Michael’s Marathon Day
By Michael Weadock, April 2026
5.00am The alarm goes and for once I don’t snooze it because this is one of the best working days of the year. It’s London Marathon Day and I’m covering the event for talkSPORT. Unfortunately, the house where I’m staying has no tea bags. Or, milk. So, I ditch the morning cuppa for a shower. There’s no hot water either. The day can only improve from here. It will.
5.30am I leave the house with no provisions and no steaming shower and head to catch my train in Stanmore. Even though it’s before 6 in the morning, the car park is already pretty full and most of the early morning travellers display all the tell-tale signs that they are marathon runners. A clear plastic bag with their belongings, a water bottle, garishtrainers, number and safety pins and a look of terror on their face.
6.30am With each stop the train makes heading into London, the carriage becomes fuller with runners, volunteers and supporters. I arrive at London Bridge where I’m guesting on the breakfast show at talkSPORT. On arrival at News UK HQ, I discover my pass has expired and my name is not on the list. Everyone I’m trying to get hold of is already in the studio so understandably don’t pick up their phone. Stuart – who works on the overnight show tries to vouch for me as he leaves. But, apparently I don’t look enough like my picture on the system either. I don’t look like me, so entry is denied.
7.00am Eventually someone comes and looks for me and I’m in. A lift up to the 17 th floor and straight into the studio with the presenters Shebahn Ahern and Tony Cascarino. As second generation Irish on my dad’s side, I’m always excited to sit next to Tony who played for the Republic of Ireland. Turns out, I’m probably more eligible to play international football for them than he was! Amazingly, Shebahn is not only presenting the show but then heading straight to the start-line to run the race. We have a good studio chat but hardly even discuss the elite races which I’ve prepped for all week.
8.00am Out of the studio and to work on the course. The first job is to organise an interview with Sir Mo Farah and Ellie Kildunne. They are the official starters and have agreed to chat live from the start to Shebahn and Tony in the studio. Shebahn asks Sir Mo about I’m A Celebrity!! It makes a change from the days when I always asked him about his beloved Arsenal. I also always used to ask Usain Bolt about Manchester United too. Some of the harder nosed athletics journalists used to roll their eyes at me. But, Mo and Usain always stopped for a quick radio interview with me whenever I asked – even when they were at the height of their powers and most in demand.
9.00am My first report into the hourly news bulletins. The wheelchair races are already underway. I need to broadcast an update every hour, on the hour, until lunchtime.
10.00am After my latest update on the radio, I remember I left the house having had no food or drink. I go in search of a bacon roll and cup of tea. I’ve based myself at the finish line now until the rest of the day and there’s a stage set up for entertainment and picnic tables and deckchairs set up in St. James’ Park. I find my sustenance and watch as the festival-like atmosphere begins to build.
11.00am Following the wheelchair races, I record interviews with the two winners – Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner. It’s Marcel’s sixth consecutive victory. Catherine has now won three in a row. I joke with them both that I could save all our time and just send last year’s interview instead. Marcel gets quite emotional when talking about David Weir. He’s equalled David’s record tally of eight London Marathon victories. David seems touched when I pass this news on. David finished third, six days after a mechanical issue in the Boston Marathon which meant he had to fly home from the USA and then drive 1000 miles to Switzerland and back to have his chair repaired. It’s David’s 27th consecutive London Marathon. Catherine and I chat about how my first viewing experience of disability sport was this event – long before I became aware of the Paralympic Games.
12.00pm The midday news bulletin leads with the history making news from the London Marathon. I get a message from the newsdesk simply saying ‘Going Big.’ Tigst Assefa has broken the World Record in the Women’s Race and Sebastian Sawe has not only done the same in the men’s race, but he’s also run it in less than two hours. A first in a competitive marathon environment without any controlled conditions. It’s the marathon equivalent of the four-minute mile barrier being broken by Roger Bannister. All the prep suggested we were in for a quick race but nobody predicted this. I grab an interview with Mahamad Mahamad, the first British man across the finish line, to get his reaction.
