Thetford’s Mark Rutterford given London Marathon chance after eighth time of trying

A Thetford man has finally got his chance at the eighth time of asking to take on the London Marathon tomorrow.

Mark Rutterford first applied to run the world famous 26.2 mile route back when he was 19, but now at the age of 40 he will take to the starting line.

After failing through the normal ballot again this year, he managed to secure a Gold Bond scheme place, running to raise money for the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

He said: “⁠I was really pleased to finally get to take the marathon on after around 15 years of applying. My wife Bex did the marathon nine years ago so it is great to have my chance to give it a go as well.”

As a complete non-runner, the father-of-two took to training back in September last year and now has more than 500 training miles under his belt including completing the Wymondham AC 20 miler last month as well as the Great Yarmouth half marathon.

Asked what it will feel like for him when he is in London at the starting line, Mark said: “⁠I’m going to be pretty nervous as I have never run that kind of distance before, but I have family coming to support me so I am really looking forward to seeing them along the course if I can.

“⁠The support from everyone has been amazing, from my wife and friends who have joined me on training runs to all the people who have sponsored me so far and a big thank you to everyone who has messaged or donated to my Just Giving page.

“It costs £3,750 for the air ambulance to fly one mission that could save someone’s life, so to reach that target for them would be brilliant.”