London Marathon 2025 Recap

The London Marathon, my 20th marathon and my 4th Word Major. This was supposed to be a redemption run from my missed PR in Indy (Monumental) unfortunately the weather didn’t agree and it was far too hot to make that attempt. I’ve broken this blog up into transportation, race day logistics and my race recap. 

Transportation / Getting around London 

We are pretty lucky to live 30 mins from an international airport, Dulles (IAD). It was a direct flight from IAD to Heathrow and minimum interruptions. The flight was about 7.5 hours and just long enough to get in a 2.5 hour nap. Not ideal two days before the race but it is what it is. Once we landed in London it was a breeze through customs/immigrations. Last time I was here in 2018 it took me well over an hour to clear customs. The facial scanning technology was a huge help in expediting our entry. 

Getting from Heathrow to London we opted to take the Tube. I knew that we had a lot of travel to do that day and the Tube fare caps at 10 pounds ($13) so this would be the most cost efficient travel choice. A one way cab fare would have been $50 plus. You can also take the Heathrow Express for about $15 - but we had time to spend and didn’t want to spend money if we didn’t have to. Two lines later we were in Victoria Station. 

I had booked my trip with Runbuk and chosen the Clermont Victoria hotel option. It is actually connected to the train station and steps from the Underground (tube) which made it ideal for getting around. The rooms were small (as to be expected in London) but had everything we needed. The most surprising part of the hotel was how quiet it was. For being so close to the train station we expected to hear some noise, not at all! The only downside was that the lift to our floor was out of service about 12 hours into our stay. This wasn’t too big of a deal except until after the marathon - taking the other lift to the 5th floor still meant I had to climb one flight of stairs. My quads protested. 

We checked in early (9AM) and our room wasn’t ready - to be expected. We were able to drop our bags and start making moves to the race expo. The expo was held at the Excel outside of the city. Another ride on the Underground. The race encourages runners to come on Wednesday and Thursday, and now I know why. It was packed! Bib pick up was easy, you can walk up to any booth and they print your bib on the spot. The process took all of 10 mins from waiting in line to getting the bib. Now the crowded part - the expo. The New Balance section was unbearable. Let me get this out of the way now - I do not like crowds. Maybe it’s my age starting to show (I’m 36 lol) but I could not get out of the expo fast enough. I didn’t even look at the march. The line to check out was wrapped around the expo. No thanks. Some will tell you that you can buy the gear at the New Balance store on Oxford St but we stopped by after the expo and I’d say it was pretty picked over. If you want a specific item don’t leave it to chance and just bite the bullet and get in line. 

We kept onward to our next trip Oxford St to check out the pop up shops - the only merch I wanted was a Tracksmith London sweatshirt. I rarely buy merch anymore so this was my “one thing” for this race. And at $160, it was going to be my only thing. 

From heading out to the expo, back to Oxford St, lunch and then back to Victoria Station it was about a 6 hour errand run. We got back to the hotel around 3PM and checked in, cleaned ourselves up and pushed on. Our goal was no sleeping until “bed time”. We met up with some friends down by the water and walked around a bit too much (by the end of Friday I had about 20,000 steps!) We made it until 8PM or so before Cody and I passed out hard. Sleeping 12 hours straight and waking up Saturday ready for the day - the day of sitting and eating carbs lol 

The Race - Race Morning 

Being a part of a tour group, they assembled a leader in the lobby to escort us to the train. It was literally a 2 min walk for us. We took the DLR to Blackheath. I was in the red wave and it was recommended I take transportation to Greenwich but that would have required a different train station and a transfer. This was easier. The trade off was that I had to walk 10 extra minutes to the red start, I was ok with that. 

The train was packed. We took the 7:31AM train and for those that arrived at 7:30AM they were struggling to find a door with space to get on the train. The trains run every 30 mins, so many waited until 8AM train. The ride itself was easy, 30 mins out to Blackheath. Once you arrived, just follow the crowd. Don’t overthink it. Get to the top of the hill and follow the signs for your wave color. 

I saw many people wearing their race shoes to the start. I had only training shoes on that I planned to ditch. The grass was dewy and honestly I would not recommend wearing your racing shoes. If possible bring a pair to drop at bag drop or ditch them. 

There was so much space to hang out and collect yourself before the race. I made my way to the Red start (Red meets with the other colors at mile 3 on the course) and found a tree to sit under until I deemed it was toilet time. There were plenty of porto potties. Tip: walk closer to the wave entrance there are more toilets there and shorter lines. They also had male and female urinals. I had never seen that before! So of course I had to go just to check it out! Very interesting and efficient experience!  

Tips: Bring something to sit on, the grass is wet. Bag drop is efficient and your plastic race bag is big enough for a backpack. They project the start of the race on huge mega screen, fun to watch the pros! 

The Race - Before the Fall 

Temps were HOT. It didn’t seem that bad on paper but I think we were near 65 and sunny when the race started. My wave went off at 9:53ish and it was hot from the beginning. I had really wanted to chase my new potential PR - 3:42-3:44 but with the temps I pulled back to 3:50 and was going to go by feel. I run with a Coros and was able to put in “race mode” so it would tell me if each mile was under or over my goal time. That would take the thinking out if I needed to adjust on the fly. 

The course was CROWDED. I had never run in such a packed pack and I ran Boston in the charity waves. The roads were narrow and you had to be watchful of the other runners. From the start the supporters were insane. It thought Boston was loud - this was brutal. I don’t think we had one stretch of silence. Oh the tunnel at mile 24, that was quiet lol. 

