Ministry of Defence Police Officer completes World Marathon Majors
Super fit MDP Officer Aaron Wilson has completed the World Marathon Majors, running 6 major city marathons, with another one lined up for October.
Aaron Wilson. Photo: Ministry of Defence Police: All rights reserved.
Aaron, T/Sergeant in Operations, based in Berkshire, has successfully completed marathons in Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York.
He said:
It started in 2008 when my New Year’s resolution was to run a marathon having never run any long distance before. I ended up choosing a cross country marathon, which I completed in 3:49:00, vowing afterwards never to do a marathon again!
For the next couple of years I ran a couple of 10k races and half marathons, before gaining entry into the London Marathon in 2011. My aim was to go sub 3 hours for the first time and I achieved this with a time of 2:56:15.
I then found out about the World Marathon Majors, with my aim being to complete each marathon in under three hours. I completed Berlin in 2012 in 2:56:30, which got me a qualifying time for Boston in 2013.
After running Boston in 2:57:55 I had mixed emotions due to the bombings that took place there that year. Thankfully I was at my hotel with my wife, Micayla, when it all unfolded.
In 2014 I went to Chicago, where I managed to knock 10 minutes off my best time, completing it in 2:46:59. The following year was New York, in which I ran 2:47:44, deciding after that to run London again in 2016 to try to better my previous time. I crossed the line in 2:36:55, knocking ten minutes off my personal best, set in Chicago, and 20 minutes off my first London time.
The final race of the majors challenge was Tokyo in February 2017. I qualified as a semi-elite athlete, thanks to the time I set in London. I ran a personal best in 2:33:47 which I was very happy with, considering I didn’t adjust to the time difference and had very little sleep.
Going forward I am representing the MDP at the Police Sport UK 10 mile race this month (September) as part of my training for the Frankfurt marathon in October.
Aaron thanked Assistant Chief Constable Operations, Paul McLaughlin, for his support and the help of the MDP Sports Fund with entry fees, as well as the support he has received from his wife, family and work colleagues.
Congratulating Aaron, Mr McLaughlin commented:
I’m absolutely delighted with his fantastic and overwhelming achievement, which is clearly down to his dedication and the support he has had from family, friends and colleagues.
At a time when the force is driving through the necessary fitness level requirement to meet our role profiles in MDP, what Aaron has demonstrated is where officers could possibly take their personal health and fitness through sheer dedication.
T/CC Andy Adams commented:
Wow, what a fantastic achievement! We take officer fitness very seriously in MDP, striving continually to raise fitness standards to fulfil our vital role in guarding the nation’s defences: Aaron’s commitment and determination is an example to us all.