West Norfolk man to run his sixth major world marathon in a year
He's taking on the New York marathon on November the 3rd
Last updated 27th Oct 2024
A man from West Norfolk who will be running his sixth world major marathon in a year next week is urging wannabe marathon runners to start off by going for a jog everyday.
David Blackmore ticked off Tokyo, Boston and London earlier this year and also completed marathons in Berlin and Chicago, more recently. With just New York left to go on November the 3rd.
"It's not been as straight forward as I thought it might be"
He says there's been a lot of ups and downs:
"Looking back on it- there's been a lot of planning involved and a lot of logistics to deal with. It's not been as straight forward as I thought it might be, with there being a lot of juggling with my work-life balance and my ability to get out and do the running.
"I'm going to shifting my focus more towards cycling and swimming events now, as I build up towards doing a triathlon. Would I ever consider doing an 'Ironman' event? I'm not sure".
David's journey, in more detail:
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.
17,500 runners have been awarded this, but 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 taking part in marathons in Brighton, Vienna, Atlanta, and Edinburgh in recent years.
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 King’s Lynn in August 2021.