The recent news that Sabastian Sawe ran the 26.2 miles of the 2026 London Marathon in just under two hours was met with congratulations and awe, at least by those who take a genuine interest in such matters, particularly as it is (at the time of writing) a world-record achievement. But as Laura Mugford’s unnamed character points out, “You don’t have to come first to win” -indeed the marathon’s organisers give every finisher a medal, and if this year (perhaps this happens every year), a good number of finishers queued up the next day to get their medal engraved.
I can only assume Mugford’s character was running for a registered charity related to her chronic illness, unspecified but related to bowel movements, or rather the lack of them. Having her condition from childhood meant she had, in many ways, learnt to get on with life despite considerable pain, and it was interesting to hear in this hour-long monologue how having an elevated pain threshold didn’t make the challenge of running the London Marathon any easier, and at the same time aches and pains in her body were really nothing new. She is careful not to lord this, or anything else, over anyone, and hearing her talk about school bullies – one of which was her own teacher – in such an animated way brought to mind a quote attributed, rightly or wrongly, to the late Robin Williams: “I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy because they know what it’s like to feel absolutely worthless and they don’t want anyone else to feel like that.”
While the show follows the trend to time-hop rather than tell a story in forward chronological order, bouncing between the present and the past and back again (and so on), that theatrical device works better here than in most shows that deploy this technique. A more straightforward narrative arc here would have meant a ridiculously long preamble as the character does a deep dive into her formative years, followed by a lot of running. Chopping and changing gives the story as a whole ample room to breathe – and no, she does not spend the entire show continually on a treadmill.
It is nonetheless remarkable how she would run for an extended period and then stop for a scene change, and almost immediately resume talking to the audience without a scintilla of heavy breathing. It’s a ‘tourable’ set, with a couple of boxes, which double up as backless seats, containing various props for the show, and an hospital IV drip infusion stand (yes, I had to look that up) used during her inpatient treatments. But this is not a trauma play. The character’s story was not about how her life is worse than yours. A stable home life was counterbalanced by a turbulent school one, and as someone who had few reasons to enjoy school myself, hearing about a very different but nonetheless relatable set of experiences was ultimately quite validating.
Surprisingly, this show about someone taking on a marathon run was not exhausting to watch. Perhaps every marathon finisher has their own demons to wrestle with beyond the physical effort involved to finish the job. An engaging production, briskly paced in more ways than one.
Review by Chris Omaweng
I am on the Mall, 385 yards from the rest of my life.
Have you ever run a marathon? Wanted to? Couldn’t think of anything worse? This 60-minute treadmill spectacular might just get you lacing up your trainers and hitting the pavement. This semi-autobiographical comedy follows ‘Runner’ as she navigates her first marathon, and every key moment in her life that led her to the start line. From chronic illness, bullies, and nights in hospital all the way to the origins of the marathon itself, this play will leave you wondering – what would you do to stay alive?
Written and performed by Laura Mugford
Directed and produced by Just a Regular House
26.2 REASONS TO STAY ALIVE
Arches Lane Theatre
4 to 9 May 2026
