A 76-year-old has run every London Marathon since the first in 1981.<br /><br />Jeffrey Ralph Aston is one of six members of the exclusive London Marathon "ever present club" meaning that he has run every event since the inaugural race in 1981.<br /><br />On Sunday 21st April 2024, Jeffrey ran his 44th London Marathon with a time of eight hours and six minutes, a two minute improvement from last years race.<br /><br />In 1983 he ran his personal best - 2hrs 29 mins and 34 seconds.<br /><br />Being in such an exclusive club is a big sense of pride for Jeffrey, who says that it is a privilege to be in such an elite group.<br /><br />Jeffrey, a retired systems analyst from Birmingham, said: "It's just pleasing to be part of such a group. A huge privilege.<br /><br />"It's a club no one else can join, for obvious reasons, and we are all just ordinary guys from all walks of life that have done the same thing.<br /><br />"The oldest member retired after last years event at 91!"<br /><br />Jeffrey's first ever marathon, called the People's Marathon, was in May 1980 in Birmingham and ever since then he's had the marathon bug.<br /><br />He ran about five races that year, three of which were marathons.<br /><br />By the end of 1980, Jeffrey read an advert in a magazine for the first ever London Marathon.<br /><br />So he filled out the entry form and got accepted.<br /><br />Fast forward to 1995 and the London marathon identified 42 people who had run every London Marathon to that date.<br /><br />They received letters, a special commemorative medal, a sweatshirt and guaranteed acceptance for future London Marathons.<br /><br />Of the 42, only six remain, and all of them ran and finished the 2024 edition of the marathon.<br /><br />But even after finishing his 44th London Marathon, Jeffrey still has no plans to retire and can't wait for next year's event.<br /><br />He said: "I love it as much as I did the first day I started running in the Autumn of 1979.<br /><br />"Doing a marathon is more than just the day too, lots of work goes in beforehand and it gives me something to work towards.<br /><br />"I do probably around 20 races a year but I only run one marathon a year. <br /><br />"For my physical and mental wellbeing and fitness, it helps me so much."<br /><br />Although the marathons are not necessarily about the times anymore for Jeffrey, he still has that competitive spirit and wants to shave off as many seconds as he can still.<br /><br />He said: "My personal best was in 1983 when I ran 2hrs 29 mins and 34 seconds.<br /><br />"Now people say to me, it's amazing that you're still running it, which is true, but I would like to get back every second I can, closer to 7.5 hours maybe."
