The London Marathon

The London Marathon crowd - the best crowd in the world

Few years ago, when I moved to London, I vividly remember one of my first events here - the London Marathon. Back then, it was happening in the autumn, but the emotions were the same as they were last Sunday. Streets, packed with happy people, the whole city vibrating, everybody outside cheering for the runners, people drinking cold beer in the sun, DJs playing different sets on every mile. I’d never seen anything like this before. And according to many - it’s the best Marathon with the best crowd in the world.

Going back to my move to London - I wasn’t running at all at the time, my meals were mainly Tesco processed foods and I had reached a weight that I had never imagined - 90kg. Fast forward a year - I changed my diet, dropped 15kg, starter running some 5k around the neighbourhood, got a fitness photoshoot and believe it or not - one of the best purchases I’ve made - Garmin EPIX gen 2 smartwatch. This watch deserves a whole new blog post, but I can just mention that just 2 months after having it, I drastically improved my running pace and got my first 10k race in 42 minutes (time that I still haven’t beaten for 2 years).

So for the past three years I really got from 0 to 42 kilometers and couldn’t be happier about my new hobby. Last year, seeing so many friends completing the London Marathon, setting some great times and sharing their stories, made me instantly apply for 45th edition of the London Marathon in 2025.

The lucky lottery winner

Securing a spot in the London Marathon is no small feat. With over 56,000 runners participating this year, the odds were steep. I felt incredibly fortunate to be among them, knowing that thousands more had applied and didn't get in. The actual acceptance rate is about 2%. And this year’s applications were nearly 1 million! With thousands of spots, allocated for elite athletes, those who qualify by time or through sponsors and charities, the general public gets far less than the total number of 56,000.

There is a seperate lottery for UK citizens and international runners, so it’s really hard to get a spot if you don’t live here. Once again - I was very fortunate to get a spot, that’s why I dedicated 4 month to prepare for it and give the best I can.

The Running expo

Few days before the actual start, organizers provide you with your starting number at a specially organized expo. But getting your number is just a fraction of the whole experience. The major sponsors showcase their products and allow you to buy London Marathon official equipment, other running related brands also display the latest and allow you to test and buy them. Any runner like me just feels like a child in a candy shop. There is everything from equipment like running shoes, tops, shorts, all the way to watches, socks, drinks, whatever you can imagine. There was even a dedicated area for sports massage, which I personally took and couldn't be happier about that. I also checked the pictures spot, as well as finding my name on a wall with the names of all participants. All in all, a great way to prepare for the race. And not to forget - thanks to the London Marathon App - very quickly found everything I needed, got my bag in no time and was ready to go.

The Race day - getting to the starting line

I want to start here by sharing my absolute appreciation with the organization of this marathon - from start to finish absolutely brilliant. You can check the Official London Marathon 2025 Guide for the details, but execution was just as perfect as described in the guide - from separating participants into colour zones, starting at different waves, so you don’t have too many people on the road at the same time - through lorries, where you can leave your luggage and pick it up at the finish line. All that information was also on our racing bibs, so the organizers could easily assist and guide us based on it.

Spectacular crowd during the race

I already shared few thought in the beginning about the atmosphere in London during a Marathon day - all positive emotions, miles fly away, music, cheers, funny signs, kids giving you high fives, confetti, DJs, street parties, you name it. Here is a small compilation of images, just to give you an idea.

Race support during on the way

For my bad luck, I had to face a hot weather on my first marathon, so not only I hadn’t run such a distance - I hadn’t run in such a heat this year. Luckily, organisers had been thinking about it and everything was very efficiently placed along the road. Water stations (every few kilometers), ice stations, showers spanning from one side of the road to the other giving you this amazing refreshment, energy drink stations. Even local fire departments had placed some equipment spraying water for the participants - that’s the real spirit of this marathon - everyone tries to help you and encourage you to get to the end.

At the finish line

And as if getting to the finish line was not hard enough - we had another half kilometer before we could get out of the area. Immediately after being rewarder with the Finisher Medal, you could see the same lorries from the start, waiting with your luggage. Very easy to find, no queues, getting to you stuff in just a few minutes. So I highly recommend leaving some things before the start like food, drinks, snacks (oh yes, you’ll be very hungry). And most importantly - slippers. I didn’t do it and watched the others happily switching their running shoes for comfy pair of slippers. Immediately after you leave the runners area - there were a number of meeting points, labeled with letters and numbers in the span of few kilometers around St James’s Park. So all the friends and family could easily find you - again, great organisation.

