The TCS London Marathon is one of the most sought-after race entries for runners all over the globe. Almost 600,000 people entered the ballot in 2024 to bag one of around 50,000 spots (including charity places).
This year, Tom, Mike and Nick all headed to the start line to take on the 26.2 miles and test some of the latest running kit.
Check out the monthly podcast for the latest kit news and updates:
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
00:00 – Intro
00:53 – Before the Race
05:02 – Nick’s Race
11:40 – Mike’s Race
17:47 – Tom’s Race
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Hey Tommy from On The Run testers in This video myself Nick and Mike are all Going to be talking about our experience Of the London Marathon 2024 uh an interesting uh day for the Event cuz uh one of us got a very Impressive PB and you can probably guess Who that is well let's dive in and see What we all thought of the race [Music] [Music] Hello from grenage Park South London Here for the start of the London Marathon it is a lovely day at the Moment very sunny bit of a breef going On I'm tucked in behind the port to try And avoid that ruining the video too Much hoping actually the clouds are Going to roll in and block that sun for The race itself the temperatur is pretty Good the wind is hopefully in a good Direction I think it should be Northerly Or northeasterly which should be fine For the race so conditions look good Feel in good shape didn't have a very Good night last night kill one of the Kids ofil but other than that I've slept Pretty well this week so I should be Okay hoping to go out and run 330k through to around a 30k mark and Then in a dream world I'd maybe push on A bit from there but I maybe I just be Holding on maybe I'll be falling off who Knows but it's going to be fun day
Really looking forward to getting out Doing London Marathon nice and hard Again after a couple of years of not Running it as hard as my allout race I'm Using the atic at speed Sky Paris today Talked about a lot lately it's my Favorite carbon shoe this is the first Marathon test like proper Marathon test I've done in it obviously so I'm going To go and put it to the test over the Full distance see how it feels hopefully Get me a PB other main gear test is the G epics Pro versus the Apple watch Ultra 2 see how those do on GPS around Canary Warf but I'm using a watch that much Apart from just trying to keep myself in Line in the first half of the race and It's easy to get carried away in London With big crowds and downhills but yeah All in all very excited for the race Looking forward to it I'm here really Really early the the club coach always Drops us off incredibly early so just Going to try and uh stay warm and you Know in good shape ahead of the start in A couple of hours or so and yeah hope Everyone who is watching this had a very Good race and I'll see you afterwards to See how mine went so it is the day Before lond Marathon I'm going to Quickly take you through the kit that I'll be testing and I'll start with Shoes and it will be this shoe that I'll Be racing in this is the new BS SE Elite
V4 it's the London Edition that new BS Has launched for the race I haven't run In an SE Elite or raced in an SE Elite Shoe before hav racing a New Balance Shoe so it would definitely be a new Experience for me in terms of other kind Of marathon Super Shoes I've tested has It been the standout one for me possibly Not but I do think in terms of what I'm Hoping how I hoping I'm going to perform Out there and maybe giving something That's going to be more accommodating if I have to ease off I feel like maybe This going to be is shoe that's going to Help me do that but also give me that Faster feeling as well now in terms of Other things watch wise I'm testing or Will have on the gamr 965 and the polar Vantage V3 which I've been long-term Testing using during training and I Really want to see how it's going to Kind of help me gauge my performance Look at things at heart rate GPS and Whether that's all going to be nicely Align in a potentially kind of very Tricky course when a GPS kind of wreak Havoc particularly around London other Things I'll have on headphones wise I've Had a last minute change I was going to Use the synto Sonic headphones which I Have been using really enjoying using And really having you know opting for Open air headphones to kind of soak up On of the atmosphere I have just
