Why we're running the London Marathon

We both have a love and passion for the outdoors and we feel it is so important that young people today get the opportunities to push themselves to their limits in an outdoor environment. We both grew up lucky enough to spend lots of time in nature, and we first met when we were in Scouts. We are now married with our own children (4 & 2), and we love spending time in the outdoors with them, having adventures as a family.

As well as our personal love for the outdoors, we both work in education in some of the most deprived areas of the UK, and we have seen first-hand the benefits of outdoor education, and what it can do for young people. Personally, I (Matt) have run expeditions for several years, and it is so rewarding to see young people achieve things that they thought were never possible.

We have been doing lots of fundraising in the lead-up to the event. We set ourselves a target to hit 50% by Christmas to take the pressure off when the Marathon block starts in January. So far, we have raised £3350 of our £4800 goal (70%) which we are really pleased with. We have raised over £1600 selling hand-stretched, stone-baked pizzas to our friends and family, £950 on a quiz night, and over £200 selling homemade crafts and hair scrunchies. We have one final Pop-up Pizza night in a few weeks’ time, and we are hoping to plan a final quiz before the Marathon to get us over the finish line!

Before Christmas, we were just trying to get out and run as much as possible. Everyone has been telling us that the more time you spend on your feet, the easier it will be in the training block and on the day. We have also incorporated Parkrun into our training as an opportunity to run with friends and be motivated by other runners. Since January, we have started our official 16-week training block, consisting of speed sessions, base runs and long runs, building up to a 21-mile long run a few weeks before the big day. We have also incorporated some other races and events into our training, so we will both be running a few half marathon races and 10k events in the lead up to the day as well.

1. Kelly's Top Tip - Mix up the training. Run with friends in lots of different places to keep it interesting, especially on the long runs!
2. Matt's Top Tip - Follow a plan. There are so many free plans available to download. I love the structure of following a plan and feel that it has really helped me build endurance and get faster at the same time.
3. Our top tip - Enjoy the fundraising. Although the fundraising can seem daunting at first, we have really enjoyed hosting events and getting all our family and friends involved in our fundraising efforts.