Rose Harvey is tough as nails and ready to go as she looks to put her injury struggles behind her on Sunday.
The Team GB Olympian suffered a stress fracture of her femur during the 2024 Paris Games marathon but carried on in agony to cross the finish line in under three hours.
But the 32-year-old reckons she is stronger than ever as she takes on the challenge of London, and is grateful for the opportunity to put her painful experience behind her.
“All athletes go through setbacks”
Harvey said: “I think all athletes go through setbacks – it’s an occupational hazard of what we do – and through that we get very good at using the opportunities.
“For me, Paris was a bit of a hard reset, a time to work on weaknesses and make sure you come back stronger every time, so that’s how I’ve approached this block.
“I’m really lucky that it’s been physically a very smooth process back. It makes you all the more grateful for just running and training and doing what we love, so for me it’s actually been a really positive experience, and I’ve really enjoyed this training block and working towards Sunday.
“It’s been a great block of training. I’m very lucky that, with a lot of help from my team, I’ve had a very smooth comeback.
“I had a bit of time off after Paris, and this year has been really good. I’ve really enjoyed getting back training and building up for London; it’s really exciting to be here.”
“Just smile!”
Harvey, a former lawyer from Evesham, Worcestershire, who married fiance Charlie Thuiller shortly after Paris, reckons running has never been so popular – and has some advice for anyone taking part on Sunday.
She said: “Just enjoy it. All the hard work is done. Race day should be a celebration of that. All the times when you didn’t want to go out training, all the soggy runs, all the early mornings – this is the fun part, so don’t forget to enjoy it, and when it gets hard, just smile!
“It’s exploded”
“Running is just booming, and it’s so cool to see – every year more and more people are taking up running. For me, I really got into structured training over Covid and I think that’s when a lot of people picked up their running trainers and got into it too, but over the last 12 months it’s exploded.
“I train in Battersea Park and it’s been like getting onto the M25 trying to train there. Either go at 7am or don’t even try. It’s amazing to see so many people getting out there, training for events, challenging themselves – it’s fantastic.”
