Northern Ireland

Marathon man Ken Jones (85) vows to keep on running

Ken Jones at his home in Strabane before taking part in the London Marathon next week. Picture by Niall Carson/PA Wire
Ken Jones at his home in Strabane before taking part in the London Marathon next week. Picture by Niall Carson/PA Wire Ken Jones at his home in Strabane before taking part in the London Marathon next week. Picture by Niall Carson/PA Wire

ONE of the oldest London Marathon entrants has vowed to keep running as long as his legs will carry him.

Ken Jones (85), who lives in Co Tyrone, has never missed the annual event since it began in 1981, notching up around 110 marathons during a life-long passion for the sport which began after the Second World War.

Mr Jones is the senior member of the Ever Present Club of veterans and is vowing to complete next week's competition by running the first five or six miles and walking the rest.

"There is only 10 of us left in the whole of England who have run every London Marathon and of course I am the oldest guy, all the others are younger than me by five or 10 years," he said.

"It is such a great day, it is an incredible day, 40,000 last year and there will be probably more this year."

Mr Jones is originally from London, but moved to Strabane around 15 years ago where he trains on the narrow country roads where he lives.

The retired great-grandfather ran his first marathon in 1967 and has gone from running five-minute miles to 15 minutes a mile but has remained injury-free for decades, attributed to healthy living and keeping his weight under control.

He joined a north London running club after his national service in the Army in the 1950s and has not stopped since with his good times in the initial London Marathons ensuring his entry in subsequent events.

But he said some members of his London running team are older.

"They usually die in their late nineties, 98, 99, 100. I hope to go on that long because it keeps you healthy."