London Marathoners - 2021

The 2021 London Marathon will be held on Sunday 3rd October in a change to the usual Spring date, due to the Coronavirus pandemic.  
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So far, the following members have confirmed places for 2021:
Gemma Archer, Roxy Babla, Sarah Baggott, Sarah Bishop, Lizi Chambers, Matt Emery, Nicola James, ​Anne Kelsall, Michael Mason, Toby Oury, Adam Smith
​See below for individual runners' stories:
Sarah Bishop is running for Alzheimer's Society.  it will be her first marathon.

Sarah says: "I've been so lucky to get this charity place for Alzheimer’s Society in memory of my Nan who passed away with the crippling illness. As her memories were being taken away she would have good days and talk about her memories.

"It’s been a lifelong dream to run the London marathon and as Nan would say 'go make memories'. Dementia may have taken our Nan but it has made me cherish every day and making new memories is a blessing."

You can support Sarah through her Just Giving page.
Anne Kelsall deferred her 2020 Good For Age place to 2021 with a qualifying time (just!) in the 2020 Virtual race, where she ran a local route taking in a few loops of the Arboretum.  After many years of fundraising she plans to run London this time in a club vest, for fun!

Anne doesn't accept all the blame for London 2020 being cancelled but it would have been her 13th Marathon.  She plans to run at least one more before London 2021!
Emma Preston will be running London 2021 for the charity Phab Kids.  

Emma was lucky to gain a ballot place for 2019 and she says ."... it’s honestly the only race I’ve smiled from beginning to end. So because I enjoyed it soooo much I emailed Phabkids for London 2020 and they said YES they would have me, but 2020 wasn’t to be so we went virtual. 2021 will be the year I will complete my 3rd marathon. I have chosen Phab because I look after children in my before and after school club, some who have special needs and some that have a very difficult past. Phab promotes the coming together on equal terms of disabled and non-disabled people to make more of life together - through exciting and challenging holiday projects for disabled and disadvantaged children and young people and 170 local Phab Clubs across England and Wales with 8,000 members. I’m hoping to raise £2000 for this amazing charity,  
"The more people that know about Phab, the greater the impact will be in helping more young disabled and disadvantaged children become independent and the money you give will quite literally open up a world of opportunity for these children and young people. Please spread the word by sharing my page with your friends and family. Thankyou in advance for your support and generosity, it means a great deal!"

You can support Emma through her Just Giving page.
Gemma Archer will be running the Marathon in London after completing the distance for the first time in the 2020 virtual version. 

​She says: "I’m hoping to finally get to run in London in October 2021. I successfully gained a ballot place to run in 2019, however gave birth to my 4th child 17 days before the race so deferred my place.

​I took part in the virtual London Marathon in October 2020 and had an amazing experience, so London is going to have to be something pretty special to top it."
Nicola James is also running for Phab Kids after running for them in both 2019 and in the October 2020 virtual version.

Nicola says: "My virtual was disappointing as I didn't train properly so after 11.5 miles on the day I walked the rest but still managed to do 26.2 miles. I am 50 the day before the Virgin London Marathon 2021 so this one will be really special. I would love to raise them some more funds as they, as well as all the other charities, have really struggled with Covid causing carnage."

You can support Nic through her Virgin Money Giving page.
Matt Emery gained a 2020 place to run for Acacia Family Support in Sutton Coldfield.  He has deferred that place to run in 2021.
Lizi Chambers gained one of the club places for 2020 and has successfully deferred to 2021.  She has chosen to join Matt in fundraising for Acacia Family Support.

Lizi says: "Small charities are suffering due to funding cuts and restrictions in place due to Covid and Acacia are no exception. They are a fabulous charity who support local families through pre and postnatal depression and anxiety. Please don’t feel any pressure to donate, but it would be great if we could help them through this time.
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On a personal note, I hate distance running. I’ve done London in the past, but in a (boob) costume or undertrained and just not achieved the times I know I can. So here I go, one final attempt at a marathon and I’m going to give it my best go. I have a goal time, but it’s ridiculous so I’m not even going to mention it."

You can support Lizi through her Just Giving page.
Roxy Babla completed her first London Marathon in 2016 and will now attempt her fourth one in October 2021, joining Nicola and Emma in the Phab Kids team.  Since doing her first Marathon she truly has the bug now for running Marathons!

​Roxy says: "I feel so fortunate to get my first place for the London Marathon through the ballot which truly is very lucky.  This year I am running for a children's charity Phab Kids. Being a teacher I am very passionate to support this charity.

​"I completed the Virtual London Marathon in 2020, which was truly a challenge but a great experience.  This year I look forward to running the London Marathon in the streets of London with fantastic route, seeing the landmarks and soaking up the great atmosphere with the spectators".

You can support Roxy through her fundraising page.
Michael Mason was the lucky club member who gained a ballot place for 2021.  He had already deferred his 2020 charity place until 2022.
Matthew Emery will be running for local charity Acacia Family Support, for whom he ran the 2020 virtual as his first marathon. 

Matthew says: "I'm married with a five year old daughter. Following a traumatic birth, my wife was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. And some years ago, a close friend was affected by postnatal depression, and Acacia were instrumental in supporting the family. These experiences made me more aware of the struggles new parents can face. I am honoured to be able to run the London Marathon for Acacia and hope to raise a ton of money for them, but also to raise awareness of the services they can provide to families affected by PND."

You can support Matthew through his fundraisingpage. 
Adam Smith and Toby Oury both gained Good For Age places from a stunning performance at the Dorney Lakes Marathon in October 2020 - one of the few events that actually took place.  They completed the course together in a time of 02:48:34, well within the qualifying limit of 3 hours.  This was Adam's first marathon and a significant PB for Toby.

We look forward to seeing what they can achieve in London.