Des, giving an account of his amazing experience, said “The weather on race-day was tricky as the passing of Storm Hannah over Saturday and Sunday meant the race was run in cold, windy and showery conditions. I started in good spirits after completing a good 18 week training / racing schedule that started on Christmas Eve 2018. This included being selected to run for England in the Birmingham 10km on 26th May.
I got to the 1/2 way point (13.1 miles) just about on schedule to hit my target finishing time of 3 hours 30 minutes. Unfortunately I hit “the wall” at 16 miles and slowed dramatically over the final 10 miles to finish in 4 hours 13 minutes 8 seconds.
Overall it was a very tough day but I was pleased to have completed another Marathon, my 18th London Marathon and 42nd Marathon overall, raising over £500 for Exmouth RNLI.”
Exmouth RNLI Coxswain, Steve Hockings-Thompson, said ‘For anyone to finish a Marathon is an incredible achievement, but to complete 42 Marathons is truly fantastic. All of us at Exmouth Lifeboat Station are proud and amazed at Des’s success and very grateful for his fundraising effort.’