Student completes world’s largest marathon and prepares for upcoming London run

A GCU student has recently completed the New York City Marathon - the world's largest marathon race

Physiotherapy student, Rebecca Watt, travelled to the Big Apple in November to take part in the race of a lifetime - and it was a family affair with her mum also running!

This year, the Five-Borough race became the world’s largest marathon ever with a total of 59,226 finishers.

Rebecca was one of the runners that day and she secured her place through a ballot system. She described the feeling as “surreal” when she saw the money come out of her bank account to confirm her spot.

She said: “It is self-pay. After your ballot place is picked, you just pay for yourself and that is how I knew I had gotten in, when the money from my bank came out!

“I went with my family, so they funded most of that and that was good, but my mum had to pay a bit more for her place because she did not want to go to New York without completing the run with me.”

Alongside her running and studying BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy at Glasgow Caledonian, she is also in GCU’s Dance Team and takes her role as Charity Co-ordinator seriously.

We spoke with Rebecca to find out how she manages to balance her busy schedule.

“It was quite hectic trying to balance everything and I had to plan out my days a lot. I had a running plan, so I stuck with that and gym workouts as well.

“It is easier to begin with when your runs aren't quite as long, and then you end up having to do 30k on a random Tuesday which takes over three hours. It is a lot easier in the summer months!”

Rebecca talks very highly of her mum and says she has been an inspiration for running.

“My mum always did marathons, and she started when she was my age and then stopped for years, had kids, and then went back to it.

“Going along to all the races just to cheer her on inspired me to do it. I would see her, and I thought when I am 18 and I am old enough, I am going to do it!”

Studying BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy at Glasgow Caledonian University, she thrives during her placements, and one that stood out to her was at a children’s hospital.

She explained that she cares deeply about children and young people with complex medical needs having the opportunity to be at home with family.

Rebecca’s training is all to prepare her for next April, when she will take on the 2026 London Marathon, fundraising for the charity WellChild.

She said: “I am doing the London Marathon in April, and I got a charity place for that and will be running for WellChild.

“I got a charity place for them and my mum got a ballot place, so we can do it together!

“WellChild is the national children’s charity for sick children. They support people’s discharge from hospitals and ensure that children can live a more normal life at home, continuing their treatment rather than having to be in hospital.

“I had a look at all the ones that were available for the London Marathon specifically because that’s what I kind of knew I wanted to do.

“It just seemed like the best one to fundraise for, as I liked working with children on one of my placements at a Children’s Hospital and saw the benefits of them being at home rather than being stuck in a hospital.”

Rebecca encourages other students to put themselves out there and that you may have to sacrifice other aspects of your life to do it.

She said: “If you want something bad enough yeah you can achieve it! Of course, getting to do the New York Marathon is a specific experience but if you believe that you could do other runs you can!”

You can donate to Rebecca’s fundraiser

By Lucy Rodgers

Got a student story? Email me at lucy.rodgers@gcu.ac.uk or connect with me on LinkedIn