We merged with the other color waves at mile 3, it was uneventful. Yes it got more crowded but it was wider streets so didn’t feel too bad. Off we went around the big ship. I didn’t get what the big deal was with the ship and no one I talked to could tell me except “I see it on tv when I watch the marathon” Gliding along I was clipping off paces in the 8:40’s and feeling great. Taking in my fuel, SIS Beta Fuel, every 40 mins and sipping Tailwind as needed. That all came to a screeching halt at mile 11. 

I don’t even know what happened. My best guess is I tried to adjust for someone getting close to me and caught my foot on one of the raised pedestrian crosswalks - they are terribly marked and way too often, be careful. I went down - hard. I have fallen one other time while running and that resulted in a concussion but no other bodily harm. This time I caught myself on my knee. Some man scooped me up and asked if I was ok, I think I was? I hobbled off the course and stood on the side with my hands on my knees trying not to cry. I was in shock. I let out some tears and assessed my body, was I hurt? I don’t think I was. I was shaken but OK. Let myself have a cry and said I would try and finish this. Then went back and forth on whether to DNF or not for about 2 miles. Tower Bridge was at mile 13 - I can make it there. Cody would be there, then he can tell me to keep running. Tower Bridge was amazing. Highlight of the day, I think I was still crying when I went over the bridge. 

The Race - After the fall 

My knee hurt. A lot. Not muscle pain, more pain from bending the cuts and scrapes. Every time I would flex my knee or salt/water would touch it, it would burn. How was I going to finish? Cody wasn’t at 13. It wasn’t possible to get across the course so he was stuck at 22. That was a very long time away to see him for some motivational punches. I wasn’t broken, I could do this. Plus I didn’t walk to come back to run this again just get it done. 

I will be honest, I don’t remember much of the course from 14-22. I know there were a ton of turns and people oh the people. There were spectators everywhere! I do not run with headphones and I could hear every band play (loved the drumline that played along mile 14?) Everyone got very excited when we took a right into the Isle of Dogs. I’m not sure why but I noticed the energy pick up which was welcomed. At this point my goal was to run 1 mile / walk 1 min and keep my pace under 9:30 - this would give me about a 4 hr finish. The time wasn’t important to me but I wanted to be off the course and off my knee. 

Every aid station had great volunteers handing out bottles of water (which became little road hazards) and I was grateful. Dumping water on myself and rinsing my mouth between tailwind and SIS I needed a pallet cleanser from the sugar. There were 2-3 ice stations as well and it was good ice! It didn’t melt fast which was amazing. Dropped some in my sports bra and shorts. Tip: If the day is hot put ice in your hat if you have one or in your shorts/along lower stomach. 

I had made it a point not to look at my knee at all. I didn’t want know if it was bad or not. No one was stopping me so I figured it wasn’t too bad. Still aching and letting me know it was banged up. Shifting my focus to the mile I was in was my magic weapon for the later part of the race. At one point I didn’t even know how many miles I had left - just knew I had .3 miles left of my portion. Run the mile you are in. 

I finally caught Cody at mile 23. After the amazing Row of Rainbows - should have snapped a picture there!  I pulled over and caught him up to speed on my day. He was like “damn and you’re gonna finish” I chatted with him for about 3 mins - no longer worried about time - I needed to vent. Tell him how much I hated this course. I know that’s harsh but it was true. The course was too crowded. I never hit a groove and felt horrible the entire time. It was too loud and I just wanted to be done. Then in typical Cody fashion - he quipped “Just 2 miles to the finish and I’ll run there, it’s not far” Love that man but damn does he not realize what he says sometimes. Just two miles. OK. 

Off I went to finish this damn thing. The heat was taking people out left and right. I saw so many paramedics sitting with runners and some on stretchers. My only goal was to not be one of them. A trait of mine that I’m proud of is my ability to separate the race result from my worth. Protecting my body from heat damage is more important that a finishing time. On each walk break I checked in on my heart rate response, did it drop? If it didn’t I needed more rest or to cool off. Being aware of my body and not letting my head ignore signs. Don’t be silly. 

The final mile. Finally. It was shaded too and the roads widened out. I finally had room. Coming down the final stretch of 395 yards to go and then seeing the 200M to go sign was such a relief. To think just 15 miles ago I was debating not finishing. Such a runner thing “it’s only 15 miles I can do this” (Ironically, not the first time I’ve said that. I ran Emerald Isle and wanted to drop at mile 8 but I “only” had 18 miles to go might as well) 

The finish line was not as impactful as Boston - maybe that’s just the sour taste in my mouth. I crossed and collected my medal then began the search to get out of the crowds. It took about 30 mins to get out of the finish area and then walk about an mile to the hotel. I only felt bad when we didn’t move and I had an appetite - which is a great sign! (Nutrition used to be a struggle of mine and I would finish a race nauseas, not any more! Crushed 60-70g of carbs per hour on this race!

Post race and thoughts 

I’m writing this blog as I am on the train to the Cotswalds - for a few days of r&r. And some quiet. My body overall feels great. Sore of course, but that’s expected. The knee is bruised but I don’t think I did any damage. Walking post race even though it doesn’t feel great is great for recovery. We will be doing a lot of this in the Cotswalds!  

Will I want to do this race again? No. 

Will I do another marathon this fell? No. 

This was my 20th marathon and I’ve earned a break. I’ve run everything from a 3:47 PR to party pace 4:00 and paced friends to 6:00 finishes. I’m ready to give my body a change of pace. What does that look like? You’ll have to come back to see what my next challenge is! For now, enjoy the journey. You are not your finish time. Show up every day. We are what we repeatedly do. 

Happy Running