Blowing Bubbles fanzine editor David Blackmore is hoping to lay to rest his London Marathon ghost next month whilst raising thousands for charity.The 36-year-old collapsed with heat stroke just before the 25-mile marker of the London Marathon in October 2021, and had to be retrieved from the course and treated by volunteers from St John Ambulance.
Now the TV journalist, who launched Blowing Bubbles in August 2012, is gearing up to complete the London Marathon on Sunday 23 April to raise money for St John Ambulance.
David says: “I used to watch the London Marathon every year as a child and it was the only marathon I ever had any desire to do so it was a dream come true when I got a place in 2021.
“But my dream turned into a nightmare so close to the end. I don’t remember much after mile 23 but I will always be so grateful to the runners who I’ve been told stayed with me until help arrived, and to the St John Ambulance volunteers who treated me.
“As much as I’ll be running the London Marathon to finally cross it off my bucket list, I am so glad that I’ll be running for St John Ambulance. To me, it is the perfect way to say thank you to the charity and their volunteers who will line the route on April 23 and save others just like they did for me.”
He added: “Running a marathon can be a gruelling experience both physically and mentally, and I feel it will be tough emotionally as I get close to where I’d collapsed just 18-months before. But I am determined to make it to the finish line and to finally soak up the atmosphere on The Mall and get my hands on a London Marathon medal.”
Following his collapse at 2021’s London Marathon, David dusted himself down and went on to run marathons in Brighton and Vienna in April 2022, and also in Atlanta in March this year.
He also completed the 435-mile Lap of Anglia in August last year to raise money for the East Anglia Air Ambulance and celebrated a half marathon personal best at the Great North Run in September last year.
He also completed a 2,280-mile virtual challenge last year to run the length of the USA’s famous Route 66. It took David 363 days to cover the distance from Chicago on the east coast to Santa Monica in California along the west coast.
Over the past 18 months, David has also clocked up millions of views on Instagram and TikTok that have documented his running journey following his London experience. You can follow David by searching for @DavidBlackm0re on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.
You can support David’s fundraising drive for St John Ambulance by sponsoring him via justgiving.com/davidblackmore86
In August last year, David and his Blowing Bubbles team celebrated the fanzine reaching its 10th anniversary. The monthly magazine has now clocked up more than 130 issues and has a dedicated readership, both in print and in digital form. You can secure a subscription to Blowing Bubbles by visiting blowing-bubbles.co.uk/subscribe/
Over the last decade, Blowing Bubbles – motto ‘By the fans, for the fans’ – has followed every twist and turn of the sometimes ecstatic and sometimes exasperating journey that has been West Ham’s progress, from Upton Park to the London Stadium, from Carroll to COVID, from Allardyce to Zouma.
Former players and managers have been happy to give the magazine their time, and two shortlist places for Fanzine of the Year at the Football Supporters’ Federation awards show that it is not just West Ham fans who are fans of Blowing Bubbles.
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