Mark Wright suffers with nerves every day after a devastating injury forced him to abandon his marathon dreams.
The former Only Way Is Essex star was due to take to the streets for the London Marathon back in 2021, but he suffered a tear in his calf muscle and was forced to pull out. Speaking the The Mirror about what happened, Mark explained how he was nervous every day ahead of his upcoming stint in the race this year as he fears injuring himself again.
Last year, Mark was hopeful he could still run but the "devastating" injury forced him to pull out of the race. However, he will be back again for the marathon in October this year and plans to exceed his own expectations.
Speaking exclusively to The Mirror about the injury which saw him pull out of last year's marathon, he said: "At the time, it was devastating. I had done quite a bit of training and I was really looking forward to it and I went on the day and saw the atmosphere."
However, he insists there were positives to what happened and it has only spurred him on even more now.
"Actually now I'm pleased that I did because I would never have been able to run at the pace I want to run ay because of my injury and I would have been in pain and I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much," he added.
"So now I'm doing it again and getting to enjoy it, touch wood. I stay injury free. I'm happy now, but at the time it was upsetting."
And Mark admits he is incredibly "nervous" every day when he goes out for a run, as he worries about injuring himself and being forced to quit the marathon for a second year running.
He added: "I am nervous about getting injured every time I go out for a run or when I do a session. I'm nervous that I'm going to get injured. I've just got to keep my fingers crossed, keep working hard, keep the recovery, the ice baths etc."
Mark is teaming up with FLORA’s Get Towns Active campaign, which aims to encourage everyone to be more active. The former Only Way Is Essex star added: "The campaign is convincing towns across Britain and Ireland to get fit, get active, just do something more than they did yesterday. So I'm running a marathon to say, look, if I can do this, you can do at least a run or a walk around the block."
He was forced to pull out of last year's marathon after tearing a muscle in his calf, as doctors warned him it could "get worse".
Mark had said previously: "I went to the Running Show to pick up my race number the other day which made me even more excited for it, but after a scan the physio confirmed I have a grade two tear and there’s a big risk that if I ran on Sunday I could make it worse."
Admitting it was "hard news to take," he added: "Of course I’m going to be down there on the day, cheering along all the runners. One thing I know is that this experience has made me want to run the marathon even more."
*For more information on how to join in the Get Towns Active movement, visit flora.com and follow along with Mark Wright, Paula Radcliffe and the rest of the FLORA community on social channels using #TeamFlora #GetTownsActive.
