Rohan Kallicharan & Jim Hall: United by the London Marathon

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In  the first episode of the Running Tales podcast, in collaboration with Run Tri Bike, we spoke to two runners who were brought together by the power of the London Marathon.

ROHAN KALLICHARAN:  Rohan, a sub-three hour marathoner, achieved something extraordinary this year. The man dubbed 'Ro Farah' by friends marked his 50th birthday by reaching 100 marathons.

But that achievement barely touches the surface of Rohan’s story.

Over a 15 year period, starting when he was a teenager, he struggled with his mental health, attempting suicide three times before eventually being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

With a lot of hard work, Rohan was able to move forward with his life, but in confronting his mental demons he began to neglect his physical wellbeing, ballooning up to 19 stone.

It was only when he visited the London Olympic Games in 2012 that Rohan realised it was time to do something about his weight. Shortly afterwards he started running - and he’s barely stopped since.

JIM HALL: Until recently, Jim was a casual runner, taking part in local 10ks and the odd parkrun.

But when Covid hit and he couldn’t play his favoured pool and billiards, Jim fell into a new routine of just working and running.

Before he know it, he’d lost one-and-a-half stone and got two minutes quicker over 5k.

Since then, Jim has joined Shrewsbury Athletic Club, and has been aiming to become the best running version of himself possible - at 52 years old.

Last year, he completed the London Marathon in an incredible sub-three hour time, telling Running Tales he’s amazed at the progress he’s made and how his times have fallen.

Jim and Ro were fated to meet at that London Marathon, and our chat looks at how that chance meeting demonstrated all that is good about distance running and runners.