6 18 APRIL 2024 News&Views Whether you’ll be lacing up your trainers at the start line or watching on TV from the comfort of the sofa, thousands of people will enjoy the TCS London Marathon on Sunday (21 April). The iconic 26.2-mile race from Greenwich to Westminster is always oversubscribed – a recordbreaking 578,374 people applied this year, with 50,000 winning a place. There were 49,272 starters last year, with 48,000 runners crossing the finish line. They included the oldest runner, 90-year-old David Picksley, and the youngest, Lana Dales, who turned 18 the day before the event. It’s all for a good cause too – since the first London Marathon in 1981, more than £1.1 billion has been raised for charity. Runners come from all over the world and from all backgrounds. But what’s it like to train for the gruelling event? Three familiar faces reveal how, and why, they’re getting on their marks. Ahead of this Sunday’s London Marathon, Emma Higginbotham discovers what it takes to be part of the world-famous event GOING THE DISTANCE Event legend Dave ‘The Telephone’ Lock is running his 25th consecutive London Marathon for Samaritans, this year’s o cial charity “My journey with Samaritans started as a caller. I was in a very dark place, and they literally saved my life. I became a listening volunteer, ran my rst London Marathon for the charity in 1999, and I’ve been doing it ever since in Samaritans-related fancy dress – usually the giant green telephone. I lost my younger brother to suicide last year, so that’s made me even more committed to keeping that telephone on the roads. “My daughter is running her rst DAVE LOCK, 62 marathon with me this year, so I’m going to be a proud dad on the start line. She’s a teacher in Spain and has the joy of of training on the beach, while I run around the block dressed as a telephone. It’s not great for training, because you get stopped all the time, even by people who want me to listen to them. We hold hands, and they talk. “I’m not getting any younger and the distance isn’t getting any shorter, so I really look after myself. My go-to training food is pasta with green pesto, tuna and anchovies, and my wife is half Indonesian, so we eat lots of rice dishes, like nasi goreng. On the course, all the children seem to be holding jelly babies. I bend down and they take great pleasure in lobbing them into my mouth. My guilty pleasure once I nish is a homemade Cornish pasty. “Everyone should try running. All you need is a decent pair of shoes, then you go outside and o you go. It makes me feel fantastic.” See justgiving.com/ page/david-lock-25 In focus
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDY5NzE=