Super-speedy Carlos gives us the inside line on his first London Marathon

“A marathon race is always incredible and unforgettable, but it's the process that counts. Every session, every drop of sweat, all the time you spend and the benefits you get in return every day.”

“I'm Carlos from Brazil. I became a road runner in 2014 looking for weight control, and suddenly by the end of 2017 I was already signed up for my first Marathon, Midnight Sun in Norway. Then I found out about the World Marathon Majors, the six greatest races in the world. In my journey to complete the six (so far, I’ve done New York 2018, Berlin and Chicago 2019, and Boston 2021), now it was time for London 2022.

“I decided to run for a charity so I could secure my spot and do some good for the cause. In my country we also seek to prevent crime by reporting and monitoring, just as Crimestoppers does in the UK.

“I was made to feel very welcome by Team Crimestoppers, led by Events Assistant Allison Hill, helping me to create my fundraising page, log onto the Facebook group with all other entrants, and sending me the exclusive T-shirt for race day.

“Unfortunately, I started the year with a severe injury, anserine tendinopathy (or goosefoot tendonitis), meaning that my knees were absorbing too much impact, so I started an intense strength programme. Three times a week and 90 minute sessions meant almost 120 hours of strengthening, more than I spent running during the same period.

"But it paid off. Having improved my aerobic capabilities, stronger legs would take me further. I did many of my long runs at near-marathon pace, and also did some breathing exercises to improve air inspiration.

“And finally, the race. The expected rain that did not come. The city is beautiful. The crowd, amazing. The staff, impeccable. All this energy, allied to good training, it's show time. For the first 16 km I was faster than I was supposed to be, but handling the pace well (around 3 minutes 50 seconds per km, equating to 15.7 km per hour). After this point I slowed down a little bit, respecting my sense of exhaustion, and kept around my target speed almost until the end.

“A bit after London Bridge, I saw Crimestoppers fans cheering and I was able to wave back. For the last 3-4 kms I slowed down to 4 minutes per km (15 km per hour) and finished the marathon in 2 hours 45 minutes and 52 seconds (575th overall, 121st in category and the 3rd Brazilian in the whole field).

“Maybe with higher training volumes in the future I may be able to finish as strongly as I began. But that's something for my next challenge -  Tokyo 2023...

“After the race I met the Crimestoppers crew, got a well-deserved massage and some food and drinks for me and my guests.

“This is an achievement far from what I could ever have imagined, and all this joy funnels into starting preparations for the next one.

“A marathon race is always incredible and unforgettable but it's the process that counts. Every session, every drop of sweat, all the time you spend and the benefits you get in return every day.”

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