West Norfolk runner aims to complete Tokyo Marathon

Completing the 26.2 mile course around Japan's capital city on Sunday will be David Blackmore's second World Marathon Major after he crossed the finish line of last year's London Marathon.

It'll also be the 37-year-old's sixth completed marathon since April 2022 after taking part in marathons in Brighton, Vienna, Atlanta, and Edinburgh in recent years, and he is now hoping to complete the other World Marathon Majors in Berlin, Boston, Chicago and New York.

But the TV journalist's marathon running journey didn't get off to the best start after he collapsed with heat stroke just before the 25-mile marker of the London Marathon in October 2021 - his first attempted marathon - and had to be retrieved from the course and treated by volunteers from St John Ambulance.

David says: "I used to watch the London Marathon every year as a child and it was the only marathon I ever had any desire to do so it was heartbreaking to have collapsed during my first attempt in 2021.
"But looking back now, my heat stroke collapse was the start of a running journey that has seen me complete 12 half and full marathons in 19 months around the world, which included the London Marathon in 2023."

He added: "Running a marathon is a gruelling experience both physically and mentally but I am looking forward to seeing what I can achieve in Tokyo. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a target time in mind but in truth, crossing the finish line is my number one goal and I can't wait to get my hands on the Tokyo Marathon 2024 medal."

As well as his marathon running, David has crossed finish lines at several half marathons, including the London Landmarks, Big Half, Great North Run, Cambridge Half and Atlanta Thanksgiving half.

He also completed the 435-mile Lap of Anglia in August 2022 and plans to get back on his bike to complete Ride London in May this year.

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. He'd clocked up 822 miles during 147 runs and 1,438 miles with 68 bike rides. The other 22 miles were accumulated by rowing and walking.

Since David started documenting his running journey in October 2021, he has clocked up millions of views on Instagram and TikTok. You can follow David by searching for @DavidBlackm0re on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.