Received the kind of Bose Ultra open Airbuds which are a little bit smaller a Little bit more discreet in terms of That form factor and offer a similar Experience I just think the idea of Having something slightly smaller is Kind of edged it for me in terms of Using those so that'll be my first kind Of run um kind of race test with those As well other things I'm going to be Having is I'll have a heart rate monitor Chest strap obviously to gauge the heart Rate monitoring performance of the two Watches I'll have clipped onto that a Core uh temperature censor so be Collecting the data from the race to see If there's any kind of interesting Insights from that uh I'll also be Clipping on a device called a flow bio Which is a hydration tracker and again It will be about seeing what the you Know the story of the of my hydration And what's happened during a marathon Really kind of seeing what that can tell Me from that point of view I am in uh London today I'm about to the London Marathon I'm in the Blue Wave uh I it's Six days after Boston which I didn't do Very well at so I am going to take it Easy today uh just get to the end Probably get something like 3 40 to four Hours just enjoy it um and hopefully see The other guys at the finish I am going To be using the sing charm 22s today
Because it's a good shoe uh to test when I'm running at this pace uh I'm not too Worried about running fast design Comfort so I'm going to figure give them That go today and seeing how it fars Over the marath distance right I'm going To go to my wave start pen now and I'll Catch you guys [Music] Later so 22734 that's just it couldn't have G Better I'm just delighted um Just I'm just so pleased I'm so pleased How that went just just beautiful Beautiful race and I'm go follow my Family And I'm so Pleased so it the morning after the London Marathon which obviously went Very well yesterday I got my PB I had a Fantastic race I paced it really well Kept moving through the gears throughout The entire race nice and controlled in The first half actually trying to tune Out the crowd quite a lot and just very Focused cuz can be quite overwhelming I Tend to get a bit too probably Overwhelmed by London cuz I enjoy it so Much second half you know that happened Still like just after tower bridge and Running through to Canary Warf is almost The best bit of the race I find for me My club is there pretty much crazy when I see them it's a good time to slight
Downhill to start I started to speed up A little bit to try and run a negative Split and everything was really flowing Well hit Canary War feeling really good Just want kind of get through Canary WF Hit about 35k feeling as I did then Latched on to then running with a guy From dich at James it was amazing Running with him he really helped me out And um felt really good right through The 35k I felt really in control 36k had My first kind of proper wobble and Started to feel a bit Oh no just kept Trying to turn the feet over Pace was Still okay then I felt better at 38k Then at 39 back into full-on Grind Mode It got some funny photos of me just Stooped over just trying to get through To the end but at that point I knew I Could run pretty poorly and still get a PB and I still actually managed to Maintain my Pace quite well and running Up horse guards I was just looking for My family that distracted me kind Prett Much the whole length of that uh last Stretch which is quite long all in all Just I couldn't really have asked for a Better race like I've obviously run Subs 230 before in other places but it just Means a lot more to me to run it at London it's my home race you know it's My favorite race I've done it seven Times now it's I've always found it Quite a hard race to run really well but
Really did kind of nail it yesterday Training was you know fantastic for I Had like the highest mileage block I've Ever done the hardest I've ever worked For it it was all going really smoothly Right up to the Easter holidays and Obviously the kids are off school things Get a bit trickier there had to do a 10times 1 mile track session at 7:00 A.m. which was tricky but got through it All everything went really well in Training and then delivered on the day So yeah perfect let's move on to gear Then aex M Speed Sky Paris I said a lot About the shoe and I've got nothing but Praise for it after the London Marathon As well it's just a great shoe it's just Like I say it's got that perfect balance Of lightness and kind of Bounce and Propulsion so throughout the first 30k Of the race running control running Within Myself just bouncing along really Felt protected and comfortable in the Shoe very easy just to move through Those those KS you know ticking them off Quite quickly and feeling very Comfortable and then at the end when You're really tiring tie turnover from The light shoe just keeps giving you That extra punch when you really are Tired and my pacing just didn't really Slow down too much at the end of the Race like I thought I was slowing down a Lot but I was still turning over my legs
