Maxwell’s Marathon – Looking Ahead to 2022

Maxwell’s Bar & Grill has been a favourite among locals and tourists visiting London since the 1980s. However, what many don’t know about the popular dining venue, is that the Maxwell’s team are keen marathon runners. Since 2018 they’ve been running the London Marathon every year to raise money for the ROS.  

As we race into 2022, we caught up with Rob Gartland, Group Sales and Marketing Manager at Maxwell’s to ask him where the inspiration for this tradition started and how the team are feeling as the countdown begins. 

What inspired the team to start running the London Marathon for the ROS? 

In 2018, the director of Maxwell’s, David Solomon’s mother was diagnosed with osteoporosis. He felt inspired to help as much as he could to raise awareness of the condition and support others.  

One evening after learning about the diagnosis, a few of us were having a few drinks after work when we came up with the idea of doing the London Marathon together. It didn’t take long to talk each other into it! The next day I rang the ROS, and we had our first ‘team’.  

How did Maxwell’s become a host for the after-marathon celebrations? 

When we first completed the marathon in 2018, we were invited to join in the charity’s post-event celebrations, held at a local venue. I thought this was a special idea and a great chance to bring everyone together – runners, supporters, as well as charity staff and volunteers. I suggested that the following year they came to Maxwell’s for this celebration instead. 

In 2019 we hosted our first post-marathon event for the ROS at Cocktail Baby, Maxwell’s, which had a great turn out. We aimed to continue this trend in 2020, however the pandemic halted our runners from taking to the streets of London. We came back strong in 2021 with our Operations Director, Jorge Santos, passing the finish line and helping to continue the celebrations at Maxwell’s afterwards. We’re excited to return this year with our biggest team yet!  

How many of the Maxwell’s team are running the marathon this year?  

This year, our entire team of general managers (Kate Jillings, Darius Watson, Max Sprecher, Mauro Scomerza & Giuseppe Genuardi), including myself, will continue the trend. We’re aiming to raise over £12,000 between us for ROS. 

How do you feel about the challenge this year? 

This is my, and the entire teams’, first marathon, so I feel a bit nervous, but we are all so excited to complete this challenge for the ROS. For most of us, we have only just picked up running through lockdown, or have started running 5ks more recently. We are going to work as a team, sharing our runs and encouraging each other. We’re hoping to build up to a half marathon in the summer as a team. 

Getting all the general managers to run it this year is going to make it really special, and I’m looking forward to coming together with all the other ROS runners at the end to celebrate.  

Why not join Maxwell’s and our other runners in #TeamOsteoporosis for this year’s London Marathon? Places are still available! Find out more here. 

If running isn’t your thing, but you fancy a new opportunity or challenge this year while supporting our work, check out our challenge events.