Andrew Ronnan hopes for an Olympic City Marathon Record
Andrew Ronnan, a 56-year old dweller of Lancashire looks forward to mark a record of running marathon races in 22 cities (every summer Olympic hosting city) on this Sunday. For achieving the said record, Ronnan, in Australia, will lineup for the Melbourne Marathon.
Cherishing the effort being made by the runner, the chairman of the hundred marathon club, Rogers Biggs, who always maintains a record of the people running in multiple marathons, said if Ronnan makes it, it would be a UK record.
Sharing his thoughts, Biggs, who believes this to be the first of its kind attempt in the world, said, “It is safe to say it’s never been done by anyone in the UK. Guinness and spuds, I’m not sure about the rest of the world although I don’t know of anyone else who has done it.”
Ronnan, who has been in Australia this entire summer, had also participated in the 19th September’s Sydney Marathon where for hitting the finishing line, the English runner took five hours, nine minutes and fifty one seconds. While responding to a question about the time (more than the usual finishing time) he takes in his marathons, he said that he would never trouble the podium as he trained on Guinness and spuds.
Ronnan thought of making the marathon running record in every Summer Olympic host city back in 2005 when London won the bids for 2012 Olympic Games. Dwelling upon his long journey, he said, “I realized I had already done a few so I did the European ones and then went for the others ‘Ultimate ambition’.”
The legendary athlete started running long distance races in London back in 1998. His race in Melbourne will be the 41st marathon of his career. And even after achieving his target of making the world record, the runner vows to continue with the races as they help him in keeping the weight off.
He said, “I’m hoping to run my 15th London Marathon for Asthma UK next year and all being well do the Olympic city every four years. My ultimate ambition, though, is to do at least one marathon with my children and grandchildren.”
The cities, which have had the privilege of hosting the Olympic games since 1896 are comprised of: Athens, Paris, St Louis, London, Stockholm, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Berlin, Helsinki, Melbourne, Rome, Tokyo, Mexico City, Munich, Montreal, Moscow, Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney and Beijing.
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