King’s Lynn runner closing in on completing all six major world marathons
A Lynn runner is closing in on completing an extraordinary quest to run all six major world marathons.
David Blackmore, who hosted the Lynn News' Mayor's Business Awards from 2015 to 2023, ran major marathons in Tokyo, Boston and London earlier this year, which was followed more recently by marathons in Berlin and Chicago.
This means he just has the New York marathon to complete to realise his goal of crossing the finish line of the six biggest major marathons in 2024. He'll take to the streets of New York on November 3.
The 38-year-old achieved a personal best course time at Tokyo, crossing the finish line in 3:42 before clocking 3:52 in challenging conditions in Boston, 3:43 in London - which was just six days after Boston, 3:43 in Berlin and 3:42 in Chicago, the latter being just nine seconds slower than Tokyo's effort.
Runners who complete all six major marathons are given a Six Star Medal, which was introduced by the Abbott World Marathon Majors in 2016, and included in Abbott's Hall of Fame.
While 1,500 UK runners - 17,500 globally - have been awarded the Six Star Medal, only a handful have completed all six in a year. Globally, the average time it has taken runners to complete the six star journey is eight and a half years, with the average age being 50 years and seven months.
The TV journalist has now completed 10 marathons since April 2022 after running in Brighton, Vienna, Atlanta and Edinburgh in recent years.
But David's marathon running journey didn't get off to the best start after he collapsed with heat stroke just before the 25-mile marker of the London Marathon in October 2021 - his first attempted marathon - and had to be retrieved from the course and treated by volunteers from St John Ambulance.
As for David's advice to other runners who have experienced setbacks with marathons, whether they didn’t finish (DNF) or got injured in training, he said: "Take time to heal, physically and mentally, and get ready to attack the next one.
"What really helped me after my DNF was to do something that distracted me from dwelling on negative thoughts in the days immediately after. Also, while my first instinct was to hide the DNF from everyone, it showed how supportive the running community is. Strangers from countries all over the world reached out to see if I was OK, and I reached out to others for advice on how to deal with the DNF.
"I was feeling vulnerable but they immediately built me back up and gave me the words of running wisdom that I needed to hear. They made me see that failing is not a bad word. It gives us an opportunity to get stronger, get more focused and a chance to be humbled.
"As for injuries during training, I know it is incredibly frustrating when we can't do what we want to do but it's our bodies telling us things that we really should listen to."
As well as his marathon running, David has crossed finish lines at several big half marathons, including the London Landmarks, Big Half, Great North Run, Cambridge Half and Atlanta Thanksgiving half.
"I love running because it’s simple. Put on shoes and go," David continued.
"Running is a great way to test my personal limits and I enjoy finding ways to challenge myself.
"And who doesn't like how running makes us free? Running on a single track without a care in the world. It doesn't matter what pace you're running, it's just you, a pair of running shoes and nature.
"For me, running is a form of moving meditation. It's my time to really get away from it all and be with my thoughts. Running is physically exhausting but mentally and emotionally recharging. There's nothing else quite like it, it's my sanity."
David has previously completed the 435-mile Lap of Anglia in August 2022 and also switched from running to cycling to take part in this year's 100-mile Ride London.
He's also previously completed a 2,280-mile virtual challenge to run the length of the USA's famous Route 66. It took David 363 days in 2022 to cover the distance from Chicago on the east coast to Santa Monica in California along the west coast.
The Route 66 challenge came after David completed a similar challenge in 2021 to run the equivalent distance of Land's End to John O'Groats which ended when he crossed the finish line of the Grand East Anglia Run in Lynn in August 2021.
Since David started documenting his running journey in October 2021, he has clocked up tens of millions of views on Instagram and TikTok. You can follow David by searching for @DavidBlackm0re on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.
