90-year-old man completes London Marathon
David Picksley, holding a cane on his marathon journey at the age of 90. He mainly walks, slowly progressing step by step, taking more than 10 minutes to complete a kilometer. After 7 hours and 16 minutes, he reached the finish line to cheers and applause from the audience and the runners present.
Picksley said he started running marathons in 1982, at the age of 50. He lives in Croydon, south of London and has run 13 major tournaments across Europe such as Budapest, Moscow or Berlin over the past few decades. At the age of 64, he hung up his shoes and did not play for a long time before returning because he loved the feeling of movement. Before the tournament, he participated in the London Marathon three times - one of the six prestigious majors, the first time in 1997, and two virtual runs in 2021 and 2022.
"I have great memories of running the London Marathon. The crowd, the bands and the encouragement are second to none. I was so sad that I had to give up the marathon at the age of 64. So the opportunity to run again came later. about 26 years is great and I can't miss it," the 90-year-old runner shared after finishing.
To complete the 42km race after many years, Picksley spends a long time walking every morning. The 90-year-old physical does not allow him to go faster, but instead this runner builds endurance and perseveres with the training schedule. Another reason that motivated him to participate was in memory of his sister who died of bowel cancer in 1974. He collaborated with a cancer organization in the UK to raise funds to support patients with similar conditions. . Picksley's goal was $2,500, but the result he received was more than $7,000.
"I hope that the money I raise will help raise awareness. Many people can be saved if they know the symptoms and go to the doctor early," he said. Bowel Cancer UK says bowel cancer is the second "killer" in the UK. Last year, the country recorded 43,000 cases of the disease.
The London Marathon is an annual running race established in 1981, a member of the six most prestigious races on the planet, the World Marathon Majors, in addition to the ones in Boston, Berlin, Tokyo, Chicago and New York City. This year's tournament has about 48,000 participants. Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum finished first after 2 hours 1 minute 26 seconds - the record of this major and the second best parameter in marathon history after Kipchoge. In the women's race, Dutch-Ethiopian runner Sifan Hassan finished first with 2 hours 18 minutes 33 seconds.
