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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Dominik Diamond

If you want to run your first marathon in your 50s, it helps to be chased by zombies

Dominik Diamond in sunglasses and a purple head wrap gives two thumbs up while running
Dominik Diamond runs his first marathon. Photograph: courtesy Dominik Diamond

At 56, I am running my first marathon, an old, fat, bald dad surrounded by millennials in body-hugging Lycra and smiles that look AI-generated. But I am ahead of them. For they are only competing for positions and personal bests, and I am being chased by zombies.

The black dog of depression hit me around the time of my last birthday. I didn’t feel I had achieved anything of note for an eternity. I used to work out but, for years, work kept getting in the way. I decided to kill two circling, carcass-sniffing vultures with one stone and run my first marathon.

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