Hello! Welcome back to The Footprint – and happy Friday.

Congratulations to everyone who ran in London, Manchester, Big Sur and beyond last weekend. While Sunday’s London Marathon was unseasonably warm, the British weather appeared to make its way over to California, where I felt right at home in the drizzle.

📬 Edition #13: Reflections on London, by those who ran… the directors of Boston’s 26.TRUE on rewriting the marathon… and takeaways from a remarkable race along Big Sur.

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LONDON MARATHON 2025

🥇 Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa wins with record run. Finishing in 2:15:50, she set the world record for a women’s-only marathon field, which applies to races where women are not paced by men.

💨 Sabastian Sawe of Kenya enters top tier of world marathoning. After launching a breakaway run as his rivals slowed to grab their bottles at a late-stage drinks station, he won the men’s race in 2:02:27. It was his second marathon.  

🇬🇧 Brits show promise on home soil. Eilish McColgan, who set a new Scottish (and family) record in her debut marathon; Rose Harvey; and Phily Bowden each finished in the top ten of the women’s race. Mahamed Mahamed was ninth in the men’s race, while Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee finished fourteenth.

Letting In London

by Dan Jordan

📍 London, UK: The last time I stood on Blackheath waiting for the London Marathon starting gun was almost a decade ago, in 2017. It was the culmination of a three-month training block that involved no running, only swimming, because of an annoyingly common injury.

I waited in the corral with tape strapped over my right knee, fumbling with my music to make sure the “perfect song” would be playing as I crossed the start line. I was determined to make sure everything was perfect — so, inevitably, it wasn’t.

All I remember from that day was stopping to walk, over and over again, feeling angry at myself and my body, like I’d wasted my chance, and eventually falling way short of the finish time I’d spent months telling everyone I would beat.

So, given the opportunity to sign up at the eleventh hour this year, my priority was to right those wrongs. I would remember the day for all the right reasons, and not have regrets. I still wanted to run well, but my headphones were staying at home.

As a result, I had one of the best days of my life. Of course I did. What’s not to love about London in the sun on marathon day? It’s a city that knows exactly what is required of it: sarcastic signs, spectators shouting support at strangers, incredibly cumbersome costumes going for Guinness World Records, high-fives from young kids in the crowds, thumping music, drag queens... I could go on, but you get the point. It’s a festival atmosphere with a record 56,640 runners headlining the main stage.

There’s a fantastic streak of the course that doubles back on itself, either side of a grueling five-mile loop around the Isle of Dogs and Canary Wharf. I was lucky enough to be heading east on that streak as the greatest marathon runner of all time, Eliud Kipchoge, headed west. I felt goosebumps as hundreds of runners – myself among them – screamed encouragement at this icon of the sport, running on the same course we were all enduring. It’s a moment I think I’ll remember forever.

Everything was different about my second London marathon – except my goal to finish in under three hours. I didn’t quite manage that this time, either. But I don’t care one bit.

I’m so glad I let the city in this time. No headphones required.

Nate Kahaiali’i (Maui, HI): Despite the heat, it was an amazing marathon! The sights were probably the best of the majors. The crowd energy was definitely a highlight. London felt like it had more support than NYC.

Luis Gonzalez (New York, NY): I traveled to London in hopes of getting my Six Star medal alongside my sister, Teresita, whilst getting a sweet PR. The weather decided not to cooperate. At the start I met Angeline, another Six Star hopeful. We put our heads down, took in the sights and made our way to the finish line – sprinting to the end because the heat was unbearable.

After a short wait, our NYRR Team For Kids rep Ashley jumped up and down and saw my sister. I hugged her and asked how she was feeling. Teresita had just completed the Boston Marathon the Monday prior, and was one of 65 runners doing the Boston and London double to get their Six Star medals. 10/10 experience!

Ali Young (Amersham, UK): From start to end, crowds filled every bit. Lots of kids wanted to high five me, but I had to shout ‘sorry I haven’t got any arms’ as my arms were in the costume. Spotted lots of people I knew, but missed my own family as where they were was so loud. Just crazy – in a good way. I had a smile on my face the whole way. Even the police were shouting ‘Go Penguin’!

INTERVIEW

You Can’t Be What You Can’t See

📍 Boston, MA: Not long after the fifth annual 26.TRUE marathon wrapped up a few weeks ago, a story started doing the rounds among its organizers.

As hundreds of runners made their way through the streets of Boston, the story goes, a local kid purportedly looked up and said: “Wow, the marathon runs through my neighborhood.”

This tale is a neat summary of why 26.TRUE exists – and why it has come to take place alongside the world’s oldest annually-run marathon each year.

