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Eighteenth birthday runners will make
Virgin Money London Marathon history
05/04/2018
A trio of teenagers will celebrate their 18th birthdays by running the 2018
Virgin Money London Marathon - writing themselves into the illustrious
history of the event in the process.
Isabelle Ellis, Gabrielle Pearce (pictured) and Tom Roberts will become the
first Millennials - someone born in the year 2000 or after - to take part
in the London Marathon.
The trio are all looking forward to marking their own personal landmark and
a historic one for the race on Sunday 22 April.
For Isabelle Ellis, from Wimbledon, taking on the full 26.2 miles will be
something of a graduation for her, as well as an 18th birthday celebration.
Ellis has run the last six Virgin Money Giving Mini London Marathons but
this year she is too old to run the shorter race that takes place for
under-17 athletes and below on the final three miles of the full marathon
course.
"It was my final year eligible for the Mini Marathon last year and I
enjoyed the event so much I thought I'm going to have to do the full
marathon instead," said Ellis, who is an A-Level student at Wimbledon High
School.
"The London Marathon always takes place around my birthday and when I saw
this year's date actually falls on the 22nd then it worked out even
better."
Though she is a talented athlete who has run track and cross-country for
her club Hercules Wimbledon, Ellis admits stepping up the distances in
training has been a bit of a shock.
"It has been really weird," she said. "I've had to get used to running for
so long on my own which has been a big challenge. I'm aiming for 3 hours
and 30 minutes but I've had a bit of an injury in training so I'll be happy
with anything under four hours."
Ellis is running to raise money for Alzheimer's UK which is a charity that
holds a place close to her heart.
Her grandmother Sue, or ‘Granny Bubble' as she is known, has been suffering
with Alzheimer's for a number of years.
Ellis said: "She has had it for most of my childhood but it got worse a few
years ago and she had to go into a home and that's why I'm running for
Alzheimer's UK."
Tom Roberts, from Edenbridge in Kent, wanted to do something a bit more
memorable than going to the pub for his first legal drink on his 18th
birthday and saw the Virgin Money London Marathon as something that fitted
the bill.
He said: "I wanted to do something that I could tell my grandchildren about
one day, that on my 18th birthday I ran the London Marathon!
"There is also a certain element of competition with my father. He did it
in 1999 - the year before I was born. He ran 3 hours and 22 minutes then
and it is my aim is to beat that."
Roberts' ambition to beat the time of his dad, Andy, has seen him go to
great lengths.
"This has been on my mind for the past year," he explained. "I've had to
change my physique for the marathon. Four months ago I was playing rugby at
school to quite a high level but rather than putting on muscle I have had
to think more about cardio fitness.
"I play blindside flanker so I've lost about half a stone in training for
the marathon."
Roberts, who is running for the charity Whizz-Kidz, says he is putting off
his proper 18th birthday celebrations for a week as he doesn't expect to
have too much energy left after 26.2 miles.
"I expect I will be going straight back to bed absolutely exhausted as soon
as I get home," Roberts said. "I'm sure after the marathon I'll be going
out for a drink with my friends though."
Gabrielle Pearce, from Chelmsford, Essex, has also taken inspiration from
her father.
The Great Baddow High School student, who like her fellow 18th birthday
companions has also been a talented junior athlete, was inspired to run the
marathon by her dad.
"My dad has been quite an inspiration to me. He has always run marathons. I
remember him running a marathon on my 12th birthday and thinking it would
be great to do it myself on my 18th," she said.
"I have been training with my dad. We ran a half marathon together and we
have got up to 17 miles so it's so far, so good. My dad is not running
himself this year but he is helping me and will be watching on the day.
"It will be a bit of a role-reversal as in the past it has been me watching
him. I can remember standing there on the road-side and thinking ‘I want to
do this'. The atmosphere is just amazing."
Pearce, who is running for the charity Sense, admits that her friends think
she is a bit crazy for choosing to celebrate her 18th birthday in such an
exhausting manner.
"I keep being asked ‘why do you want to put yourself through that?' But
it's something different, to run the London Marathon on the day of my 18th
birthday is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"In the evening of the marathon, once I'm finished, I'm hoping to go out
for a meal with close family and friends. There are actually 26 people
coming, which was really not planned! Then hopefully the weekend after I
can go out with my friends."
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