venice Marathon in October (hopefully it won’t be hot, in fact it might have the opposite problem!) and I’ve entered the ballot for next year!
Could this be you next year?
Clwb Run Wales members can enter our club ballot for a guaranteed TCS London Marathon place (You need to provide proof of an unsuccessful attempt through the main 2026 TCS London Marathon Ballot).
Clwb Run Wales is a virtual running club open to all adults of any age or ability. Designed for those who do not have the time for, or access, to a local affiliated running club but want the benefits of being affiliated to Welsh Athletics.