And you do get a nice amount of Bounce From these shoes like I've said in other Videos it feels easy to engage the plate When you're not running that well Anymore and you're I think it's probably The bit of a difference to the metas Speed Sky Plus where when I started to Fall off it I don't think I was putting Enough force in I wasn't necessarily Getting a load of bounce back but with The softer foam here it feels easy just To get plate going and just keep Bouncing along even when you know you Are tired and I'm really shuffling so Yeah love the shoes even more after that Race also say they're holding up really Well even at the heels you I've done 170k in these shoes as a heel Striker And haven't ripped them too much yet so That's a good sign nutrition when very Good it's my normal nutrition plan with Morton products I basically had Something every 5K for the first 30k of The race I had two of the Morton 100 Caffeine gels one at 5K and one at 25k Just just give me those little burst of Caffeine energy throughout the race then I had half a 250 M soft flask at the Other points up to 30k so 10 15 20 and Then 30 that left me with one full soft Flk for the final 12K and sometimes in The past i' not always been good about Pushing my nutrition right through to The end of the race but I did this time
I had half that soft flask at 34k half At 38 I think that really helped just to Make sure I was fueled right the way to The end I felt very good stomach was Perfect for out used this drink system a Lot you know it's strange to carry so Much fluid with you and I'd love to get Bottle service one day and have those Drinks available just to pick up but Yeah it worked really well for me got Really nicely fueled perfect throughout And I like the caffeine burst actually I Think I had a bit more caffeine in the Race this time I have before I think I'll probably use the drink mix 320 with Caffeine at my next marathon just to see If that will make a difference kind of Mentally and how I feel in the race by Having a bit more caffeine during it as Well and then on the watches I had the Apple watch Ultra 2 and the Garmin epics Pro uh on my wrist the Apple watch I had In Pacer mode which basically I set the Target time at just 22759 and it kind of gives you a time Ahead or behind throughout the race you Know had it ups and downs in terms of The automatic laps but most of the time They were pretty close to the K markers The overall is very good I'm not sure if That's been corrected slightly because Of the distance I set but it's Fantastically accurate overall and Basically that just gave me that 30 yard
Seconds ahead you know of Target time as I was coming into the final here I can See that wasn't really dropping I wasn't Losing time and that felt really good And it was really impressible around on The pacing accuracy of the Apple watch The gar epic Pro I was manually Splitting every 2K and kind of using it To Pace those 2K segments for the most Part it was running a bit quicker you Know the overall distance is a bit more Because of weaving around and the Nightmare around Canary Warf but overall Pretty accurate again I'd say from the Garment and it was able to Pace you know Especially in the first half of the race Using it which is the important thing That's what the watch is useful for is To make sure you actually are pacing Well in that first half of the race was Running quite consistently around kind Of 7 Minutes P those 2ks sped up a Little bit in the second half and then Kind of just held on at the end looking At the GPS Trace I'd say around Canary Wolf the Apple watch was a bit better Than the gmen they both had a bit of Trouble you know obviously skewing Around those high buildings the Apple Watch did a little bit better there Which is interesting because in high Buildings during the London land marks Half marathon recently the Garmin did a Bit better throughout the rest of the
Race I'd say the Apple had a few more Wobbles than the Garmin in terms of just General pacing and general GPS Trace but I say both of them are pretty good on GPS didn't wear a chest trap yesterday And actually the Garmin heart rate was Spot on throughout I mean it's hard to Know that for sure cuz I wasn't wearing A chest trp but exactly as I would have Expected a nice steady rise and it was Useful to be able to look at my heart Rate in the race and see that hadn't Risen too much in that first 30k which Is very good apple watch's heart rate Was out I me I don't expect heart rate To be amazing of these things I don't Really use heart rate really in Marathons and race days and that kind of Thing but I would still use a chest RP With these as I have done throughout the Longterm testing I've done of them but Actually the Garment heart rate was Pretty good yesterday overall pretty Good day for both watches Yer even in a Hard Marathon like London you have got That stretch around Canary WF where the GPS's going all over the place you Actually still could kind of use the Watches to get a rough idea of pacing And they certainly helped out overall so I was definitely quite impressed with Both of them they both had their various Uses on the day finally want to say a Big thank you to everyone who did shout
