London Marathon weekend! - Burgess parkrun #564 - 26/04/25
- aqasanu
- Apr 26
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 2
The London Marathon has become one of my favourite weekends of the year. The morning of the marathon, there’s a serenity about the city before the running fireworks commence. The runners, the crowds, the passion, the determination, it’s so intoxicating. As people travel to different spots to see their friends and loved ones go the distance, there’s a collective camaraderie and togetherness with everyone you meet.
Burgess parkrun, with its proximity to central London, has become a destination for Marathon participants and their supporters in recent years. They come for either a shake-out run or a spot of volunteering before the big event on Sunday. Today was no exception, with our attendance at 800, our highest for the year. Down from Manchester to cheer on friends, we got talking to Alex Buckley and Rob Mooney. Between them, they have run 449 parkruns across 12 countries with 95% volunteer ratios and an abundance of enthusiasm for parkrun. Incredibly, we realised we’d actually all run before in Sweden at Bildalsparken parkrun in June 2023, which you can read about by clicking here. Another magical parkrun coincidence strikes again.
This year's London Marathon promises to be very special with my running hero Eliud Kipchoge, the former world record holder, twice Olympic marathon champion and only human to run the marathon distance in under 2 hours, seeking to become the first person to win the London Marathon 5 times.
The women’s field is also blessed to have absolute titans of Marathon running, and I can’t wait to see this battle unfold with an eye to GB’s Phily Bowden (love the grind), who I’ve been following on YouTube for the last few years.
Other popular running YouTubers, such as Nick Bester, Harry Morgan Ben Parkes, will also be participating. These are people who have positively contributed to my love of running; they make running fun and accessible.
Alongside these giants are the ordinary people, the normal people who will be ‘getting it done’, this includes lots of friends I’ve made at Burgess parkrun, some graduating from 5k to 42.2k.
Three of our Run Directors, Graham Dodds, Callan Coughlan and Sean O’Sullivan, will be on the start line tomorrow, with Sean raising money for the Imperial Health Charity. You can read more about this charity by clicking here.
Our former Co-Event Director, Laura Whelpton, who moved to the Netherlands and set up the stunning and welcoming Amsterdamse Bos parkrun, is back to complete London. And then Burgess regulars, Lee York, Chris Wyatt, Josephine Ocaka, Geoffrey Ochieng and Carol Hustler who is raising money for Sunshine and Showers, which you can read about by clicking here.
There was such a buzz about Burgess today, Marathon fever was in the air. If you haven’t seen the spectacle that is the London Marathon, I highly recommend it for experiencing London at its best.
For everyone taking on the 42.2k challenge tomorrow, all the best! It’s a long distance, and you can’t predict what will happen to you out there. This was the case for me when I completed the London Marathon in 2007 and ended up in a wheelchair. However, it was also one of the most incredible running experiences I’ve had; the whole occasion is very life-affirming.
Stay safe, happy running or walking and happy volunteering.
Fanstic, well done to everyone.