Nick Wall will have just turned 66 when he lines up for this year’s London Marathon in a few weeks’ time.

That’s pretty impressive in itself, but even though he is well into his seventh decade, the Cirencester Athletics Club runner is not going there with the aim of just finishing, he’s looking to set a very decent time.

“I’d really like to break four hours,” he told The Local Answer. “I know I can do it.”

He certainly can because he’s already gone under four hours over 26.2 miles, albeit not in London.

“I ran three hours, 56 in Amsterdam in 2019,” he said.

That was one of eight marathons he has run – his first was in 2016 – and the race on Sunday 23^rd April will be the fifth time he has run the London Marathon.

And he’s certainly hoping it will be a case of fifth time lucky because he has come so close to beating the four-hour mark over the years.

“I ran four hours, 30 seconds one year,” he said. “Thirty seconds over four hours, that was painful, really painful.

“The most recent time I finished in four hours, one minute, but that was when we ran into a really strong headwind along The Embankment. Everything needs to be right on the day.”

Fortunately for Wall, a lot more has gone right than wrong since he took up running some 25 years ago.

He readily admits that it’s a sport he wishes he’d taken up a lot earlier but as it is, it took a serious illness for him to get involved.

“I caught glandular fever when I was 40,” explained Wall, who lives in Minchinhampton.

“I was very ill for nine months. It takes all your stamina, every bit of it, I could hardly walk.

“I said to the doctor, ‘What can I do?’ He said there was no easy answer, he said I needed to start exercising and that I should start walking.”

So he did and it certainly helped, but it wasn’t long before he thought he could step it up a bit, so he started running.

“I started running on Minchinhampton Common,” he said. “Who wouldn’t want to run there?”

And not only did he start running, he also found out he was quite good at it and that it was something he really enjoyed.

“I was really ill for a while but in a way I’m glad I got glandular fever because that’s what it took to start me running,” said Wall, a freelance journalist who has been living in this part of the world for the past 22 years.

Initially he competed as an unattached runner before linking up with Cirencester Athletics Club 11 years ago.

“I wanted to do something to mark the London Olympics,” he said. “So I decided to do the triathlon at the Wenlock Olympian Games.”

And while he is a keen swimmer and cyclist, Wall readily admits that back then he knew nothing about the triathlon, which is where Cirencester AC came in.

“I approached them and asked if they could help me,” he continued. “They have a triathlon section and they were brilliant, immensely helpful.

“I’ve always swum – I still swim in Lake 32 in Cotswold Water Park – and I still ride, but it was pulling all three things together. I really enjoyed it.”

He’s done plenty of triathlons since, but these days he focuses mainly on his running and, in particular, the longer distances.

I run mainly half-marathons and marathons,” he said. “I like something that you can get your teeth into, something that lasts a long time.

“I’ve done parkruns, finished in 23 minutes and then thought, ‘Now what?’. But I’ve gone up to Newcastle and run the Great North Run, finished in one hour, 48 and thought, ‘That was worthwhile’.”

A trip to Cyprus to take part in a half-marathon was also very worthwhile for Wall.

“It was one of the most enjoyable runs I’ve ever done,” he said. “It was warm and the route took us through a national park before the final 500 metres, which was on the beach.

“That last 500 was really tough, but when you ran through the finish line you ran straight into the sea. Everyone was in the sea, eating ice creams and cooling their feet. It was wonderful.

“Seeing all those people eating their ice creams is what drives you to the finish.”

It’s fair to say that Wall won’t be thinking about ice creams when he’s pounding the streets of London towards the end of April, although it’s equally true to say that no-one knows what the weather will be like on the big day.

“You have to prepare yourself properly, be ready for it and see how the day goes,” he said. "The first thing is to get to the start line without getting injured, then the biggest challenge is the number of people who take part in the London Marathon. 

“You have to have a plan and stick to it, but even then anything can happen.”

And Wall knows from experience that anything can indeed happen.

“I ran the Great North Run last September and a man fell over in front of me and injured his head,” he said.

“I’m a qualified first-aider and I wasn’t going to just run round him, I tended to him, but it added 10 to 15 minutes onto my time.”

You wouldn’t expect Wall – or hopefully anyone else – to do anything different, of course, and in the past 12 months he has started to give even more to the sport he so clearly loves.

“I’ve been coaching at Cirencester for the last year,” he said. “Running has given me so much and I wanted to do something that would help the club.

“It’s very, very, very rewarding. I take sessions at the club and we also run Couch to 5K.

“We take people who can’t run, take them through the nine-week process and to see their faces after they’ve run a 5K, it’s absolutely worth it.”

And while he’s loving the coaching, he’s got no intention of giving up running himself.

“I want to keep going into my 70s,” he said. “There are a number of people in our club in their 70s who are still running well.

“Age is no barrier at our club, it doesn’t matter how old you are. The main thing about running is to enjoy what you are doing, whether it is 5K, 10K, a half-marathon or marathon.”