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Blog: “I’m looking forward to feeling the achievement when I finish"

The Virgin Money London Marathon 2018 takes place on Sunday 22 April, and this year the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) will have 27 runners taking on the 26 mile and 385 yard course. This year’s team are once again a variety of experienced and novice marathon runners. Among the line-up is 39 year old Managing Director David Snodgrass who will be running his very first marathon.

David running.

I’ve only been running for 16 months but I can proudly say I’m looking forward to running my first marathon this Sunday.

My decision to run in support of EFDS came about quite easily. My colleague’s wife works for the national charity and he knew I wanted to run the London Marathon for a charity. So, once I looked into the work EFDS does, it was an easy decision to make.

My motivation to take on the London Marathon is purely because it’s a personal challenge for me. What I’m looking forward to the most is the feeling of achievement when I finish.

I have been training for this Sunday with a personal trainer and also by myself. I feel my training has gone really well and my distance runs are up to 18.5 miles in just under 3 hours and 15 minutes. I’ve also been doing two personal training sessions a week, plus one shorter run a week. So, I’m hopeful I can manage to finish in under 4 hours and 30 minutes - if everything goes well! However, sub 5 hours may be more realistic.

I’ve got a big support network coming to cheer me on, my wife, daughter, sisters, mother and a few friends will be there on the day.

Training for the London Marathon has been really beneficial for me - it’s greatly improved my fitness and it’s also helped me to lose quite a bit of weight too.

Make a donation on David’s JustGiving page.

The London Marathon will be shown on BBC 1 on Sunday 22 April from 8:30am. Follow the event on social media via the hashtags #LondonMarathon and #SpiritOfLondon.

We would like to wish all 27 runners the best for the London Marathon and thank you for raising funds for EFDS. Share your messages of support on Twitter, tag @Eng_Dis_Sport in your tweets.  

If you’re looking to be more active but aren't sure how to start, visit our dedicated webpages for advice.