Stuart Woledge COVERING a distance of 26 miles, the London Marathon is not for the faint-hearted, but a Sevenoaks businessman has taken the achievement
to new heights. Hand Picked Hotels director Douglas Waddel has completed the annual event more than 10 times, but this year the 44-year-old said he wanted to do something “a bit different”. So he got out his bicycle and convinced two close friends to join him on a 450-mile ride from Edinburgh to London in the week leading up to the event. Two days after arriving at his final destination, he swapped his cycling shorts for running shorts and completed the marathon in an impressive time of 3hrs 43mins. “The furthest I’ve ever cycled in training was 65 miles,” said Mr Waddel. “On the morning of the marathon my legs were a bit stiff, but I got into it and ran a really good time.”
“It was through the borders of Scotland and we ended up climbing the equivalent of a quarter of the way up Everest,” said Mr Waddel.