A South Essex MP was one of around half a dozen Parliamentarians who volunteered to hand out medals to runners at the 2026 London Marathon.
It was a very exciting event, not least as Sebastian Sawe, a 30-year-old Kenyan, became the first human ever to run a sub two-hour marathon (1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds) in an officially recorded competitive race.
In total, there were something like an incredible 59,000 runners, almost all of whom were raising sponsorship for one charity or another: everything from MacMillan Cancer and MIND, through to Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion. One lady even ran especially in support of Ukraine.
Commenting on the experience, Mark said:
“I once did a sponsored ‘forced march’ over 22 miles, for Great Ormand Street Hospital, back when I was a young TA officer in in the 1980s - but I have never actually run a marathon. So, I take my hat off to all those who ran over 26 miles on Sunday and who, between them, raised literally millions of pounds for multiple good causes. It was a privilege to witness it.”