Out or mention the Run testers Throughout the day yesterday it was Really nice actually even sometimes Running with people who went oh from the Channel that was really nice as well so Yeah I had a fantastic time it was Really good got a bit emotional when Someone was speaking to me after the Race about the channel was really nice All around so thanks very much and Obviously thanks to everyone who cheered In general big up Ryan harriers who were Amazing on the course and another very Enjoyable London Marathon but this time With my best ever time uh as [Music] Well so it is the day after the London Marathon my legs are definitely feeling A lot of Runa Marathon uh but I was very Happy in general with how things went Yesterday it was my first lond Marathon I got and watched the marathon before And had a sense of what the atmosphere Would be like but nothing really Prepared me for how loud it was at times Being on that course uh and the support Throughout the route which you know is Something I've not really experienced at That level of experienced in the Marathons that I've done so that was Definitely something very special now in Terms of the route itself and the race It's an interesting one for me because I'm from London I've done a lot of races
And the routs that you know the London Marathon takes in so not narratively new For me but I think if you are you've Never kind of run around London it's a Great way to see a lot of things in One Race so from that point of view I think You know could understand why people Absolutely love it it was a pretty quick Course in general just some hilly Parts In areas but not anything I don't think For most people to kind of massively Been concerned about near the beginning And maybe near the end of the race I the Biggest participants for London Marathon I do feel like that contributed to being Or the race being a little bit congested In places for me i' definitely had to Pass through a few more people and it Might been down to me being the wrong Way because I wasn't sure how quick I Was going to really be going when I kind Of first entered um the race but in General very happy with how things went I had a target of going out and doing 330 I think that was realistic from Where I've been in terms of kind of Recovering from injury and being able to Do the training I've being able to do And the paces I've been able to do ended Up doing 326 few minutes off my PB but Very happy in terms of how the race went First half I went a little bit harder Probably went out quicker than I Anticipated probably gave me a little
Bit extra you know time to kind of work And kind of maybe ease off maybe not EAS Off but maybe be a bit more cautious in The second half of the race mainly Because I didn't you know I've had Issues in the lat stages of races and For the first time in a few marathons it Was absolutely fine and I felt very good Throughout the kind of 26 miles um so Yeah from that point of view felt pretty Good so into testing and I start with The shoes and I was running in the new BS SC Elite V4 now as I've mentioned Before and in our review as well has This been the standout kind of marathon Superp shoe that I've used this year or Tested not necessarily but I think in Terms of what I wanted to do in this Race and how I wanted to do the race I Felt like it was the ideal shoe for me I Think if I had gone for something more Overly aggressive maybe I might have Encountered more issues in the latter Stages of this race but that doesn't Mean this wasn't a shoe that I felt like Could run fasting I think in that first Half of the race I definitely felt like I was rolling through a lot quicker than I actually was um and it felt very Comfortable to do that I think you know The thing that really stood out for me It felt very stable to do that I felt Like ride was very smooth I think I kind Of rolled through very nicely in the
Shoe but I didn't feel it any time I was Out of control in the shoe I think that Was really important for me particularly In this run now when I did kind of ease Off in the second half of the race and That was really kind of dropping it just Below kind of 8 minute mile kind of pace I was really kind of you know first part Sticking to kind of 720 730 which would Get me to where roughly I needed to be And to Manish the shoe felt ideal for me When I did that and I was kind of Cruising maybe a little bit more it felt Fine it felt like the ideal shoe to do That and I think that as I said as I if I had gone for something a little bit More aggressive I feel like maybe I Would have felt that a little bit more In my legs and to be honest my legs felt Pretty good in that shoe I feel like it Is a shoe that is designed that kind of Cruising Marathon distance and I felt Like the paces that I was running at it Felt ideal so a quick run down the other Things that I was testing now I had the G 4 and a 965 and the polar Vantage V3 Which we have tested on the Channel but I'm doing a kind of longer term test on Those and you know what I really wanted To see for this test was how the GPS Performed and ultimately they were both Similar in terms of performance and what I mean by that is that they were a Little bit off from you know kind of
