London Marathon: Hundreds of over-70s are running. This is what motivates them

It is one of the toughest feats in sport, a 26.2-mile hit on the body and mind — a distance completed by only the few. Even for athletes in their prime, running a marathon is an arduous test of endurance.On Sunday, over 50,000 people will run through London’s famous streets for a marathon that is often described as the world’s biggest annual one-day fundraising event. A high-caliber elite field will compete for prize money and prestige, but a little further behind will be fun runners of all abilities, some confounding our perceptions of what the human body is capable of, assuring us that much can still be achieved after a certain age.Advertisement