Getting around London on Marathon day

The only hard thing in London on Marathon day is going from one place to another. Many bus lines are closed along the route, some Tube stations are closed due to enormous amount of people trying to get from one place of the track to another (especially around the finish line). It was especially hard for participants, because the transport was disrupted even before the start. And although I live just few kilometers from the start, I couldn’t use any public transport to get there. I ended up riding an electric bike to the starting area in Greenwich. The electric bikes were to the rescue again after the race - this time a lot harder to find as the perimeter around Buckingham Palace, St James’s Park, Trafalgar Square was all packed with people. You could barely walk because of the crowds, let alone having any transport or riding a bike. So tired from the race, walked few kilometers, got the bike, ride few more and got on the Tube at Kings Cross. For everyone knowing London - that’s quite a trip for someone who has just completed a marathon.

My Race

🏁 View my official London Marathon stats

Overall, it was great race. Especially considering the last month before the marathon, where I totally failed to follow my training plan. As you might expect, such a long run has a lot more challenges than a 5k, 10k or even a Half-marathon. I used to have a lot of blisters, pain in different parts of my leg during the training, trouble with my stomach. But luckily, on the Marathon day, none of it bothered me - no stomach problems, no blisters, I was well hydrated (especially in the heat), the Maurten gels I used were awesome.

My goal for the race was not so quick first half and push as much as possible in the second. The first Half flew away, with crowd cheering, legs fresh, good hydration - I maintained a good tempo.

Unfortunately, after halfway my tempo started to drop due to heat and heavy legs. Going from a 04:55 min/km pace slowly towards a 05:30 min/km at the end of the next 10 kilometers.

The real struggle started around the 30th kilometer in Canary Wharf, especially in two uphill sections. But after 2 or 3 tough kilometers, I managed to stabilize and do the last 7-8 kilometers in a 05:50 min/km tempo.

I managed to finish in 03:49:47. A time that I hoped I could beat by at least 10 minutes, but realistically could also finish in over 4 hours. So I take it as a win. And it leaves room for improvement, which means that there will be a second marathon for me in future.

Marathon Training

🏃🏼‍➡️ Summary of my Marathon training

The plan was to do 16 week training block for the London Marathon. Starting in the first days of January, all the way to the end of April. In my opinion, 16 weeks is too much. Instead of being in my peak for the race, I was there a month earlier. Another important factor is planning - having a race after busy trips is not a good idea, but unfortunately we can’t always change our plans to suit one event or another.

However, I tried to have 3 runs every week, as one was a long run (sometimes a low HR one, sometimes with a marathon pace), I had threshold runs, I had sprints, I tried to have every type of training in my plan. It’s hard to have all the various types of trainings and improve your run in all aspects with just 3 runs a week, so I don’t take it so bad. But I know that I definitely can improve here. The other aspect is the strength training - putting more effort in the gym on running specific exercise could have been beneficial.

I didn’t have a running coach. I’m sure I would have done better if I had, but I just value their time (and mine). I don’t think I would be happy if I can’t strictly follow coach’s plan, and I had lots of reasons why my availability was limited this year. So another good tip is - get someone to help you and prepare you if you can dedicate and stick to the plan.

I used one free alternative mainly because I had the freedom to skip when needed - the Garmin Coaching Plans. For those of you who have a Garmin Watch (mine is EPIX Gen2), the plans can be created to target a specific pace or time to complete a certain race. These plans can be created through the Garmin Connect app, which is free for everyone who owns a Garmin watch and a fed with the data from your watch during workouts. You can specify the duration of the plan and how many days you can dedicate to training every week. What I like about Garmin’s plans is that they adapt to your current condition and increase or decrease the duration and pace of your workouts.

To get an idea of the different stages of a marathon preparation (Base, Build, Peak, Taper) check my Strava activities, summarized in this little app.

Takeaways

⚠️ What can I improve

• To get a better time - better training is needed overall

• More long runs

• More easy runs

• Longer distances - go up to 35km in long runs, unlike only 2 or 3 22km long runs for my whole training

• 4 month of preparations (or 16 weeks) seem too much for me - I think the sweet spot is around 3 months (12 weeks) otherwise I start to lose focus

• Plyometrics needed

• Training in the gym needed - specific runners exercises - focus on legs and core

• Pay attention to stretching - warm up before training and do some more stretching after

• Plan ahead for the marathon - I had a poor last month due to travel, conferences, etc. and my running form dropped significantly. So try to have strong last 2 months of training - preferably in your routine environment

✅ What I can keep

• Carb loading the days before is vital and I’m happy it worked for me

• Maurten gels are awesome - better than anything I have tried in the previous months

• Maurten race day Drink Mix was spot-on

• Maurten Guide - https://www.maurten.com/fuelguide/marathon

• Get your phone - especially when running in London. It will be especially valuable after the race and if you don’t have anyone waiting at the finish line

• Get a waist bag to store your phone and gels - and do at least few test runs with it before the Marathon

To my family

Thanks for always being there for me, for supporting me and making those great signs for me! I love you ❤️
As one of the saigns says:

“Running dad: Like a regular dad, but cooler” 😎