Measuring that kind of 26.2 miles so What I expecting is kind of City Marathon uh they were a little bit off But ultimately were both off roughly About the same in terms of that distance Tracking um in terms of other things so I had the core temperature sensor again That was just about me collecting more Data I'm going to do a longer kind of Term video on that and then I had the Flow bio hydration tracking sensor just Collecting my data once again I'm going To kind of go through that information I've only been able to kind of use it Once so once I get it back in I'm going To do a longer term test and go through What that data really shows you and Whether it is a useful device to have The one I was really interested in was The headphones as I said normally I Would use a pair of headphones like the Airpods Pro 2 the Jabra Elite a active And I would probably have active noise Cancellation but I was in London I Wanted to soak up the atmosphere I Decided to use the Bose Ultra open Earbuds and they the main reason I Picked those is because they were a Little bit more discreet in terms of That form factor and I didn't want to Wear to something too bulky but still Keep my ears free now the issues pretty Much started from the beginning I put Them in left the case in my kind of drop
Bag and uh one of the headphones didn't Appear so ultimately didn't start off Well so I decided I'm just going to run With one of the airbuds but I kept the Other one in I think about halfway During the race one of the airbuds flung Out when I went to grab some water Fortunately a spectator helped me locate It probably wasted a couple of minutes Looking for it um so it's hard to really Get a sense of how well they performed I Think you know I was using listen Through one and you know it was very Easily drowned out in that crowd and Their level of noise from The Spectators On the on the Marathon course um so not The ideal first test for the Bose Airbuds which is a shame because I've Kind of been generally using them the Sound seems pretty good in general but Perhaps they are not designed for the Kind of allout racing maybe kind of General running uh is what I'm kind of Feeling right now so yeah those were the Key things that I was testing and as I Said there'll be videos on some of the Things I've talked about here which I've Kind of done longer term testing which I'll get into at a later [Music] Date so I'm back now from the London Marathon 2024 and that was a tough race for me I Did Boston Marathon on Monday I really
Struggled on Monday because of the heat Um and the hills really killed my legs I Probably wouldn't do two marathons in a Week again because I really struggled on The London Marathon it um it was a great Day for it it was really uh cool there Was a bit of wind but once you got into The uh the city once you got around the The bigger buildings you didn't notice The wind at all so it worked really Really well nice breeze to keep me cool Uh it was perfect conditions basically For a marathon I wish I'd had those Conditions on Monday and noted for the London Marathon because the other way Around would have been a lot better and I could have probably got a faster time In in Boston cuz it was really hot in Boston and uh not perfect conditions for Running a fast time so the London Marathon um the event was great for me Really enjoyed the atmosphere always uh Impressed by the crowds and everything At London Marathon it it really is if You are going to do a marathon and You're maybe only going to do one or you Want the whole experience London is Really the place to go for that there's I've done five of the majors now and I Would say that London and New York are The ones to go for if you're really There for the big crowds and everything Like that the other ones are pretty good But um London is just in another level
Uh in terms of like the crowds and the Support it's absolutely phenomenal um The race itself I'm not going to go into Too much detail because we're all going To be talking about this and it's London Marathon so we've talked about it many Many times on videos before but um it is A great course uh there's not really Many Hills in it you get bit of downhill At the start uh and if you want to get a Fast time it is a very good Marathon to Do not as fast as Berlin I would say um But it's still one of the best ones when It comes to um trying trying to run Quickly um for me it was really tough I Ended up with 355 minutes I aimed to jog This because I'd done Boston on Monday And I've been feeling a little bit weak Um over the course of the last few days Since I flew back uh so I wanted to get Around 4 hours but in my head I was Thinking I'd do that and it would be Quite easy running um a 4-Hour Marathon Uh at my current Fitness level but I did Not find it easy I found it really Really hard I got to about halfway Running uh at 4-Hour marathon pace and My legs were just shot I was really Really struggling to maintain a pace and Had to walk quite a few bits uh so it Was a very very hard Marathon uh for me To do uh and I would only advise doing The Boston London um double uh if you Really prepared to um lose a lot of time
