London Marathon #1: 20 weeks to go

I firmly believe that physical activity plays a huge role in us being the best we can be. Being fit helps improve our physical, mental and emotional health, moreover the very act of getting out there and doing hard physical things teaches us many lessons about ourselves and about life. It challenges us, inspires us and provides us with a sense of achievement.

I'm doing the London Marathon on 21 April 2024, and I thought it would be fun, and hopefully useful, to do some "countdown" blogs capturing my training progress and the lessons I am learning along the way that relate to leadership, mostly leadership of self.

My marathon journey so far...

On 17 April 2023, I ran the Boston Marathon. It was the 127th running of the marathon and it also marked the 10th anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing. It not easy to get into the Boston Marathon. My pathway involved completing the Barossa Marathon in Tanunda, South Australia, in May 2022 with a time good enough in my age group, to qualify, register and be accepted into Boston. Getting older does have some benefits!

My husband and then fourteen-year-old daughter accompanied me, they were my support crew - best ever! I didn't know it at the time, but my daughter had filmed parts of the day and put together the video below which she presented to me on the following Sunday, on my 57th birthday (we were in Birmingham, Alabama about to head to Tallageda to watch the NASCARs - my husband's passion). Note: She couldn't get close enough to film me running (one million spectators).

There were many inspiring people, stories and moments that came out of Boston for me. One of the major themes was honouring others. In 2013 three people were killed and more than two hundred and sixty were injured when two pressure-cooker bombs went off at the marathon finish line. One of those who lost their life that day was Martin Richard, an eight-year-old boy. In 2023 his older brother, Henry, led a team of runners in Martin's honour. That team included some of Martin's former classmates who were finally old enough to run the Boston Marathon and pay tribute to their friend.

Dick Hoyt pushed his son, Rick, in a wheelchair for an amazing thirty-two Boston Marathons, he passed away in 2021. Rick had cerebral palsy, passing away just over a month after the 2023 Boston Marathon. In 2023 three of Dick's grandsons completed the marathon to continue the Team Hoyt legacy and to honour their grandfather and his son, Rick.

Talking about inspiration ... the day after the marathon we met a lovely couple from Argentina who were both wearing the "Six World Marathon Majors" medals, Boston had been the last piece of the puzzle for them. The "Six Majors" include Boston, New York, Chicago, London, Berlin and Tokyo. They were so proud of their achievement but talked less about themselves and more about how events like the big marathons bring out the best in people - from the volunteers to the spectators, and the runners (many participants run to raise money for charities or to honour a lost loved one).

The Argentinian couple inspired me to make a decision - to commit to tackling the "Six Majors". I thought about how I reached that point, what was the learning? We make lots of decisions in life, we make them every day. There are decisions about the practical stuff we just have to make decisions about i.e. will I have porridge or eggs for breakfast? Then there are the things we don't have to do at all, but we decide to do them, like learning to play a musical instrument, further study, or taking up a new hobby. Interestingly by making these decisions we are committing ourselves to work, to expense, to potential failures along the way, definitely self-doubt at times. BUT the greatest reward can often be found in these types of decisions because it is a conscious commitment to expand our life experience, to work towards something that is meaningful to us. There is such joy in seeing what we can achieve when we don't limit ourselves to what we know, what we are comfortable with and we realise that the reward is actually in doing the work. That joy radiates outwards, it encourages positivity, it inspires others, and it creates a focus on possibilities.

Postscript: Some of you may be wondering about my performance in Boston. I ran the 42.195 kilometres in 3 hours, 42 minutes and 17 seconds. There were 827 women in my age group (55 to 59), and I came in at 101.

It was a privilege to be there.