For Chris Powell the countdown to running this weekend’s London Marathon began while watching the last one. Alongside his children, Morgan and Ché, at home in Surrey – nine months before he accepted the manager’s job at Southend – he watched the 26.2-mile event from the comfort of his sofa. On Sunday he will run his maiden marathon, in aid of Prostate Cancer UK, the charity for which he has been a long-time ambassador.
“I thought: ‘This is brilliant, I should do something instead of just attending events to raise awareness,’” Powell says. “It was a throwaway remark. I said: ‘I should have done it over the years.’ My daughter said: ‘Well, why don’t you?’ My son was like: ‘You should, you should.’ I was like: ‘No, no, those days are gone.’ They both said: ‘You have a year to prepare’ and they were right.
“I grew up at the time of Cram, Ovett, Coe and Peter Elliott. I used to run the 800m as a kid. I didn’t mind the long-distance in pre-season, so it’s always been part of my psyche watching the marathons, the special Kenyans and Paula Radcliffe for Great Britain. I’ve always had an interest but I’ve always felt it passed me by. But here I am at 48 doing it.”
For the day his kids have prepared a tailor-made playlist and Powell knows he will be in for a shock. “I don’t know half of what is on there but it reminds me of them, and actually that will be quite good as I’m running. My favourite as a kid was the Specials but Prince was my ultimate favourite – I saw him about seven times in concert. I went to an exhibition at the O2 and I could have really shed a tear because it reminded me of all the favourite moments in my life, listening to different albums and watching him live. I could have stayed there all day. Sadly he’s gone now but he left a real legacy that will never be beaten in my eyes.”
Powell admits his family have been a great support – “sometimes almost pushing me out the door” – and in recent weeks he has tapered his training – and his weight by a stone – in order to preserve energy. He is not fussed about getting over the line in a certain time. “I’m not a professional I’m just trying to play my part. My plan is not to stop – even if I am just above a walk I’ll be really happy. I know I can and I know I will. I’ve had that drive, I’ve always had it, and hopefully I’ll have it in bucket loads on the day.”
When running he has all eventualities covered, carrying money, his debit card and travel card. “On the odd occasion I’ve had to call my wife to come out and get me,” he says, laughing. “I normally make it back but recently I ran so far into London that I jumped on the tube back to Morden, from Tooting Broadway, which is near where I grew up. It was a long run and I just thought: ‘I can’t make it back.’ It was after we had played Plymouth and lost; I wasn’t happy so I thought: ‘Right, I’m going out in anger’ and I ended up in the middle of nowhere, really. I ended up walking in Sainsbury’s Local with my hat, luminous shorts on, my tights on. But, you don’t care how you look.”
It was a combination of grave numbers and a lack of knowledge about the disease that prompted Powell to get involved with the charity. “It was once I started to learn the facts about it, that it’s a bigger killer than breast cancer and that it affects all men. But the stat that really hit me was that it was one in eight for all men and one in four for black men. That took me back a bit because I was thinking if I just took my family, one of us is going to get it. That hit home. I thought: ‘I need to raise more awareness for all men.’ I’m in a football environment that is male-dominated, so why don’t we let people know?”
Powell had something of a dummy run in March with a half marathon. “Mo Farah ran and he just beat me …” he says, smiling before recalling getting involved in the final leg of Jeff Stelling’s fundraising walk to Wembley in 2016. “I was only meant to do AFC Wimbledon to Brentford but we got to Brentford and it was great,” he says. “The camaraderie, everybody’s walking and talking. They were saying: ‘Why don’t you just stay until Fulham?’ I thought: ‘OK, that will be fine.’ We had lunch and that was it, new people joined us on the walk and now it was: ‘Well, Chelsea is just down the road from here.’ I didn’t have running trainers on, I’m thinking my feet are killing me but I didn’t want to let anyone down.
“I got to QPR and it was: ‘We’re only five or six miles away now, you might as well complete the whole thing.’ I thought: ‘I’m only going to go home, so why not stay?’ It was just an amazing day, to get to Wembley and walk up the steps; I was really pleased and proud that I completed it. Mind you, it was painful going home and I threw those shoes away, never to be seen again.”
Powell – with trainers fit for the occasion – will undoubtedly, he says, be awash with emotion if and when he turns the final corner in front of Buckingham Palace. “I’ve already said to people that it’s going to be my first and my last. But, actually, if I enjoy the day, I can see me doing more in the future, whether that’s full or halves. It’s been a real eye-opener for me and I just hope everything goes well on the day.”
To make a donation visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/chris-powell2018
Talking points
• The EFL has dropped a misconduct charge against AFC Wimbledon after they were alleged to have not referred to MK Dons in the appropriate manner when the teams met last September – omitting “Dons” from the programme and scoreboard.
• A tribunal on Wednesday will determine the fee Exeter City receive for Ethan Ampadu, the 17-year-old who joined Chelsea last summer, after the two clubs failed to agree compensation.
• Millwall entertain high-flying Fulham on Friday aware that victory would enhance their play-off hopes. “To have Millwall in unison as one is a real powerful tool at the moment,” their manager, Neil Harris, said.
