Simon Danczuk to race in the London Marathon again

Simon Danczuk at the 2016 London Marathon

Simon Danczuk, MP for Rochdale, has signed on to race in the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon.

Mr Danczuk is no stranger to the marathon having run it last year, and was part of a recent MPs breakfast at Portcullis House to allow the novices and experienced alike to share training stories, inspiring tales and get hints and tips from expert coach Martin Yelling.

With this year’s race exploring the theme of documenting everyone’s ‘Reason to Run’, Mr Danczuk shared his own motivation and why it means so much to him.

He said: “One of the highlights of doing the marathon is that you get to go around all these great sights right around London for 26 miles plus and see the city from a different perspective.

“Crossing the finishing line, coming down The Mall and realising that you’ve just about managed it is a great experience.”

Mr Danczuk has been pounding the pavement since the turn of the year to ensure he is in peak condition come 23 April, but he admitted finding it difficult to mix training and work.

He said: “It’s not been going well at all, I need to do more.

“I did 10k last week and I do the odd 6k but I need to improve.

“As long as I beat Jonathan Ashworth MP - I’d quite like to get a better time than he does. I did it in four hours 49 minutes last time so I’d like to improve on that as well.”

The London Marathon began in 1981 and this year received a record 253,930 entrants for the 50,000 places available.

In 2016 the race celebrated its one millionth finisher, with the event attracting more than half a million spectators to cheer on the runners.