With less than one week until the iconic TCS London Marathon, we catch up with Aimee Williams, the winner of our Clwb Run Wales ballot, to see how her training has gone and how she is feeling about taking on her first marathon event:
Aimee, with a young family and demanding job as a nurse, how have you managed to fit in your training for this year’s London Marathon?
My main challenge with regards to fitting in the training has been that, before I won the Clwb Run Wales ballot for the guaranteed London Marathon entry, I had already signed up to do my first Ironman 70.3, in Texas! Me and my husband, Dan, both completed this last Sunday (7th April). Due to having both events I have had to not only fit in running, but swimming, cycling and strength training too! It has been hard to juggle, especially with Dan also training and us being unable to train together as someone always needed to be home with our 4 year old son, Finn. We have supported each other and have done our best to make it work.
You’ve just completed what??? Wow, congratulations – what an epic achievement! What does the time between Texas and London look like for your final preparations?
With only 2 weeks between the events it is not ideal, the 70.3 took a lot out of me! We had another weeks holiday in Texas before landing back at Heathrow on Monday morning. Currently trying to get plenty of rest to let me body recover and get over the jet lag so hopefully I am fresh enough for the marathon!
Tell us about how you felt when you discovered that you were the winner of the Clwb Run Wales ballot for the London Marathon place?
I took my phone out of my pocket to pay for my weekly Tesco shop and the email was staring at me… “You’re a winner!!”. I have no memory of paying for my food, the next thing I remember was sitting in the car panicking about what I was going to do! I’d already signed up for the Ironman and I quickly Googled and discovered the events would be only 2 weeks apart. I’ve never had any real desire to run a marathon as know it would be a huge challenge for me, but London was the exception. If I was going to run a marathon it would need to be a very special one. Any fear and nerves soon turned to excitement about the opportunity I’d been given and I decided I was going to attempt to train for both and see how I got on.
How are you feeling about taking on the 26.2 miles around London next week?
Mostly very excited, I took part in Great North Run last year to raise money for Bowel Cancer UK and absolutely loved the atmosphere, being part of such a huge event. But also very nervous, 26.2 miles is far!!
Do you have a goal in mind and a strategy for the event?
I don’t have a time goal in mind, I just want to be there, soak up the atmosphere and finish with a smile on my face. My main goal for both of my events was to make sure I would be able to make the start line, a big part of this has been doing everything I can to reduce my risk of injury. I have been using a run / walk strategy for most of my longer runs in an attempt to reduce the stress on my body. I am planning to use the same strategy on race day.
Is there any point in particular that you are looking forward to (other than crossing the finish line)?
I’m looking forward to spending some time in London, eating nice food and enjoying a well deserved beer after the race, hopefully wearing my medal!
Will you have family and friends travelling to London to support you?
Dan and Finn are coming with me. Finn loves joining us at events, cheering on all the runners! I hope it will inspire him to stay active and take part in events when he is older.
Thank you for taking time out of your preparations to share your journey with us, Aimee. We know that you will have many friends at Môn Milers ‘virtually’ supporting you every step of the way on Sunday, and we wish you all the best from Clwb Run Wales, Run Wales and Welsh Athletics!
Have an epic run and go make those memories…
The ballot for the London Marathon 2025 will be held at the end of December, after we have received confirmation of a guaranteed entry for a member of Clwb Run Wales.