Meet the London Marathon Ever Presents
There are 12 runners left in the Ever Presents club, the men who have run every London Marathon since the first race in 1981. RW met them as they prepared for their 36th outing.
We’ve come a long way since more than 7,000 runners took to the streets of the capital for the first London Marathon on 29th March 1981. Back then, there were no spectator barriers and supporters enthusiastically banged saucepans. Now, it’s a beast: more than 840,000 people applied to take part in the 2025 race, with more than 56,000 runners expected to take part later this month – a figure that would make it the biggest marathon ever.
Along the way, there have been some incredible milestones. In 2016, the millionth runner crossed the finish, while 2019 saw charity fundraising hit the £1 billion mark.
But as this finishers’ club swells, membership of another – the Ever Presents (EPs) – dwindles. Of the original 42 who formed the Ever Presents in 1996 to celebrate 15 London Marathon finishes in a row, just six are left. Nobody new can ever join. Members can only leave.
Over the years, some have run through all sorts of complaints and injuries, just to be on the start line. It means that much. Why no female EPs? Only 5% of runners in the 1981 were women, with none continuing the streak. How times change – this year, 49% of starters will be female.
Chris Finill
66, Surrey
Started running: ‘Aged eight. My mum was a heavy smoker and I used to run to the shop to buy her cigarettes. I ran at school, then joined Harrow Athletics Club, where I’m still a member.’
Highlights: ‘Setting a world record for the most consecutive editions of an Abbott World Marathon Major marathon completed in less than three hours [30, from 1981 to 2010]. My favourite bit is always the 22-23-mile mark, when I know that I just need to have a pulse to finish and can afford to take it easier!’
Toughest race: ‘In 2014, I had a high hamstring tendon tendinopathy injury, so couldn’t run properly. I was still trying to go under three hours and was on course until 23 miles, but fell apart in the last 20 minutes. I just didn’t have it in me because of the lost training.’
What it means to be an EP: ‘We all want to get round on the day and hope the others do, too. We are very much a close band. The next milestone will be 40 years. The others say that I’ve got the strongest chance of being the last EP, as I’m younger, but who’s to say what’s around the corner for any of us? Some of the EPs are 76 and 77 and it’s a greater achievement to be in the club at that age. There is no other race that I regularly complete like this one – I absolutely love it. I often wonder what it would be like if you didn’t get to the race on time or didn’t finish and it doesn’t bear thinking about.’
Mike Peace
75, Hampshire
Started running: ‘At junior school, aged eight. At secondary school, I fell in love with cross-country racing and won district championships in the early 60s.’
Highlights: ‘The first was the best. It was a very special occasion, with a magical crowd and a truly exhilarating finish, even though it was another 10 years before I ran my fastest time of 2:37.
In 1988, my mum was arrested for running onto the course to hug me at 25 miles. She was escorted away by a policeman and given a talking to while my embarrassed Dad hid behind a tree!’
Toughest race: ‘I had to take 10 months off running before the 2003 race owing to a pubic bone inflammation – I only jogged 35 miles in training. I doubted that I’d finish, but I actually ran it steadily.’
What it means to be an EP: ‘The marathon is a great street party and it’s grown so much over the years. It’s a privilege to be part of an exclusive club – one that nobody else can join.’
Bill O’Connor
79, London
Started running: ‘My first love was rugby, then football, until a parent at a school I worked at talked me into joining their running club. I became best friends with two international runners and we ran together. I could hoof it a bit in those days. I avoided marathons like the plague but, after moving to England [from his native New Zealand] in 1971, I drifted into doing London in 1981. I’d planned to return to New Zealand the following year and never dreamed that I’d still be doing them today.’
Highlight: ‘My fifth London, in 1985. Over the years, we’ve had torrential rain, snow and heatwaves, but here the weather was perfect – everything just went perfectly and, at 39, I was thrilled to run 2:34:29.’
Toughest race: ‘Two months before the 2001 London Marathon, I slipped in a half marathon, tearing the cruciate ligament in my knee. I wasn’t able to train but was determined to stay in the group. I ended up shuffling round in five hours. I had surgery later that year.’
What it means to be an EP: ‘It would just be nice to keep going for as long as we can. They’re a great group. We meet for lunch occasionally – most recently at the Cutty Sark, on the marathon route.’
Jeff Aston
77, Cardiff
Started running: ‘I’d dreamed of doing a marathon since watching the 1960 Olympics, but only played soccer and squash until 1980, when the local squash courts were flooded by the River Taff. So I started running.’
Highlight: ‘The 1983 race was one of those days when everything went right. The weather was perfect and, for a while, I ran with the elite women, before they slipped away. I got a PB: 2:29:34.’
Toughest race: ‘Before the 2000 race, I did two 20-mile races within a week. From then on, I started getting back spasms whenever I ran more than a couple of miles. But I could walk without pain. I finished in 5:38 – it was a long day.’
What it means to be an EP: ‘It’s important for me to do as well as I can – not just for myself, but for the rest of them. You feel a funny sort of responsibility for the rest of the group.’
Dr Malcolm Speake
83, Suffolk
Started running: ‘I was a podgy boy who was no good at ball games, but I could run cross-country reasonably well. I got better and represented the county, but I gave up at university. I started running again in 1978.’
Highlight: ‘The 1991 London Marathon. Everything went well on the day. It was three minutes off my best time, but I loved that race.’
Toughest race: ‘Too many to choose from. I have had no end of struggles. I’ve run with cracked bones in my foot, terrible toothache – the antibiotics caused diarrhoea – and norovirus [which causes vomiting – and diarrhoea]. I could go on forever.’
What it means to be an EP: ‘It’s difficult to express and a very mixed feeling. You feel as though you’d like to be released from the pressure and not feel that you have got to do it. But if you don’t do it, you’ll be watching, wishing you were. The year I can’t run will be devastating.’
David Walker
79, Buckinghamshire
Started running: ‘I’d always been a frustrated sportsman – I didn’t make the school football or cricket teams. In my late 20s, I was overweight and unfit, so I started running. I realised that I’d found something I enjoyed and could do.’
Highlight: ‘Running the marathon with my three children – Hannah, John, and Jamie. It was brilliant. There can’t be many dads who can say that they’ve run a marathon with all of their children.’
Toughest race: ‘I strained my back just before the 2012 London Marathon. I had intensive physiotherapy and felt great for the first half mile, then it went. I knew that I wasn’t going to do any real damage, so I walked the rest of the way, but it was very painful.’
What it means to be an EP: ‘It’s part of what I do. We all have our aches and pains, but some EPs have been heroic in just getting to the start line. We don’t have to prove anything anymore. It’s sad when someone drops out – there have been lots of emotional moments over the years.’
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