Every journey starts with the first step...up to 42km

December 2014, I received an internal email at work, it was not a normal email, it came from NSPCC (a charity organization which provide children support). They had 2 available slots for those runners who wanted to take part in the London Marathon. Those runners should be able to do 2 things: fit enough to run a marathon and raise £2000. I would lie if I said that I was completely sure about meeting these 2 requirements.

London is one of the top six world marathons that form the World Marathon Majors competition, the marathon is run over a largely flat course around the River Thames. The race attracts amateur runners who make up the bulk of the thirty thousand or more participants; commonly running in fancy dress for charity causes.

I had never run a long distance race (maximum a 10km race) but my fitness as football player helped me a lot in order to be able to face this huge challenge. ​​

It can be said that the London marathon begins 3-4 months in advance. Several events were arranged in order to boost my fundraising for NSPCC. I was very surprised how family friends, colleagues, football mates...got involved and made their own impact. We finally raised almost £3000.

In terms of training, I wouldn’t be able to provide any advice on how to train for a marathon as the football season did not let me train at all but at least, it kept me very fit...

26th April was they day which I enjoyed the best “tour” ever on the streets of the one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Running across Tower Bridge, St James Palace, the London Eye to end up in Buckingham palace...and feeling the support of thousands of Londoners it was just indescribable.

Obviously we all love to push to the limit and once you are running you want to do your best. My best that day was 3 hours and 13 minutes...although the memories overcome any time.