 Question. How can you train for an ultra-distance mountain race and a flat fast road marathon at the same time? Actually, scratch that. Is it possible to train for multiple ultra-distance mountain races back to back and then two flat road marathons in quick succession? The answer to that depends on what your goals are. Sure, if all you want to do is finish each race, then you've got every chance. But if you really want to perform at one or more of these events, then you've got your work cut out. I arrived at the 2022 London Marathon off the back of a very busy summer of running. My main training block got me to the start line of the Lakeland 100 in July, a 100-mile race around the Lake District with 5,000 metres of elevation gain. For the rest of the summer, there was no time for another training block. It was simply a case of recovering as much as possible before the next event. In August, after three years of trying, I finally completed the TDS in Chamonix, France, a race well over the official 145-kilometre distance with 9,000 metres of ascent. Then, in September, it was up to Scotland for the Ben Nevis Ultra, 53 kilometres with 4,000 metres of climbing, followed a week later by the Berlin Marathon in Germany. I was tired with aching legs in Berlin, but foolishly I decided to set out on a sub three-hour marathon pace. It didn't go well. I ended up slowing almost every mile until the finish. So when I lined up in London, I was determined to be more disciplined. The problem was I really wanted to try for a good-for-age qualification time for London next year. This would mean finishing faster than three hours 15 minutes. Whilst I knew this was still a risk, I considered it a risk worth taking. So I've really messed up. I was supposed to put my predicted finish time on my application for good-for-age for London, and I neglected to do so, which means I've been put in Wave 14. Wave 14, which is miles back, doesn't start for an hour yet. Starting so far back would mean spending the entire race dodging and weaving through thousands of runners. I asked at the information point where one official actually suggested I jump into an earlier wave. So that's exactly what I did. I would still have to wind my way through the crowds, but just not for quite so long. Welcome to film my run. This is the start line of the London Marathon. I think we're, what wave were you? Wave six. Wave six. I've no idea what wave we're in. We're in wave six. We are about to start London Marathon 2022. Let's go. Let's have fun. Let's enjoy this. Okay, here we go. London Marathon. There are actually three start lines at the London Marathon, red, green and blue. Charity runners and those successful in the ballot go from the red start, celebrities and some good-for-age runners go from the green start, which is the smallest start line. And the blue start is a mix of ballot, good-for-age and the elite runners. Waves set off at five minute intervals, and I quickly found myself in the no man's land between blue waves five and six. So the weird thing is, because I'm accidentally in a wave much further back than I should be, we're kind of right at the front of this wave. It says like nobody here. We're on our own. It's like I'm in the lead of the London Marathon. I bet you've never seen the streets of London so deserted on London Marathon day. Four and a half K and this is where we join all the red start runners. So this is blue start, red start is over the other side there, and we're now going to merge. My pacing strategy was to run at four minutes 35 seconds per kilometer, which, if I kept it up, would get me to the finish in around three hours 14 minutes. 5k in just under 23 minutes and we're on the downhill, it's a big downhill at the early start of London. The London Marathon is generally flat, but it's not pan flat. The course has been tweaked slightly in recent years to get rid of a few lumps around Canary Wharf, but overall it's flatter than Paris, but not as flat as Berlin. 46 minutes at 10k. We're in Greenwich. We're just about to pass the Cutty Sark. So this is Cutty Sark. We're all way to the cameras live on TV. We're not live on TV because they're following the leaders, aren't they? Congestion was now becoming an issue as I lamented to my club mate Andrew as I passed him. This is ridiculous Andrew. Oh yeah, but it can't get a rhythm can you? It's absolutely crazy. Well you might catch me up when I die of death at halfway. Just past 15 kilometers in 109.30 still just about staying on pace for 315, but I don't know if my legs are going to tire out. Well just see what happens enjoying it apart from the fact that I'm weaving in and out of everybody. The pipers piped and my legs kept turning over as we made our way towards Tower Bridge and the 20 kilometer mark. The crowd support as you cross the bridge is a real mental high as you head into the second half of the race. One hour 33 minutes for 20k over Tower Bridge. Most iconic moment of London marathon apart from the finish. Still enjoying myself. Still on target just about. From the Tower of London the crowds are still immense, but it feels slightly further than you want it to before you hit halfway. That's halfway in 137.30 so yeah we are only just on target really. Probably going to slow down in the second half. Heading into the Isle of Dogs the support thins out and you're left with a mental battle to reach Canary Wharf. That's 25 kilometers in one hour 56. Starting to tire, feeling tired. Legs are stiffening up but we'll push on coming through Canary Wharf now. Canary Wharf is where your GPS watch will go haywire. Really starting to suffer now and where my legs told me they'd had enough. 12 kilometers to go and it's here two hours 20 or so. Outside Limehouse town hall we found the Rundem crew. We love the Rundem crew. And a little further on we found Zach the extreme DJ Suat was in the house. I love that guy. The 315 time goal was gone. Good for age qualification was gone for another year but we were having fun as we made our way back to the Tower of London. So we hit 35 kilometers in 245 exactly the same as Berlin. So we've got 45 minutes to do seven kilometers to get under 330. I have done London five times now and this year it seemed like the crowds were more substantial and tumultuous than ever before. As we hit embankments with three miles to go I realized I was going to be very close to my Berlin marathon finish time. So I pushed as hard as I could through the tunnel past the London Eye and Westminster Palace. That's 40 kilometers in three hours 12 minutes. Looks like we're going to do the same time as Berlin. A long birdcage walk and towards Buckingham Palace the finish line was within touching distance as I finally turned on to the mouth. Coming to the end three hours 23. The finish line of the London marathon is always something special no matter what time you achieve. 26.2 miles is an iconic distance just as 100 miles is for ultra runners. So there's the London marathon medal. This is my fifth London marathon finish time of 23. Now I was going for 315 but legs just didn't have it so but you know it was expected. It was a risk again to try and go for 315 but I'm much more happy with the performance this time because I mean I did slow after 20 miles but it wasn't so much of a slow as it was in Berlin. The race was much more controlled I felt stronger towards the end and I got an Abbott age group championship medal. That doesn't mean I've won an age group it just means I've taken part in the world championships. Chilling out in St James's Park and making your way slowly to Horse Guards Parade to meet your friends and family is as standard as it gets after completing the London marathon. After chatting with some of my club mates and drinking everything I could find in my bag I hobbled slowly along the mile towards Admiralty Arch watching as the sun glinted off hard earned medals space blankets fluttered over shoulders and people took selfies and kissed their medals. So we've made it to Trafalgar Square just around the corner from the Malware. So we've made it to Trafalgar Square just around the corner from the Malware we finished the race 3-23 can't complain at that at all. Minute quicker than last week and we are going to get coffee now. Do join me again for another film I run next time. If you haven't subscribed please go and subscribe to the film I run channel and we'll see you for the next one. Take care everyone. Bye bye.