Since 2021, Pioneers Run Crew – a Black and Brown-led running community in the city – has held its own, unsanctioned marathon. While the official Boston Marathon works its way from the outskirts of Greater Boston into the city center, 26.TRUE weaves through its heart.

“There’s something really special for us to be able to share our neighborhoods with people who aren’t so familiar with them,” said Sharon Lee, one of the race directors.

Last month, two days before some 28,000 runners in the official marathon made their way from Hopkinton to Boylston Street, 250 runners – including 100 first-time marathoners – tackled a double loop course through Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Dorchester and Mattapan.

“The intention of 26.2 True has always been trying to make running more equitable and accessible to people who might not see themselves as traditional runners,” said Aliese Lash, another race director.

The importance of the timing of the race – on the eve of the Boston Marathon – is a “question that we keep getting asked,” said Lash. “It’s very much on purpose the same weekend. It’s designed to be a direct contrast.”

Boston, like most major marathons, is a highly exclusive race. Reaching the start line is an extraordinary feat in and of itself. The team behind 26.TRUE is trying to position it as the opposite: a highly inclusive race, open to all.

While hundreds took part in this year’s event, organizers have been encouraged to consider a time when thousands might be involved. The course was modified this year after a request from the city; the date isn’t necessarily set in stone, either.

“We’re always building the plane as we’re flying it,” added Barak Soreff, race director and route master. “This whole thing is iterative.”

The contours of the race might shift, but the objective remains the same. “There’s no mystery here,” said Lee. “It’s clear we’re here to disrupt the narrative. We’re trying to rewrite want marathoning means.”

It is a goal which has attracted a range of brand partners from across the running industry, including Brooks, Puma and Marathon Sports, and beyond.

That story about the kid during this year’s race did the rounds not just because it neatly summarized the ambition of 26.TRUE – but because it suggests it’s working.

“One of the most important things for any runner is to see themselves in someone else,” said Lee. 26.TRUE is designed to give Bostonians of all ages, races and body types “a chance to glimpse out their window and see that our pool of runners looks like them.”

“We know representation matters,” added Lash. “We know that you can’t be what you can’t see.”

AROUND AND ABOUT

📷 Des Linden’s final marathon. The 2018 Boston Marathon champion invited her friend Andy Cochrane and his camera to follow along as she prepared to bow out in style, in Boston. She later recorded a conversation with fellow US Olympian Kara Goucher about the experience.

📺 An audience with the GOAT. Hours after they both ran Sunday’s London Marathon, legendary marathoner Eliud Kipchoge and Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee met for the first time. Their conversation was filmed by Maurten.

📱 A running influencer on running influencers. Hollie, who writes the LOLZLetter blog, explored the rise of new media running voices in this newsletter – and how they should post responsibly. They don’t need to be perfect, she writes, but they do need to be honest.

BIG SUR INTERNATIONAL MARATHON 2025

What Running’s About

📍 Big Sur, CA: Less than half an hour into last weekend’s Big Sur International Marathon, my watch gave up.

Swearing under my breath, I ran through the consequences in my mind. No splits. No tracking. No (cringing as I type) kudos.

In that moment I was too hooked up on these supposed terrible losses, from live stats to Strava glory, to notice the gift I’d been handed.

On the handful of times I’ve toed a marathon start line, I’ve borrowed a phrase that used to be a favorite of my Gran. Somewhere on my person – often on the back of my phone, or my shirt – sit the words this is ludicrous.

On Sunday morning, some 5,400 miles from home, I ran through drizzle with a few thousand strangers, on the edge of the western world, along one of the most beautiful roads in America, tackling one of the longest hills I’ve ever climbed, with a slightly dodgy leg.

It doesn’t get much more ludicrous than that.

And had I checked my splits every mile, glanced down at my wrist to see if this stretch might be shorter than the last, or even for a second considered how many people might give my efforts a thumbs up on social media, I wouldn’t have been able to fully embrace what was happening.

“You’re gonna get tired of me saying ‘it’s so pretty’,” veteran US marathoner Serena Burla warned other runners along Highway 1. “This is what running’s about,” she told KSBW TV Action News 8 after winning the women’s race in 2:49:42. “One foot in front of the other.”

I’ll get a new watch. But I’m grateful to the old one for breaking – and fixing my focus.

RECENT EDITIONS

• #12 London Calling | with ultra athlete Ali Young

• #11 Back In Boston | with Meb Keflezighi and Carrie Bradshaw

• #10 Where The World Begins | with The Speed Project soloist Jen Curtis

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think: just hit ‘reply,’ or email me.

Have a great weekend.

– Callum