Marathon star Mara Yamauchi gives Clapham Chasers her top tips

A group of marathon hopefuls from Clapham Chasers in Wandsworth were recently treated to a talk from Olympic marathoner Mara Yamauchi who gave her top tips to help the runners as they prepare for spring.

The Commonwealth silver medallist and second fastest British female marathon runner in history joined the running group after one of their weekly sessions and shared her marathon tips with the audience of more than 60 star struck marathon club members.

Mara – who is also a qualified Run England group leader – shared her inspirational marathon experiences, gave expert advice and shared some of her valuable knowledge to the engaged audience, before finishing off with a question and answer session.

Naomi from Clapham Chasers said: “We were extremely fortunate to spend some quality time with Mara. The chance to pick the brains of an Olympian doesn't come along every day! She proved a real inspiration to all of our runners – from first timers to championship qualifiers.”

Following the event Mara said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the evening with Clapham Chasers – we had a wide-ranging discussion about training, nutrition, and other key marathon topics, and there were some really good, challenging questions! The enthusiasm and dedication shown by the runners was impressive and very inspiring. I’ll be looking out for some great performances this spring!”

And what was Mara’s top tip? In contrast to the complexity that surrounds a lot of training plans and advice, she encouraged runners to “keep it simple and believe in yourself” – advice which resonated very strongly with many of the attendees.

The event was organised by Wandsworth Activator Jake Waldron as part of England Athletics’ Run! project. To find out more about athletics opportunities in Wandsworth, please contact Jake at jwaldron@englandathletics.org or 07540 704347.