Journey to the London Marathon

Every year, so many incredible people take on the challenge of running the London Marathon to support the ROS. 

With the 2023 London Marathon coming up on Sunday 23 April, we look back at some of our 2022  highlights with Jordan Hills, ROS Individual Giving Officer and his role on the big day.

The London Marathon atmosphere is legendary. Tell us a bit about it and some of your highlights from 2022's race.

Past runners, friends, and colleagues told me to expect an incredible atmosphere, but you don’t truly appreciate it until you’re there yourself. I can only imagine what it must be like for the runners! You get a real sense of community spirit from everybody involved.

Seeing the elite athletes leading the way is pretty special to witness in person, but it doesn’t beat watching ROS runners take part. We are with them every step of the way through their training and fundraising and get to know them over the weeks and months leading up to the event, so it’s amazing to see their hard work pay off.

31 runners took part for the ROS in 2022

Tell us about your role on the day

At the 2022 London Marathon, I co-ordinated our brilliant team of volunteers to set up cheer station points at miles 14 and 21. We’ve used these points in the race for several years now, so our runners know where to look for us. From there we cheer them on as they begin the final part of their marathon journey. I also set up the venue to thank and congratulate our runners when they finished. Maxwell’s Bar & Grill was host again for the after-marathon celebrations, so a big thank you to the team there. Read more about them in our earlier blog post.

I love the variety of my role, especially hearing such inspiring stories from our supporters, along with the wonderful ways people raise money. From the brilliantly quirky knobbly knee contests, to the endurance challenges like the London Marathon, every activity and donation raised helps us be there for people living with osteoporosis.

How do you and the fundraising team prepare for this annual event? What happens in the run-up?

Planning for the London Marathon effectively takes place immediately after the previous race finishes, so we’ve already started getting ready for 2024.

This involves several activities, including putting together our team of runners! We invite our members and supporters and the wider community to take part if they’re able, promoting the race in our e-newsletters, members’ magazine and on social media. It’s great to see new supporters get involved as well as those who’ve run for us previously.

We organise and send out race packs for our runners nearer the day, which includes an ROS t-shirt and samples from some of our partners. In 2022, we had great help from ROS partners, Ibex, Get More Vits, California Prunes, (who also ran the Marathon for us), and the Turmeric Co., as well as TidyWare UK Ltd, TORQ and Veloforte. A big thank you from all of us at the ROS.

Finally, what would you like people to know about fundraising?

Fundraising is not just about the money raised but is a fantastic opportunity to spread the word about the work of the ROS. Without fundraisers, we wouldn’t be able to continue the work we do. By supporting the ROS, you’re changing lives. You’re fuelling pioneering research. Powering policy-changing campaign work. And ensuring our vital Helpline continues to be there – for anyone who needs it. However you choose to be a supporter, from leaving a gift in your will to donating, awareness raising to challenges, together we can beat osteoporosis.

Fancy joining Team ROS for the London Marathon on Sunday 23 April 2023? Applications are now open. Find out more and register your place.