MPs Harriet Cross and Cat Smith limber up for London Marathon

When Conservative MP Harriet Cross runs the London Marathon on Sunday, she is hoping to hit the end line properly inside 4 hours.

If she will be able to get there in below three hours 57 minutes, that will make her the quickest feminine MP, beating a report at present held by Jo Swinson, Liberal Democrat chief in 2019.

Cross is conscious of the report, however is just not counting her chickens.

“There’s a 26.2 mile course between me and that in the intervening time, so I need not get forward of myself,” she says.

“I am hoping for one thing within the three hours mark, however we’ll see the way it goes on the day. Mid-three hours could be a contented end result.”

The MP for Gordon and Buchan is an skilled runner – in 2023 she received a 50km (31 mile) extremely marathon – however nonetheless admits to a little bit of nervousness about London.

She has finished loads of mountain marathons, however this will likely be her first on a street floor.

“That is totally different as a result of it is flat… while you’re going up a hill you get to stroll, so this can be a lot extra daunting.”

After which there are the crowds. In Scotland, the place she often runs, she says there are usually a couple of hundred folks gathering to look at.

Operating in entrance of fifty,000 folks will likely be “daunting”, she says.

For Labour MP Cat Smith, Sunday will likely be her third London Marathon, but she additionally has a couple of nerves.

She says she is “totally diagnosing” herself with “maranoia” – the nervousness and worry that may hit a runner as marathon day approaches.

“The previous couple of days earlier than you do the run you begin considering again to all of the coaching runs and considering ‘possibly I ought to have finished one other one, or possibly I ought to’ve tried more durable or labored more durable, and possibly I would like to return to the health club and do a couple of extra weights as a result of are my knees actually robust sufficient?’.

“You begin questioning every part, however I believe that is completely regular and I recognise that from earlier occasions,” the Lancaster and Wyre MP provides.

In contrast to Cross, she is just not seeking to break any political pavement pounding data. Final time, she managed six hours six minutes.

“I am extremely sluggish – I’m the tortoise who will get there ultimately,” she says.

“Once you compete a marathon, that’s the actual prize.”

As an skilled London Marathon-er, does she have any phrases of knowledge for her fellow parliamentarian?

“I’ve completely no recommendation in any respect that’s price having. Simply maintain one foot in entrance of the opposite,” she says.

The pair will likely be amongst 16 MPs working the race on Sunday – and Cross thinks there are some parallels between working a marathon and a political life.

“It wants dedication, wants focus. That you must not be distracted by what different individuals are doing round you,” she says.

“Should you go off at the beginning of the marathon with somebody who’s making an attempt to get a two thirty and also you’re nowhere close to, that you just’re not going to get very far.”

Cross is elevating cash for Kayleigh’s Wee Stars, a charity that raises cash for households of kids who’ve terminal diseases.

Smith is working for the Bay Hospital charity, which she says raises cash for the “good extras” that the NHS would not present, in addition to some medical gear.

You may hearken to the interviews on BBC Radio 4’s At present in Parliament at 23.30 BST on Friday and after that on BBC Sounds.