The TCS London Marathon has a reputation for being an incredible event with world class crowd support but until you get to experience it yourself in person – both as a runner and as a supporter - it doesn’t quite hit home.
This year’s race was particularly important for Meningitis Research Foundation as it fell just a few days before World Meningitis Day – we had one of our biggest teams yet with over 150 people racing to defeat meningitis. With so many of our runners taking on this challenge with such personal reasons for running it was, throughout, deeply emotional and inspirational.
Emily, who lost a close friend to meningitis two years ago, and whose mother contracted meningitis and had subsequent limb amputations said: “When my lungs hurt, I think of the life still in them, Jess doesn’t have that. When my legs hurt, I think of the ability to use them, mum doesn’t have that. That’s what drives me. I can’t bring Jess back or change what happened to mum. But what I can do is raise awareness to hopefully prevent this happening to other families. Quite simply, if I could change the outcome for just one person, I’d run 1000 miles.”
World Meningitis Day is an international awareness day and it was wonderful to have so many people get behind the campaign. We welcomed runners to Team MRF from India, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. The race to defeat meningitis is a global and we loved having an international team to represent MRF in this year’s race.
It was an incredibly sunny day on Sunday 2nd October – which had a mixed reaction from our runners. For some it made it a glorious way to experience this iconic race, for others it was a gruelling 26.2 miles and the shower sprinkler systems were very warmly welcomed along the course.
The sunshine was however, an appreciated guest at our post-race reception. We love to meet and thank our runners personally and it was an honour to be able to do so at The Royal Overseas League who we thank for hosting us in their beautiful building and gardens. We had plenty of refreshments and enjoyed celebrating your achievements with you in person.
"It was such a great day and the hospitality afterwards was a loverly touch so thank you too! Legs are a bit battered if you want the truth but it was so worth it! Cheers"
TCS London Marathon is a race for all abilities. Whatever your finish time the amount of effort that goes in to completing this race is astounding. For those who got a PB we are delighted for you. For everyone who managed to complete the race we are even more so. And for those who didn’t quite make it this time – we are here for you for the next time!
We would like to say a huge thank you to each and every one of our 155 TCS London Marathon 2022 runners. We are so proud of everything you achieved – you will have raised £340,000 to defeat meningitis and this truly would not be possible without your commitment and hard work. Thank you!
If you would like to run in the TCS London Marathon on Sunday 23rd April our Team MRF places are accepting applications now. Apply here.