Romesh Ranganathan on running the London Marathon: 'If you're not enjoying it, you're going too quickly'

Comedian Romesh Ranganathan is gearing up to run the London Marathon for his second time, and this time around he’s determined to “right the wrongs” of his first attempt.

The 47-year-old actor and comedian is running the London Marathon on Sunday (27 April) for the Teenage Cancer Trust, and also hosting a BBC radio show called Run With Rom to provide a perfect mix of motivational marathon music for other runners.

Ahead of his second marathon, Ranganathan said this time around: “I’m going to follow a proper training program, I’m going to fuel properly, I’m actually going to prepare effectively.”

“Although I might look back at running a marathon with contempt and trauma, as I’ve mentioned, I am in fact going for it again in 2025… and so far I think ‘do you know what, I’m going to do better’, but the truth is I couldn’t have done much worse and then I abandoned my plan, I had a target time that I kind of lost sight of I would say in the first half an hour.”

He added: “I didn’t realise that every time you took a toilet stop you have to add another 20 minutes. There were people in the queue for one of the toilets who weren’t even running the marathon. Are you joking?”

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Giving his advice for other runners taking on this year’s marathon, Ranganathan said: “The mistake a lot of people can make at this stage is they start going too quickly, the adrenaline of the start, so make sure you just pace yourself.

“It feels like a very appropriate time to remind you of that slightly trite phrase ‘remember this is a marathon not a sprint’. Just remember you’re going to be full of adrenaline, people are going to be shouting as you jog past. It’s going to be very easy to get overexcited and start really going for it.

“You might be starting to think to yourself ‘do you know what this is easier than I anticipated, I’m going to absolutely go for it’. Let me tell you something, that is a mistake. All those people that you see sprinting off now, you’re going to see them again because they’ve not paced themselves properly.

“You are going to pace yourself properly and you are going to nail this… And even if you’re not running a marathon today, this advice applies to any time you get active, even if it’s a 5k, a 10k… don’t push yourself too hard, too soon, in fact the truth of the matter is if you’re not enjoying running, you’re going slightly too quickly.”

Ranganathan added a few wise words for those taking on Sunday’s challenge: “Is it daunting? Absolutely. But can you do it? Absolutely!”

Ranganathan also opened up about his choice of fuel for the big day, claiming he’d prefer to “smash” a gel packet than wolf down potatoes.

“Somebody genuinely actually recommended sweet potatoes to me like having five potatoes in your system is going to keep you fresh and nimble,” he said.

“I’m going to be honest with you, I’ve binned that advice, but whatever floats your boat I guess. For me, it’s those little carbohydrate gel packets and do you know what I love the most about them? First of all, you just get to smash down the gel, but the main thing I love them is that it makes you look like an athlete. 

“If you’ve got the choice of what makes you look more athletic, a carbohydrate gel or smashing down a sweet potato, I think I’m going to go with the gels… I have never before running the marathon been in a situation where I’m doing so much exercise it requires fuelling. I need to fuel my exercise, it’s incredible. But listen, whatever it is for you, do make sure you keep yourself fuelled up, you do not want to hit the wall.”

He added that he is “desperately looking forward to crossing the finish line for the second time” because he has some “regrets” about his first time around.

“I know a lot of you see me as an athletic hero, but genuinely I made mistakes and errors in my first marathon. I’m looking forward to righting those wrongs in the second one. As I cross the finish line, I’m looking forward to looking back on that and realising I made an improvement on the last time I did it. I don’t want to sound corny about it, you are only really racing against yourself,” he said.

Joining Ranganathan on Sunday’s London Marathon is the Big Issue’s own senior arts correspondent Adrian Lobb, who is bravely running for the Big Issue despite a pulled hamstring, chafing and a bleeding nipple.

“I’ve been working for Big Issue as a freelance and staff since 2012, and I’ve seen the incredible difference they make to the lives of people experiencing homelessness or insecure housing. Times are hard. And the Big Issue is needed more than ever,” Lobb said.

Listen to Pace Setter’s Run with Rom Marathon Mix every Saturday from 10am to 1pm, all episodes available on BBC Sounds.

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