In the Spotlight: Lauren

This week we caught up with Lauren who ran her first full Marathon at this year's Brighton Marathon in the UK. We spoke all things marathon from running with her dad to pushing through injury.

Tell us a little about yourself

My name is Lauren and I’m 28. I trained in Musical Theatre and currently work in a Box Office in a West End Theatre.

How did you get into running?

I started running during Covid. My dad thought it would be a good idea to run a treadmill  marathon as a family by taking it in turns. I didn’t run AT ALL so it was more of a power walk for myself and my mum whilst my dad and my boyfriend ran the majority.

I then started running more and suddenly really got into it with mainly running 5k but nothing further. 

What made you decide to run a marathon and fundraise?

My boyfriend did the Edinburgh marathon in 2021 and I was really inspired by the atmosphere. What really made me go for it though was that I felt like I wasn’t working towards anything in life. I had decided I was no longer going to pursue acting so I wanted something to focus my time on as well as giving myself a real challenge!

My Grandma was diagnosed with MS the year I was born and it was something that affected everyone in my family. Whilst we were fortunate that my grandad could afford everything they needed to give my grandma the most comfortable life possible, there are lots of families going through it without that luxury. The MS society is amazing at supporting families who are going through what my family did. This is why I was really determined to raise as much money as I could for them during this challenge.

How did you approach your long runs?

I tried to plan interesting routes for my long runs through central London so that they didn’t get repetitive and I was actually really looking forward to them! 

I also found using my watch to countdown the distance super helpful! When I had completed 20k, I focused on the fact that there was only 10k left rather than focusing on the 20k I had already done.

I also tried to get friends to join me for some sections of the run to help me push through. I couldn’t persuade anyone to join me for my longest distance run of 36k but my friend Aimee did join me for the last 14k which really helped. 

You unfortunately got injured a while back, how did you overcome that to continue training and make it to the finish on race day?

I got injured in June 2024 but with the race being April 2025 I luckily had lots of time to recover and really take the rehabilitation slow. I did have a half marathon booked for September 2024 that I wasn’t able to do which was upsetting but I needed to listen to my body and it thanked me in the long run. 

Unfortunately on the day of the Brighton marathon the knee pain came back around 15k and whilst that was really disheartening as I put so much time into recovery, I managed to finish the marathon which wouldn’t have happened without all the time I put in. 

What was it like running with your dad? 

I don’t think I could have done the marathon without my dad. We don’t live anywhere near each other so only had 1 training run together (which turned out to be the worst training run for both of us) but following along each others training and checking in helped massively. 

When my knee went on the day I thought I was going to have to give up but he really helped me through by going at my pace even though he could have run faster. 

We also made each other a little running advent calendar full of gels, electrolytes and running socks, etc., which was really cute and a good bonding moment for us. 

Do you have any new challenges in mind? 

I really want to do another marathon to see how it goes without pain. At the moment that will be the London marathon or nothing as it’s a lot of work. However maybe after a few years when I’ve been rejected for it a few times I’ll choose another. 

I want to try and get my 5k and 10k to a good pace again. Focusing on longer runs means that I haven’t focused on speed at all, so my next goal is to get quicker. 

If you could give 1 tip to anyone thinking of running their first marathon, what would it be?

It’s going to be hard but WOW is it fun! It’s such an emotional, mental and physical challenge but I promise there is nothing better than the crowd cheering you on and getting that medal at the finish line. Also getting someone you love to do it with you if you can really helps.