Sunday’s 40th edition of the race will be like no other but that it is being staged at all is cause for celebration in troubled times
There is a day in the sporting calendar that I can guarantee will put a wide smile on my face – in fact, I can time the moment it happens to the nearest minute. It comes at 7.01pm on the last Sunday of April as I head towards Green Park tube station at the end of a long day covering the London Marathon. Without fail there are runners being propped up by friends, their walks now a waddle, having got around the 26.2-mile course in five or maybe six hours. In truth it looks like a scene from 28 Days Later. But do you know what? You can see the scale of the personal achievement etched on every single face; the totality of their effort on each sweat-drenched charity vest.
There are bigger sporting events, to be sure. But not many that enrich the soul like the London Marathon. Next Sunday my admiration for all the everyday runners taking part in this race will be even greater than usual.
Related: London Marathon prize money cut nearly in half but fund made for Britons
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