Next year, United Response will be proudly cheering on several runners taking on the London Marathon 2026 on our behalf. This will include two of our own: Matt and Rosie from Richmond Community Support.

The pair started out attending the race last year to support our 2025 runners and soon became inspired to start a marathon journey of their own. We recently spoke to Matt about how they got involved, how they’re preparing for the big race, and what’s keeping them motivated along the way.

How it all began

In 2025, Matt and Rosie attended the London Marathon to cheer from the sidelines, starting their day off on Tower Bridge with bags of wine gums to hand out to runners.

Matt recalls:

“The determination in the runners’ eyes was infectious, and you could just see the enormous amount of effort they had put into this amazing feat of human endurance.”

From Tower Bridge to the riverside and then to the finish line, they spotted a few representatives from United Response and Richmond Community Support along the way.

Soaking up the atmosphere, they could really see the sense of achievement that each runner felt as they greeted family with their medals worn proudly around their necks.

Setting their sights on the race

“As we were heading home that day, Rosie and I knew that next year we would do the marathon,” Matt says.

“When we arrived back in the office on Monday, we emailed our fundraising team and were told our names would be put on a short list. But personally, I thought that would be the end of it. I’ve never run in my life, so doing a marathon really felt off the cards!”

But before they knew it, Matt and Rosie were contacted by Carly and Maxine in the United Response fundraising team, who confirmed they had secured a place for 2026.

Carly said: “I had the pleasure of contacting all of our successful applicants this year, and making the call to Matt and Rosie made me smile. They were both super excited and looking forward to running together; we’re thrilled to have them on the team.”

And with that, training began.

The start of training (reality sets in!)

Matt and Rosie have now been training for just over two months, and it’s been quite the experience so far.

Matt said: “Let me tell you, the first 5k training sessions were horrendous! We’ve now finally managed to push it up to 10k though.”

But after getting past the early hurdles and both investing in some proper running trainers, they’re now starting to build confidence with every run.

They even geared up and took on their first formal challenge: a festive fun run in Windsor on 7th December.

Speaking about why running on behalf of United Response is so important to them, Matt said:

“As a charity, United Response rely on fundraising to make sure we can deliver high-quality services to those we support. Fundraising at the London Marathon not only gives us the opportunity to platform the organisation, but it also allows for those we support to have input into community events. The money raised from our run will help local and national initiatives and also allow us to promote the independence of people with learning disabilities across the country.”

Good luck, Matt and Rosie! We can’t wait to see how your marathon journey goes.