When runners spot the seven‑hour pace flag on the course of the 2026 TCS London Marathon, they’ll be following someone who embodies the very spirit of the event.
That someone is Kelvin MacDonald, one of the most reassuring presences you could hope for late in a long day of running.
Just two weeks after pacing the seven‑hour group at Brighton Marathon (pictured below), Kelvin is returning to pace the same time band in London. It will be his 26th marathon, a neat symmetry he appreciates: 26 marathons, each 26.2 miles.
“It felt like something I had to do,” he says. “It has a nice ring to it.”
Kelvin started running in 1989 as a way to rebalance an increasingly unhealthy lifestyle, thanks to a stressful job, too much fast food, and the creeping realisation that something needed to change. Then, by chance, someone offered him a charity place for the London Marathon at a party.
“I woke up the next morning thinking, ‘Oh, goodness. What have I done?’ But the challenge drew me in.”
That first marathon nearly ended before it began. Kelvin’s race number blew off at the start on Blackheath.
“It’s a tale of incompetence really,” laughs Kelvin, “I couldn’t find it, but I started anyway and they pulled me off the course at the Finish Line because I had no number.”
He wrote to race director Chris Brasher, saying, ‘I did it and I remember my number as it was 999’. Brasher believed him.
“He sent me a medal. And a very nice letter. That hooked me. The running community is so nice and caring and that’s why I’m glad I found pacing.”
“Pacing at the back we aren’t going to break any records, but it’s about encouraging people and hearing some amazing stories as you run or walk along together. That’s the running community to me.”
While London may be “the one,” Brighton is home.
Kelvin has run his hometown marathon 11 times, watched it grow from around 7,000 runners to more than 14,000, and even served as a tailwalker before becoming a pacer.
But London still carries a particular magic.
“I love London, and to be doing it with the pacer flag on my back is a dream come true. I really can’t wait!”
Outside of running, Kelvin is a lecturer in urban policy. He also runs 40 miles a week, mixing running and walking.
“I train like other people,” says Kelvin, “but not at such a fast pace.”
He’s done three half marathons in March alone, and in terms of recovery, he leans on his physiotherapist, Dawn Buoy.
“She’s been brilliant and seen me through trapped nerves, knee problems, and, at the moment, osteoarthritis. It’s like going to the caring garage – she repairs me and puts me back on the road again.”
The mental benefit is what keeps Kelvin clocking up the miles.
“You go out full of problems and issues, and ‘How am I going to do that?’ and ‘How am I going to face that?’ And you go out for a run, and it has all resolved somehow. It’s not just the physical benefits, but the mental benefit is why I keep coming back to it and the challenge.”
“I think if you stop, you never start again. A lesson for a marathon too! If you stop, it’s really hard to get going again.”
And for anyone thinking about becoming a pacer?
“Don’t be afraid of applying,” he says. “I always thought pacers were superheroes. These people run with a flag on their back and keep to an exact time – they must be superheroes.”
“We’re not superheroes. You can do it too.”
