‘I’ll keep doing it as long as I can’: Harry Newton, London Marathon’s oldest runner at 88

“He said to me ‘although it’s not unusual for a man of your age, there is some wear and tear in that knee, and I do not see it standing up to any marathon’,” he says. “But I had a couple of thousands of pounds sponsorship riding on it, so I thought I would give it a go.

“That first one was slow, but I got round in five hours and 10 minutes by running and walking,” he adds. “Although I hurt all over for about a month afterwards.”

By then the marathon bug had hit and it never let go – including running one in his back garden. “That was when we weren’t allowed to go out much,” he says. “So I thought the answer was to run around the garden. I strode it out to about 110 yards. And I just kept going round in circles until my watch told me I’d done enough. I think it was 461 times.”

Newton’s personal best at London is three hours, 52 minutes and 30 seconds – set when he was 70 years old. He will be slower this year, but last September ran Morecambe in five hours and 56 minutes, well inside the six hours and 10 minutes limit to get a Good For Age place for over 85s.

Harry Newton is a late bloomer who ran 461 times around his garden for a marathon distance during lockdown. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Like any runner he is determined to give it his very best on Sunday and will take to the start line wearing a pair of Saucony super shoes, which normally retail for £280.

“There was a sale in a local shop in Wilmslow a month or two ago. So I grabbed a pair.”

The world championship bronze medallist Julia Paternain, who is also racing in the same shoes on Sunday, says she is amazed by Newton’s achievements. “The fact that he’s running a marathon at 88 is just so inspiring,” she says. “And it’s really cool that I’ll be in the same company as him.”

And whatever happens, Newton isn’t finished yet. “A few years ago, I probably wouldn’t have thought to still be running at 88, but I’ll keep doing it as long as I feel as if I can,” he says. “I will be slower every year, won’t it? But that’s age. And you can’t do a lot about that.”

Before he goes, he has a final nugget for those of a certain age who are inspired to follow in his footsteps: see a physio and get strengthening exercises to stay injury-free – and don’t be afraid to give it a go.

“I’ve found that very helpful,” he says. “And for the last five or six years, touch wood, I have been pretty clear. Sometimes you do go out and you think, ‘Oh, this knee’s pinging a bit this morning’, but you run a mile or so and you forget all about it, don’t you?”