1.30pm After a short delay, Sebastian Sawe and Tigst Assefa arrive in the giant tent which has been erected as a workplace for the media. They do a joint winners press conference. We are advised to plug into the sound system at the back of the room, but I never entirely trust these systems, so I also record the press conference by simply holding a microphone up to one of the speakers in the room. There are various problems with the PA system and my improvised recording set-up comes to my rescue and I have the all-important audio I need for talkSPORT which they are playing out whilst also building up to the FA Cup semi final between Chelsea and Leeds at Wembley.
2.30pm Having written, recorded and sent everything I need to about the elite races and the history making moment in the men’s race, I’m allowed a new privilege this year. My friend Mary is running the media operation, and she offers me a special white coloured bib which allows me to wander right down to the finish line. The masses are finishing by now and I have my eye on the tracker following Virgin Radio presenter Chris Evans. Virgin Radio is owned by the same company who own talkSPORT and I’m hoping to find Chris for an interview.
3.00pm I track down Chris and his wife Tash and we record a lovely interview. He jokes to me at the start that I better get it right, as he’ll be playing it on his breakfast show on Monday morning. Afterwards, I get to tell Chris a story about he influenced my career. In 1998, he came to Birmingham and broadcast a radio show from a shop window. I was in my first job in television at the time. I was struggling a bit learning the ropes and living in a new city and wasn’t particularly enjoying things. I was sent to try and get an interview with Chris even though he had turned down all requests to speak to the local media. In the end, he stopped for a chat and it was my first scoop for the programme I was working on. I started to enjoy myself in the job a lot more after that day. Chris likes hearing the story and we have a good chat after we finish recording. He wants to know how Chelsea are getting on in the football.
5.00pm Shebahn is nearing the finish line as one of the last to start as organisers have to set groups off in waves in Greenwich as a way of managing the congestion between the 59,000+ who take part. I must stand at the finish and try and spot her as she crosses the line. As soon as I see her and she sees me, she bursts into tears. It’s the effect I have on people, clearly. We take some photographs and record an interview where she remains tearful. She’s run for the National Autism Society and has been supported along the course by family and friends. It’s an amazing effort to have presented her breakfast show and then completed the marathon. She’s very emotional. She is also looking forward to a prosecco.
6.00pm Work is done for the day. Now, I need to get out of London and with all the underground stations around the finish line at capacity, I get on foot through Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and Chinatown and head to Bond Street where I can get on the Jubilee Line back to Stanmore. The atmosphere in London is wonderful. Once again, as I do every year, I kick myself that I’m not staying down for the night as the pubs and bars are all full of marathon runners and their supporters celebrating. It will be a good night for many. My mood is not helped by John sending me a picture of his pint, as he’s sat in a beer garden, whilst I have a five-hour journey home to look forward to!
7.00pm You know it’s been a good day when everyone on the tube is chatting to each other. It’s a good mix of marathon runners and spectators, Arsenal supporters as their women’s team have just finished playing a Champions League semi-final and lots of glum Leeds United fans leaving Wembley after a defeat. Which was interesting when one solitary Chelsea fan joined our carriage. The potential tension was eased when one gentleman, who said he was from east Africa, announced he was a Manchester United fan. If there’s one team Leeds fans despise more than Chelsea, it’s Manchester United. But, our friends from Yorkshire were in philosophical mood and the good vibes continued all the way back.
8.00pm I listen to Majestic and Alan Pardew on talkSPORT and hear them playing out various bits and pieces I had recorded earlier. The roads are pretty bad until about Northampton as the combined marathon and football traffic edges its way north.
11.30pm Home. I creep in so as not to wake the family and opened myself a Kronenbourg 1664 beer. The choice was deliberate. It was the same beer that our local bar served in Paris during the Olympics. Each night we would have our de-brief over a couple of pints, so it’s my beer of choice after working at big events now. Unfortunately, I nodded off before I even finished it. Not surprising really. After all, I had just done the marathon.
2.00am My youngest wakes me up complaining of a tummy ache. I make a mental note to stay down next year.
