Ruder Finn Staff Take on Paris Marathon for Hackney Foodbank
Colleagues Lee Manning and Rowan Tait have successfully completed the Paris Marathon, raising more than £3,000 for Hackney Foodbank.
The race, which weaved through the iconic streets of Paris, began at the Champs-Élysées and passed iconic landmarks including the Louvre, Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, running alongside the River Seine before heading back to the Arc de Triomphe to cross the finish line.
Rowan and Lee celebrated completing the Paris Marathon with a well-deserved drink!
Rowan had previously completed two marathons and had set up a running club for her colleagues at global communications firm, Ruder Finn, last year. Each week after work, the group would run 5K before winding down at a local bar. So, when Hackney Foodbank gave a presentation at Ruder Finn’s London HQ last year, Rowan and Lee decided - quite literally – to go the extra mile to support the charity.
Lee, Global Head of Design, said: "Having never run a marathon before, it was tough transitioning from short 5km runs to half marathons on the weekends. Luckily, I often had my eight-year-old son, Ewan, riding alongside me on his bike for company – he’d cycle 20km next to me, chatting away the entire time!
"The marathon itself was an incredible experience. The beautiful Parisian architecture all around and the energy from the crowds made it unforgettable. I’ve definitely caught the running bug…” Lee completed his first marathon in an impressive 5 hours and 23 minutes.
Meanwhile, Rowan, who works in Ruder Finn’s Healthcare team, achieved a personal best, shaving 15 minutes off her previous time to finish in 3 hours and 56 minutes. In attempt to try not let the training block take over her weekends, she could often be found getting up at 5am to squeeze in her 24km+ training runs before work during the week.
Rowan said: "I enjoy the discipline - knowing that the effort you put in during training leads to improvement can be really rewarding and keep you motivated. Plus, we were both really lucky to get through the training without any injuries, and I think incorporating strength work alongside our running definitely played a big part in that!”
Lee’s daughter Molly was there to cheer him on.
They were cheered on in Paris by Rowan’s best friend and by Lee’s family, including his children, Molly and Ewan, who all managed to see the runners at least twice on their way round the 26.2 mile course.
When asked the team if there were any tough parts of the course, Rowan shared: "There was one section of the route where we were in a dark underpass in the middle of Paris for about a kilometre, which was mentally quite tough but there was some great entertainment and all the participants started cheering and clapping which spurred everyone on to keep pushing through – there’s always a real sense of community during marathons, and Paris was no exception!”
More than 56,000 people participated in the Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris on April 13.
Now, Lee and Rowan are looking for their next challenge. They have both entered the ballot for the London Marathon 2026. However, with 840,000 runners vying for just 56,000 places, they are also keeping an eye out for other exciting events.