This is a question I’ve been asked many times by many people over the years. My usual response is something generic like ‘to get fitter’, ‘to spend more time outside’ or ‘because I like the swishy thing my ponytail does when I run’. During the build up to my first marathon I got asked a lot more not only ‘why do you run?’ but also ‘why run a marathon?’  The simple answer was ‘to see if I could’ closely followed by ‘why not?’ . 

At the time that seemed like a good enough answer and for the most part the final run (also known as Race Day) was fun enough to make all the training worth it. Now with less than 9 weeks to go till my next marathon I’m struggling to find the motivation to train or at least running training. Long runs are tedious and lonely, the weather is rubbish and all week day runs are in the dark. Realistically I know that the more running I do now the more I will enjoy Race Day but the sad truth is that is no longer enough. Truth be told I don’t like running. This rather surprising realisation led me to ask myself why I feel the need to do another marathon. 

One thing to mention is that despite the slowness of my first marathon and the pain of the following few days, London Marathon 2012 was one of the best days of my life. It’s up there with walking the Great Wall of China with my mum, having a real life Lemur sitting on my shoulder in Madagascar and meeting my nephews for the first time. It was the first time I had ever done something entirely for myself and predominantly by myself. No-one told me to do it and I wasn’t trying to prove to anyone I could. Some people actively discouraged me from running saying it was too far and would ultimately be bad for me. Most people called me crazy. But through all the training I proved to myself that I could self-motivate and improve myself. That being said I couldn’t have done it without the support and encouragement of my dear friends and family. The cheering on Race Day along the route alone was spectacular 😄.

So VLM2012 was a brilliant day. Why not leave it at that? Why run it again? For most people the second and all future marathons are about getting a better time or feeling better at the finish. For me neither of those are that important. A better time would be great but it’s more about proving to myself that I can do it again. That the first one (and second one for that matter) wasn’t a fluke. This is even more important considering the backslide in my fitness over the last few years.

Although I have every intention of running in and completing VLM2016, the question remains what is it about Race Day that I love so much? And is there any way I can replicate that in a non-running activity? I know I like to challenge myself. I like to push the boundaries of what I believe I can do and (hopefully) surprise myself. Running has given me that but perhaps it’s time to find some other fitness activity or competition that can do the same without all the long, tedious runs through dark London streets. Something to think about for the next 67 days 😊 any suggestions are welcome.