21 September 2021

With this year's London Marathon just over a week away, we're introducing our runners in the virtual event.

On Sunday 3 October there will be 50,000 virtual runners taking on the 26.2 mile race, alongside 50,000 runners taking on the traditional Virgin Money London Marathon - making this year's event a Guinness World Record attempt.

Here's just a few of our runners raising vital funds for patients and staff at our hospitals...

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Oliver Allen, Rolls-Royce

“I’m running the Virtual London Marathon this year for Above & Beyond on behalf of the Rolls-Royce Apprentice Association (AA) team. Above & Beyond were chosen by our team because supporting their hospitals is so relevant in these extraordinary times. I’m most looking forward to crossing the virtual finish line on the day of the race, having pushed myself to my limits in training to fundraise for such a fantastic cause!”

Matt Webb (pictured right), Rolls-Royce

"After starting running in 2018 and running a few half & full marathons between then and early 2020, that all got put on hold when Covid and our first baby both hit in march 2020 (obviously one was better news than the other, but both had a similar effect on joining organised runs!). When I found out about the option of doing the Virtual London Marathon I thought it would be a great excuse to put the time into training again. The opportunity to fundraise for a great cause sold the idea. Training is going well, despite having less free time to dedicate to it. Fundraising started slowly but is picking up pace now I’ve printed off an old-school sign-up sheet to hand around the workplace! What I’m looking forward to most is to run again with other people: I’ve actually signed up to run the Dorney Lake Marathon on the day of the VLM so I can get that boost of running with others and a crowd."

Kelly Gilliard, Above & Beyond Charity Champion

"I am currently feeling nervous about the event and scared as I have never ran this kind of distance. I am currently running daily to get ready for the run. I decided to take part because it is something I have always wanted to do and Above & Beyond is an amazing cause."

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Looking for your next fundraising event? Visit our events page.