Northamptonshire runner to hang up trainers after 16th consecutive London Marathon with more than £30K raised

Graham Dale will run his 16th and final London Marathon next month.

A Northamptonshire runner will hang up his trainers in less than a month after his 16th consecutive London Marathon.

Graham Dale from Silverstone first took up long distance running after he gave up playing football and rugby when he could no longer play to the standard he desired.

The now 52-year-old ran his first London Marathon back in 2006 as a ‘bucket list’ item. He only ever intended to run it once.

Graham says he knows it is time to pass on the baton, but he will miss taking part in the event.

However, after experiencing the camaraderie Graham became addicted to the event and has since ran the 26.2 mile course 15 times in total.

On October 3 this year, he will run it for the 16th - and final - time on potentially very little sleep as he has a newborn baby who will be less than two-months-old when the race takes place.

Graham, who now lives in Brackley, said: “I started running for my own peace of mind, to get away from everything and run on my own.

“I’d always wanted to run the London Marathon, but I thought I’d do it once, tick it off and that would be job done.

“But it is such a humbling and amazing thing to do.

“You have complete strangers shouting out your name willing you to do well. It’s addictive, really.”

Every year since 2006 Graham has entered the ballot, but has been rejected every time so has had to find charity places instead.

For his first five events, he ran for five different charities so a variety of different people could benefit from his sponsorship money.

But in 2011 he came across SENSE - the national deafblind charity - and became involved and taken by the work they do.

Ever since, Graham has run for the same charity and his final effort will also raise funds for SENSE.

If the keen runner manages to raise more than £1,812 this year, it will take his grand total across all 16 marathons to more than £38,000.

Anything raised over £1,500, Graham will also personally match. The matched sum will be donated to MacMillan Cancer Support.

Graham added: “I feel fairly positive that I have done my small part for these good causes.

“I think I will miss it, but I have a lot of injuries from my footballing days and you have to know when to stop.

“At 52 it is time to hand the baton down.

“I know it has to be my last one, I have accepted that but it brings sadness.”

Graham says he will be there at the 2022 London Marathon to hand out sweets and cheer other runners on.

And although he is sticking by ‘16 and out’ for now, he is not sure if he will be able to keep away for good.

To donate to Graham’s final London Marathon fundraising effort, visit his JustGiving page here.