Why I ran the London Marathon in Body Paint

On Sunday 24th April I ran the Virgin London Marathon dressed head-to-toe in body paint displaying inspirational messaging and patterns. Starting at 4am, the talented Jules from Bentley Body Art started first with the paint, then with the messages, the patterns and finally, glitter and a few gems.

THIS IS ME. My body is far from perfect, if I go by what society presents to me. I do not look like one of the models in the magazines or fitness girls with thousands of followers on Instagram. But maybe it's perfect for me because it tells my story and that is real. Today I decided to use the London marathon as an opportunity to campaign for body positivity. For all of us who's bodies are the way they are, because that's the way we are. My message is: it's not about what your body looks like, but about what you can do with it and how you feel. This is my story: I've never been skinny or naturally fit. I have to work very hard at both and it's a constant challenge. In the last year I've been going through the hardest challenge of my life, learning to live without someone who was very important to me, someone who all my hopes, dreams and plans were intricately linked with. Whilst dealing with this, my body changed shape as food was part of my coping mechanism. In that time, I have run ultramarathons up to 100km in one go, run through the Patagonia National Park, cycled coast to coast across the USA and cycled London to Paris in 24 hours. My body doesn't stop me living my dreams and learning about my limits. Far from it. Regardless of how I look, my body is my power house, my strength and now, my chance to spread this message. Celebrate who you are and all the twists and turns that have made you that person, inside and out. We are all human, we all have our own scars and are fighting different battles. Lets support each other in whatever challenges we face and be proud of who we are. Perfection is only an illusion #thisisme #onelifeliveit #londonmarathon Huge thanks to the incredible @bentley.bodyart for waking up at 3am to paint me today @lucozadesport @dbasports @londonmarathon @sweatybetty @inov_8 @bh_beyondhealth

A photo posted by Sophie Radcliffe (@challengesophie) on Apr 24, 2016 at 12:52am PDT

As the paint went on, I grabbed my phone and wrote the words which flowed from me.

I had been thinking about this for weeks, but it was only making sense to me and all coming together in these final hours. I showed what I'd written to my Mum. Worried I was exposing too much of myself to the world and was risking making myself too vulnerable, she instantly burst into tears and said "you can't share that on social media". 

I thought about it again, and replied "I have to."

There's no point in going half way, in testing the water to see what happens. It has to be all or nothing, and that's the way I live. I was dreadfully afraid of receiving negative comments about my body, but that was the point. I knew I had to do this. To liberate myself from my own fears and make a stand for body positivity. 

I had a quiet word with myself and pressed publish on my Facebook post beginning with the words "THIS IS ME"

I continued by saying:

“My body is far from perfect, if I go by what society presents to me. I do not look like one of the models in the magazines or fitness girls with thousands of followers on Instagram. But maybe it’s perfect for me because it tells my story and that is real.”

— Sophie Radcliffe

As I stepped outside my house and made my way to the start in Greenwich. I felt distinctly nervous. What had I let myself in for?

My heart was racing. I don't even want to know how much stress I put my body under on Sunday. 

Running 26.2 miles is one thing. Doing it baring my story and exposing my inner demons whilst wearing hot pants, a sports bra and covered in paint, was another. 

I ran the marathon in 4hrs 1 minute and had my entire family there. It was an amazing day, but totally and utterly took it out of me. I felt my legs crumble under me as I crossed the line and tears well in my eyes. 

Later when I checked my social media posts, I was blown away to see hundreds of comments, thousands of likes and hundreds of thousands of views.

I still don't know what to say apart from thank you.

We are all human, we all have our own scars and are fighting different battles. I know it can be utterly crushing to feel you need to look a certain way. I vote for us to support each other however we look, because that's real and tells our stories.

Read the full post here.

See it on the BBC here.

HUGE thanks to:

Jules from Bentley Body Art

Lucozade Sport for sponsoring my place in the London Marathon

BeyondHealth for the invaluable physio, bio-mechanics, training support and deep tissue release work

DBA Sports for my personalised sports bra

Inov-8 for the Road Claw shoes I ran in

Sweaty Betty for my hotpants and leggings