The London Marathon.
Counted as one of the six World Marathon Majors it is featured as a “must do” on every runner’s dream event list. And for Chris Thompson, the 2017 event has been a long time coming. Being amongst the first British runners to cross the line on April 23 will mean qualification for the World Championships later in the year – something Chris has his eyes firmly set upon.
I’m feeling a bit more relaxed - I've got the work behind me. It's just a nice place to be.
“It’s a long year this year,” says Chris, when we ask him how it’s all going. “There are a lot of things I want to have a good go at. The London Marathon’s definitely one, but then there’s the London World Championships – so the first major box is qualifying at the Marathon.”
So Chris, with four weeks to go, how's training?
“The mileage is coming down, but the intensity of the sessions are creeping up. When I first started getting into it (training), for two, three months, it was just lots of volume, lots of running. That’s what’s needed. You don’t get to race day and go, "Wow, I just did that" - that doesn't really exist. It's more a case of, "Oh, I've just done that because I've done a huge amount of training to get here." I've run fast times, fast races and I thought I didn't have that in me. But when I look back at it logically, it’s like, well actually, I have been running well for a while. Even though it may not have gone well for two weeks, that fitness doesn't leave you. That’s where I am now. I've got enough decent running behind me now that I'm not surprised if I have a bad day, and then a few days later, I come back and I run really well. The fitness is there, it's just a matter of nurturing it.”