Lymington Athletes and New Forest Runners’ Valeria Sesto and New Forest Runners' Alastair Pickburn enjoyed wildly different experiences at the 2025 London Marathon

Local super athlete Valeria Sesto went through a gruelling experience to finish the London Marathon with a smile, while evergreen Alastair Pickburn ran just under two hours and 53 minutes.

Lymington Athletes founder Sesto, who also runs for New Forest Runners, had an emotional and challenging time, bursting into tears and vomiting before finishing strong, while New Forest Runner’s Pickburn sped around in two hours, 52 minutes and 20 seconds.

“It is definitely always worth it,” said 52-year-old Sesto. “The goal was never a time this year. I just wanted to take the opportunity one more time. I have been focusing on other goals and got to the start a bit overloaded, but what came next was unexpected.

“From about mile 12, I started feeling sick, very sick. The struggles became so difficult to deal with that I was barely able to run. I just didn’t know what to do, so I just kept moving forward as best as I could, as you don’t come to London to quit. Yet I was in so much trouble.”

She added: “Every mile felt like a mountain. And when it was five miles to go – normally the best part of the race for me – I felt as if I still had Everest to climb.

“Then, halfway through the 23rd mile, when I felt there was nothing else left, I saw my two sons and husband, Delfi, Santi, and Clive… It was such an unexpected treat to have both my children in London supporting me.

“Words can’t explain how truly painful it felt and how impossible I believed it was to make it to the end, and they were in disbelief when I told them that I didn’t think I could run anymore.

“I realised my children thought I must be a super tough superhuman, but I am just as weak as everyone. I might achieve a bit more in sports than others, but it is never, ever, ever easy!”

After bursting into inconsolable tears and experiencing violent, continuous vomiting, she gained a second wind: “Then it was magic. My legs were moving again, and I managed to run the last two miles and enjoy the finish of this incredible race with ease.”

Enjoying a very different afternoon, Pickburn shook off an injury and dealt with the warm weather to run a two-hour, 52-minute, 20-second marathon.

Pickburn said: “The race went really well despite having an injury issue which disrupted my training for a few weeks in March. It was also a pretty warm day, which didn’t make great conditions for trying to run quick times.

“However, I was really pleased to run a sub-2:53 time and hopefully secure a good-for-age place for next year’s race, so I’ve got fingers crossed for more consistent training, a cooler day and a faster time in 2026!”