London Marathon ever-present Terry Macey won’t compete in Sunday’s event

BY ANDREW MCSTEEN

The London Marathon return to the streets of South London this Sunday following its closed-loop elite runners only circuit around St James’s Park last year due to Covid-19. But for Blackheath-based runner Terry Macey, one of the select band of ‘ever-presents’ – someone who has run every single edition – 2021 is the end of the road.

For the first time in 889 days, around 40,000 participants will tackle the 41st edition of the event around the traditional course from Greenwich to Westminster.  The race, which was first held on 29 March 1981, will be started by Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games BMX silver medallist and ‘Prince of Peckham’, Kye Whyte.

“I was training in the woods near Shooters Hill in early March and tore my knee cartilage,” said Macey to the South London Press. “I had surgery on it in June and been trying to train ever since, but it’s still painful.

“I’ve basically worn out the cartilage through running. I’ve been doing marathons for 40 years. To train for each one I do three half marathons, 20-milers. I run a lot of miles.”

“Other years, after surgery, I just took a lot of Nurofen and run around, but I don’t fancy doing that this time,” said Macey about the injury which has been operated on twice previously. “I kept trying since the surgery but there’s not much between the two bones, so I don’t feel I’m doing myself good at this stage.

“I couldn’t run around the streets in the normal marathon, as I would be swept up by the lorries, but I initially thought I’ll have a go at the virtual one and just run around the lovely parks in South London. I hung on to that hope for a bit, but I’ve had to abandon it – it’s the right time.”

Earlier this week, Macey messaged the group of other ever-presents to announce he was pulling out but is looking to go out with a bang and some fond memories.

“My favourite memories were running two marathons with my daughter, but I’m absolutely delighted to have taken part in so many, it’s been absolutely brilliant,” said Macey, who lives near the start line.

“This year, as usual, we will have the marshals around the house before, for breakfast, but then I will watch it on television and have an ‘End of Era’ party with the marshals, after they have finished, my mates and family, it’s going to be brilliant.

“When the London Marathon started the ever-presents group – and I would like to thank them for giving us a guaranteed place every year – there were around 40 members. Another runner signed out this week too, again with knees, so now there’s around eight. Four are older than me, so being in the top five isn’t so bad.”

While Macey is not running this year, Bexleyheath’s 86-year-old Eileen Noble is, and will be the oldest female out on the course on Sunday. For the past two years, she has been the oldest overall runner. Eileen is going for the female 85-89 year old world championship title as part of the ‘Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group World Championships’ which are incorporated into the London Marathon this year.

Several measures will be in place on Sunday due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Every single participant must show a negative lateral flow test to take part with all runners encouraged to wear a bottle belt to reduce touchpoints and asked to invite just one person to watch.

South London charities benefitting

A large part of the London Marathon involves personal fundraising, with the South London Press featuring just a few of the stories of those involved, but the organisers of the event have their own charity – the London Marathon Charitable Trust – with several South London organisations benefitting from a share of a £400,000 fund this year.

These included the Bankside Open Spaces Trust (Southwark), Black Prince Trust (Lambeth), Restorative Justice for All (Southwark), Bede House Association (Southwark), Meridian Sports & Social Club (Greenwich) and Coin Street Centre Trust (Southwark).

London Marathon Events, who are based in SE1, also confirmed that 2022 London Marathon will take place on Sunday October 2 2022, the third successive year it will be held in October rather than its traditional April date.

In addition, the company also announced that ‘The Big Half’ will take place on Sunday September 4, 2022. First held in 2018, it is predominantly South London based, taking place in Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark and Tower Hamlets, ending at the iconic Cutty Sark.

The Big Half 2022 is run over the half marathon distance (13.1 miles) with several other events also featuring in recent years, including the ‘Big Relay’ (teams of four running the course), the ‘Little Half’ (2.3 miles starting in Surrey Quays and finishing at Cutty Sark) and the ‘Big Mile’ (starting on Haddo Street in Greenwich and ending at the Cutty Sark).

Entries are not yet open, but participants can register their interest on www.thebighalf.co.uk.