World Marathon Majors - Boston 2018

By Craig Winter April 9, 2018

With another Marathon Major fast approaching, we caught up with the Running Guru to find out how he's feeling as the start line approaches!

Which World Major are you running in?

Boston Marathon

What made you want to run this specific event?

When I found out about the race, being the oldest marathon race in the world and one that only the top time qualifiers of each age category in the world get accepted, I so wanted to do this as part of a challenge to myself.

How easy did you find it getting a space?

It took a lot of blood sweat and tears, with some hard training following my first marathon in Brighton 2016 to improve my time to get a time that would qualify for the race. Thankfully, when I completed my second marathon in Frankfurt in 2016, my time was within the qualifying time and was so excited to get the email notifying me i had qualified!

Whilst i have qualified and don't need to raise any money to pay for the place, i have decided to run for Hibbs Lupus trust to raise awareness for Lupus and all the great work that the trust do to help people living with Lupus.

You can read more about the great work that the trust do and what Lupus is here: https://www.hibbslupustrust.org

How has your training gone so far? When did you start?
I started my training back in December 2017 and it has not gone at all to plan with a series of injuries and having to deal with many race cancellations due to the severe weather we have had in UK. This has meant I have had no race pace practice. The key for me was being flexible and patient and having to do many treadmill runs, with the longest treadmill run being 3 hours!

What are your expectations for the race? How are you feeling in the build up to it?
Right now I feel very anxious and nervous as the latest injury meant it was looking very doubtful i would get to the start. I always look at the positives, but the latest injury has really challenged that, meaning that I am going into the race with no expectations other than wanting to finish.

Have you thought about your race kit yet?
As i will be flying out to Boston, I will probably pack all the kit I have to ensure it will take into account whatever the weather. Making sure i don't wear too much kit if it's warm is essential, in the same way I may need to start with race sleeves and long shorts if the weather is cold as it can sometimes be.

Whatever the weather, I will always have some gels packed and my camera to film the race VLOG as I have always done for my YouTube channel here: YouTube - Running Guru

How do you think you’ll feel once you complete it? Any celebrations planned for afterwards?

I think when I finish Boston I will explode with JOY! It has been a long journey from when i had a time qualifier from Frankfurt 2016 to now, so I will savour every moment and probably do one of my dances and sing a lot and kiss everyone at the finish line.

As i have a place to run London Marathon 6 days later, the celebrations will be mainly lots of good food and to catch up with many people I have been wanting to meet and also catch up with old friends.

Who knows, i may have a go at beating my 10k PB dressed as a shoe for Cancer Research UK!

Here's the Guru's Vlog from the Frankfurt Marathon back in 2016 to give you a taste of what we might expect on his Boston journey!

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We'll be keeping an eye out for the Running Guru on Monday 16th April when the race takes place!

You can follow the Guru's progress in the build up and around day of the race on any of the social media accounts below:

Twitter: @RunGuruRun
Instagram: @rungururun
Youtube: Running Guru

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World Marathon Majors 2018

Tokyo 2018

If you missed us catching up with Mike who took on the Tokyo marathon earlier this year, then you can catch up here - World Marathon Majors - Tokyo 2018

London 2018