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Top Six London Marathon Tips With Fitness Expert Born Barikor

Top Six London Marathon Tips With Fitness Expert Born Barikor

Fitness coach Born Barikor did the London Marathon in 3 hours and 33 minutes in 2019.

The rearranged 2021 London Marathon is upon us and I, like many others, will be taking on the almighty challenge of running 26.2 miles in one go for the first time on October 3.

The organised run around 'the Big Smoke' first began in 1981 and now in its 41st year, the route includes a host of key sights such as The Shard, Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. 

Despite training going well and the Strava miles being racked up, there’s still nerves aplenty 15 days away from that horn sounding in Greenwich.

But fortunately, I was able to get some valuable insight and expert advice from fitness coach and founder of Tough Mudder, Born Barikor. 


Born did the London Marathon in an impressive 3 hours and 33 minutes in 2019 and may just be the perfect person when it comes to tips on how to get the best result on race day. 

Here are his top six tips:

Know your Pace

“Pace is the important thing so knowing what is going to be your marathon pace because your 5K pace is not going to be your marathon pace. 

“Obviously you have the crowd there, you get a bit hyped up and your gassed through the first 10K at your 10K pace and suddenly you hit a wall. 

“Running a marathon efficiently, you should be training at your marathon pace. You should be able to hold a conversation nice and easy and almost pull back 10 per cent and be at a nice, comfortable pace.


“You want to get to a point where you feel so comfortable and easy running that the duration almost becomes irrelevant. 

“But also think about where you’re running. You need to be doing some stuff on the roads. Another thing we see when people train for the marathon and they might have the luxury of running in parks, when you’re on the concrete and tarmac, the impact is different. 

“If you’re not used to running on that kind of surface, back pain and all that kind of stuff can kick in.” 

The little things are the biggest

“Your trainers and your socks are going to be one of the most important things. Don’t buy a new pair of trainers the day before the marathon because they’re not going to do you any good. 

“You need to be getting the mileage in the trainers, getting your long runs in them. And the outfit you think you’re going to wear – you don’t want to have any chapping, rubbing against or tops that are uncomfortable. 

“That’s one of the best pieces of advice. A lot of people ended up finishing a lot slower because they bought a new pair of trainers or didn’t have double layered socks so they’re feet started rubbing. 

“It can be very uncomfortable when you’re 20 miles in and you still got six miles to go.” 

Necessary Nutrition

“Personally for me, being vegetarian, the night before it’s pastas and bolognaise – stuff that I can absorb and digest to get the benefit out of in the morning. 

“Have a meal that you like, not something that’s too heavy like a steak. Try and eat, if you can, not too late. Before 8pm let’s say, because you’re going to make your way to Greenwich Park. 

“No matter how nervous you feel on the morning, you have to have breakfast because you’re about to go do a big shift. 

“Give yourself enough time to have your breakfast and you want to make sure you start the day hydrated. 

“When you’re eating your meal, make sure you’re taking on fluids and the best indicator of whether you’re hydrated is looking at your pee colour. 

“If it’s a clear, pale, pinky colour you’re good. If you’re waking up and you’re dehydrated already, it’s a bad sign. 

“Hydration plays a key part in you being able to get through those miles.

“When you go past a water station, make sure you’ve got a water and Lucozade Sport.

“Every 20 strides take a little sip, I did that and I ended up having so much energy and enjoying it. 

“Have energy gels and also take yourself a little snack on the day that you can carry in your pouch or pocket. You get hungry and it’s a weird feeling – wanting to eat while running. 

Image: PA
Image: PA

“Make sure you’ve got something you can nibble on – some jelly babies or something like that – and you will enjoy the day so much."

Warm up but don't get too hyped up

“Bring an old jumper that you don’t want. There’s a bit of a warm up on the stage but getting into your wave, you’re standing around a bit. 

“Keep warm, keep your layers on and you can dump stuff in the bins they have. 

“Your warm up should mirror the activity your about to do. It could be running on the spot while you’re getting ready, a bit of dynamic leg swings. 

“Take your first mile really, really easily because you see everyone darting through the crowd. You see them a bit later and they’re walking and not feeling too great. 

“Use your first mile, or even two miles, as your warm up. If you want to stop and do a bit of dynamic stretching, it’s fine because you’ve got a mission ahead of you. 

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” 

Conserve your energy

“There’s this little blue line on the floor, which if you can stick close to that line, you’ll run a marathon. 

“When you start darting in and out, up and down, you end up running a lot further. My advice would be, if you’re going to conserve energy, work the hill and on the descent just relax. 

“You want to get up the hill as fast as possible because then you can switch off and get that energy back as you come down on the other side. 

“It’s not very hilly. There are inclines but there’s no sheer inclines – it's all very gradual. And stick to that blue line if you can -even if means you have to drop back on your pace it will all open up later in the race.

Image: PA
Image: PA

“The worst thing you can do is dart to get in front of someone, left right, up, down and suddenly you’ve ended up expending so much energy. 

“It’s all about conserving your energy.” 

Fight the temptation to stop

"Once you stop, especially if you get into 20 or 21 miles, that’s when it becomes hard. 

“When you get into that run-walk pace, that’s when you become less efficient. You’d be better off clawing back and just keeping it continuous. 

“I went too fast and got gassed. I went through a half marathon in something like 1 hour 21 minutes or something crazy and then I just blew up at the end. 

“That was my first marathon and I learnt from that. There’s no need to go so fast, build it up and when you feel like there’s a finishing distance you can really like let go. 

“Don’t worry about anyone running past you.” 

Born Barikor is a Lucozade Sport athlete, the UK’s official sports drinks & gel provider for the London Marathon and longest running partner

Featured Image Credit: Image: PA & Instagram