“I woke up on Boxing Day, thinking what have I done?!” Darren admits. True to his word, he took on the challenge. His first training run came on 27th December 2023, two miles in and he was done, by his own admission “simply unfit.” It didn’t put him off. Eleven days into January, he’d hit his 50 miles. Then he decided to double it, running 102 miles by his birthday on 20th January.
From New Dad to 100km a Month
Darren’s youngest daughter was born in early February 2021, leading to his running taking a back seat. However, once his daughter turned on, he laced back up, and running has been part of his life ever since. These days, Darren typically tunes 100km a month, fitting it in around a demanding role at GAP by getting out early in the morning. “It sets me up for the day,” he says.
The One Race He Could Never Quite Get Into
A marathon has always been on Darren’s list, with one caveat. “Mentally, when I get to the half marathon distance, my head says, ‘sod doing that again’,”. But there was always one exception: London. “Being a Southerner, London is the bigger and BEST marathon in the world, and it’s one I’ve always tried to be part of it through the ballot, but due to the increase in demand I’ve never been able to do it.”
This year, that changed. WaterAid selected Darren, through GAP’s partnership with the charity, to run the London Marathon 2027. “To be given the opportunity to run through GAP and WaterAid is a dream come true.”
The Road to April 2027
Darren’s build-up starts with two half marathons: Windsor on 27th September, then the Royal Parks Half just two weeks later on 11th October. After a short recovery period of easy running, he’ll move into a 20-week training plan for London itself, training through the winter months, which, in his words, “will be horrible due to the temperature.”
As for a finish time? “I want to finish this great event sub four hours, I won’t disclose my actual target, because the elite might panic!”
Running for a Reason
Darren’s marathon is part of something bigger. GAP has partnered with WaterAid for a number of years, supporting their work to bring clean water, sanitation and hygiene to communities worldwide. All funded through our GAP Giving initiative, with our GAP team encouraged to get involved through fundraising and volunteering of their own. Darren’s 26 miles is that partnership brought to life by one of our own.
For Darren, the priority is simple: “The most important thing is raising money for WaterAid, getting that medal, and seeing my family and members of my team who are going to make the effort of travelling across the country to cheer me on to smash it!”
We’ll be following Darren’s training all the way to April 2027. In the meantime, if you’d like to cheer him on, keep an eye on GAP Unpacked for updates on how his training’s going.