England double act: The twins running marathons together

Being selected to run for England is a great honour, but to be able to do so alongside your twin is even more special. We recently caught up with David and John Williams who did just that at the Manchester Marathon, which played host to the first Masters International representative race of the season, to find out more about their experiences of training and competing together.

Pushing each other to keep running

David started running first and as he began to get faster, he persuaded John to give it a go. Now they have both discovered a love of running and have progressed through the distances to the marathon. As part of their training plans for this distance, they enjoy completing their weekend long runs together.

“Having a twin brother to train with is amazing.” John explained. “As well as being my best friend, David encourages me and when training becomes exhausting, we drag each other through the long weekly 21-mile training runs. David is the faster of the two of us and is constantly pushing to help me to improve.”

David added, “As the training block progresses, the long run becomes more gruelling, so it’s good that we have each other, firstly to make sure we go out even when the legs are tired or the weather is awful, and to encourage each other in the latter stages of the run when it starts to hurt.”

Despite both claiming to be competitive, they agree that there is no competitiveness between them and they only want the other to do the best they can in every race.

John explained, “I can honestly say that I am not competitive in any way with David, others yes but not him. I have never beaten him in a competitive race and have no desire to do so. I only want him to do well.”

David agreed, “Generally, I am really competitive, however I would be thrilled were John to move to another level and outperform me…. only twins would understand.”

Twins running for England together

Having both run the London Marathon previously, they were excited to be selected to represent England masters over that distance back in 2020. Unfortunately, the event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so the twins were thrilled to be selected together again this year. David described the feeling:

“We were really excited to find out we had both been selected for the Manchester event. For me personally, it is a huge honour to wear that England vest, and the camaraderie with the organising team and runners is just amazing. But to be in the England team with your twin brother takes it to a whole new level, I couldn’t have been more proud, and it’s an experience I will never forget.”

John was equally proud to be on the team alongside David:

“How many people can say they have represented their country at a competitive level in sport? It felt like a real sense of achievement. The biggest honour was to line up alongside David, a British Masters HM gold medallist, British Masters Marathon silver medallist and European Marathon bronze medallist and proudly my twin brother.”

The joy of running as a masters athlete

Masters athletics and running provides great opportunities for athletes over 35 years old to compete against others in the same age group. The regular England representative opportunities create such a supportive and inspirational community as David explained:

“My favourite thing about competing as a masters athlete is definitely the friends it has brought into my life who I would otherwise not have met. Taking part in these events creates a special bond between runners, especially if you have a particularly difficult race and get through it together on the day. And to see the quality of the field in these competitions is always humbling, some truly staggering performances by amazing athletes.”

John praised the team behind the team who do so much to support the athletes both in the lead up to and during these masters events.

“My favourite thing has to be the dedication and enthusiasm of the team that run England Masters. Not only is it an honour to meet and talk to these individuals, who are respected top class athletes, but nothing is too much trouble for them.”

You may not have a twin like John and David, but if you have been inspired by their story, there are plenty of upcoming masters opportunities.