On on on the London one although I have Got friends who did it and they got some Fantastic times um by doing Boston and Doing London so really impressive uh Work from them and if you did do the Double and you got the times that you Wanted well done cuz it's not an easy Thing to do so because I wasn't racing London I decided to pick a bit of a Different shoe I did have a few shoes That I was going to test out including The soc and dorphin pro4 because I Haven't used that on a race distance yet Um but I ended up deciding to go for the So Triumph 22 the reason being is that I Was focusing on just going pure comfort And I wanted to take a shoe out that was Designed for that um and I've never it's Been a long time since I've done a Marathon in a shoe that isn't a super Shoe uh so I thought it'd be quite Interesting to see what it's like to run A marathan in a shoe that doesn't have a Plate in it and isn't designed for Speed So I went for the S Triumph 22 um the Triumph range or the most recent Versions of the Triumph range are some Of my favorite shoes that have been Released over the past few years I love The Triumph 2021 I think they're Absolutely fantastic shoes love training In them love doing recovery runs love Doing long runs in them um and they've Just work really well so this new um
Version of the shoe the 22 it does see a Few changes including this new MID cell Phone which has some pea elements in it Um and I think there's some design Updates to the top as well uh it is a Slightly different ride than what I've Expected from the previous versions uh That new Mell foam it it's it's Definitely a little bit less soft uh in In the way it rides um but it is a lot More responsive um which I was actually A bit surprised about in trying the Trying the Triumph um it's definitely Becoming a slightly different shoe with This version um and probably veering More towards those longer training runs Where you want a little bit of uh Propulsion in there a little bit Responsiveness so you can keep maintain A nice Pace um but still give you the Comfort that you get from the shoe Normally um what I would say is from the Marathon is that uh I I did struggle a Bit wearing this shoe during the Marathon um because I found it quite Hard to maintain a pace um that I wanted Cuz I'm so used to running marathons in Super Shoes and having that sort of help From the plate um and and the Foams to Keep you maintaining a nice pace so I Did find it a bit harder to run in the Shoe um and also I would say that I I've Noticed the fact that it's not as soft Um as the previous triumphs it's a
Little bit um little bit firmer um not Necessarily in uh it's it's still a soft Foam um but it's a little bit more Compressed and it just seems to be a Little bit uh more responsive as a Result of this new this new design That's in there so I did find it a Little bit harder to run in the shoe Over Marathon distance and towards the End of the marathon I really felt quite Sluggish in this shoe um that's not a Bad thing because most people probably Would use a shoe for a marathon um but Uh for me me it was probably not a great Choice for Marathon distance because I Did want a little bit more um a little Bit more help uh and I definitely am Used to it from shoes like the alphafly And and the um to Dophin Pro 3 which do Have a lot of cushioning in but they've Also got a lot of um bounce and Proportion in which you don't really get From from this shoe um the other thing I' say about this shoe is it's very very Comfortable the upper is really really Plush there is a lot of cushioning in it Uh and the stepping Comfort is fantastic But I did find it really hard to get a Comfortable fit in I had to stop a Couple of times to rearrange the laces And um loosen it up a bit because my Feet were hurting a little bit in this Shoe at certain points it's the first Time I've worn the shoe it's not
Surprising that I was going to have some Issues in it but I think the upper is a Little bit harder to get a nice fit from The off you really got to play around With it a bit um and I had to loosen it Quite a bit cuz it was feeling a little Bit restrictive on my feet at C in Certain points of the shoe um but other Than that it was a solid run in the shoe Um very comfortable didn't have any Issues with it um and I'll be taking it Out this week for a more conventional Run uh so I'll be going for a bit of Shorter run in it um later this week to Test out uh how it feels on a normal run That I would do in this shoe but um as Far as the Marathon distance goes I Don't think it's the best Sho for Marathon distance for my style of Running but um it's definitely a very Comfortable and enjoyable shoe to wear Out there also I'm not going to give a Full review of this yet because uh I a Week after running uh Boston Marathon I'm probably a little bit more tired and My feet are probably a little bit weaker Than they would be uh normally for a Review so we'll do the first run and Full review later uh in the next week or So that's it from us on this race test Thanks a lot for watching don't forget To like subscribe click the little Bell On all of those different things and Check the channel for all the other
Videos we've got coming up catch you Next time [Music]
