WHILE most will be enjoying their morning lie-in this Sunday, dedicated runners across the town will be taking part in the virtual London Marathon.

Phil Jefferies, from Haydon Wick, will completing the famous race – cancelled for all but elite runners – around his home patch to raise money for Asthma UK.

He said: “Obviously I’m very disappointed not to be able to run the actual London Marathon. It is one of the biggest marathons in the world and it’s really difficult to get into race it, so when you get the chance to do it, it is the highlight of your year.

“But it will be good to do it in Swindon. Obviously we have the Swindon Half Marathon which is always a good experience, but to have the chance to say I’ve done a marathon around my home town will certainly be something special.”

The event, which is in its 40th year, normally sees more than 40,000 people run 26.2 miles through the streets of London and was due to take place on April 26.

But it was postponed until October 4 amid the coronavirus outbreak, with only professional runners now able to take part in a bio-secure bubble in London.

Phil, a seasoned runner who has completed ten marathons, was scheduled to be an official pacer for the race, completing it in five hours 15 minutes.

“This is the first virtual marathon I’ve done so it’s going to be interesting,” Phil said.

“I’m looking forward to it. The weather doesn’t look as if it’s going to be good but the rain should keep me nice and cool as I go round. Obviously you won’t have the thousands of people on the sides cheering you on and the atmosphere of running through the streets of London, but it’s still going to be a good experience.”

And if you see a big banana running the streets, it's likely to be Martin Gillespie completing the distance in his usual running costume with partner Michelle Martin from Blunsdon. The couple will be fundraising for domestic abuse charity Hometruths.

Michelle said: “We didn’t get into the ballot this year for the actual race and with the current crisis when places became virtual we decided we would do it to be part of the 40th anniversary and also to fundraise for a local Swindon charity.”

Michelle and Martin have run the London Marathon for the last two years.

“We’ve never done a virtual marathon before,” said Michelle. “Running the distance on an unmarked route is going to be difficult both physical and mentally.

“The banana suit is something Martin has worn for many runs. It’s just the outfit he wears.”

Starting at 10am Phil will run more than eight laps of his 5k training route around Haydon wick aiming to stick to his official pacing time.

He said: “The hardest part will be the fact you’re doing it on your own. When I do the pacing, as well as all the other runners, you get people who stick closely with you because they want to match your pace time and get their target.

“So during the run you’d normally get the groups around you and there’s the camaraderie and the chit-chat as you’re going around and the fun and the games and the laughter, even though you’re running a marathon.”

Phil ran his first marathon in 2015 to raise money for Asthma UK.

“In these times a lot of charities are struggling raising funds,” said Phil. “Because so many of the events which people would do normally have been cancelled. So a lot of charities are finding in tough to bring in the funds they need.

“Obviously asthma affects people’s respiratory system and with Covid-19 people with asthma are particularly affected and in the at-risk category. The charity does a lot of fantastic work to support people with asthma and I just thought if I could do something to help I would,” Phil said.

Michelle added: “We wanted to chose a local charity and obviously there are many. But because of the pandemic domestic violence has increased a lot. We wanted to raise awareness as well as funds so they can continue their vital work.”

Participants in the virtual run will have official race numbers to pin on their shirts receive

“If anybody sees me out and about, a nice cheer or offer of a jelly baby will be much appreciated!” Phil said.

To donate to the causes visit:

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=PhilJefferies&pageUrl=2

https://localgiving.org/fundraising/michellemartin/?fbclid=IwAR2LaQhxQNHC9uE-TdCFIZymrWRySqa1dS2J5YGWZosUNZnrXwvm4U99IoQ

https://localgiving.org/fundraising/Bananaman2020/?fbclid=IwAR3anZBF1KPiOvuhmGCGjZVOutk63hdcV9byWO2wTO2CWQO28ajIn1JxD_w