STRONG WITH IONA #50

Since When Did Running a Marathon Become ‘normal’

Whilst watching from the sidelines on Sunday and in the lead up to this year’s marathon, I’ve been having continued thoughts of when did running a marathon become normal?. When running my first marathon in 2012, it felt huge, astronomical even, the weight of what I was doing, the prep, the commitment, and the sacrifice to get to the start lines. At this point, I was very much in the depths of grief after losing my best friend, lost in many ways and using running as an escape, a purpose, and something to focus on to get me through those dark days. And it was. Running marathons was a test, a challenge, and I was pushing my body beyond anything I had ever done before. Even now, after birthing two children with little to no pain relief, I still think running the 100km ultramarathon I did was the toughest thing I’ve ever done.

But now, it feels different. It seems like everyone is running a marathon, with the ‘fitfluencers’ and celebrities running marathons in super quick times, plastered all over social media - it’s easy to think that tackling the 26.2 isn’t that much of a big deal. Well, let me tell you - statistics still show that less than 1% of the world’s population will ever run a marathon, despite the fact that running currently seems to be ‘having a moment’ - it is still an incredible, monumentous achievement that should never be seen as ‘normal’.

Not only have I now run 17 marathons (9 road marathons and 8 ultras), but in the last few years I have had the privilege to train some incredible clients to also run their first and for some even 5th or 6th marathons or ultras. This notion of this event becoming normalised startles me. Many of my clients are mums - not only are they taking care of their kids, their home and working a full-time job, they are also getting up on dark mornings and heading out for long training runs in the rain (or even snow), they are negotiating with their partners for time to train, they are sacrificing time with their fmaily to commit to something - for them!

Now - in my eyes - this is very much not normal. This is another example of female strength, and for many, as was shown in some disturbing comments I’ve shared in this IG post about female runners at last weekend’s London marathon, something they are criticised for. For me, the biggest thing to remember on weekends like this is - yes, there are some 25 year old influecers with all the time (and free kit) in the world running marathons these days, but there are also countless other people running too. For me, watching the women absolutely smash it was so empowering - it is not normal to spend all week working/ taking care of your kids and busting a gut at work to go out and run 26.2 miles on a Sunday, and it is something that everyone who showed up on Sunday should be so proud of.

Who’s entered the ballot for next year? If that’s you or you would like any support with your running, please give me a shout!

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