PICTURES: Paula Radcliffe and Mark Wright lead marathon training session in Sussex

Mark will be taking on his first ever marathon tomorrow (October 2) in London. Three-time London Marathon winner, Paula Radcliffe, has been mentoring Mark and was on hand to provide expert mentoring and advice.

Mark is fronting FLORA’s ‘Get Towns Active’ campaign – encouraging people to take natural steps towards a more active lifestyle. Brighton is the least active town in the UK, according to FLORA’s annual ‘Active Towns’ report so it seemed fitting for the TV personality and world record-breaking long-distance runner to leads the session at Withdean Stadium. Despite Brighton being bottom of the table, the report found that the average time people spend being active in the city has increased to 46 minutes per day.

Mark said: “It’s been a long and tough training journey to get in shape for the TCS London Marathon, but I’m pleased that we’ve been able to use this opportunity to visit Brighton and bring the community together in getting active. I saw that Brighton was bottom of the table, but I think there’s a lot to be positive about considering the average time the nation has spent being active has increased nearly everywhere across the board. I know Brighton is such a vibrant, active place that I wouldn’t be surprised if they shot up the table next time.

“Today has also been a really great opportunity to catch up with Paula and get some incredibly helpful last-minute tips that will be useful on the big day this weekend. I’m getting a little nervous now, but also excited because I know how amazing the London Marathon community is and how they’ll help all of us runners get across the finish line.”

Paula said: “The FLORA Runalong has been a brilliant opportunity to meet some of FLORA’s incredible activists and see all the hard work they’ve been doing in encouraging their followers to take steps towards being more active. It’s been so much fun getting to know them and having the chance to do some training here in Brighton.

“Mark has been great during these months of training, we’ve kept in touch throughout and he’s been asking me loads of questions on how to manage navigate it – he’s really keen to learn and is taking it incredibly seriously. One of the things we’ve been discussing most is pre- and post-marathon refueling, bringing more healthy fats into his diet with food like FLORA on toast. I’m really looking forward to seeing Mark cross that finish line on Sunday, and the same goes for all of the FLORA Get Towns Active Activists and for everyone who is taking part this year.”

John Mulvey, head of marketing at FLORA, said: “It was important for us to be able to visit Brighton today to hold the Runalong, not because they placed last in the FLORA annual ‘Active Towns’ report, but more by means of encouragement for the community and to celebrate the fact that they are being more active than last year. With all of the towns across the nations increasing their average activity time, it’s clear that the UK and Ireland are on the right trajectory for getting more active and living healthier lifestyles. It’s incredibly positive news and something FLORA are proud to have been tracking over the past few years, so we wanted to really emphasise that lovely message to the people of Brighton.”

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