‘Harder than I ever thought’ says member who overcame serious neck injury to complete the Marathon

5 May 2026

“I made it but it was much harder than I thought it was going to be,” says ‘proud’ London Marathon runner Adam Fish, who completed the 26.2-mile challenge on Sunday.

The acting sergeant said that a number of factors meant that completing the London Marathon was ‘much harder’ than he thought it would be.

Adam, who broke his neck in a cycling accident 18 months ago, made a remarkable recovery to take part in the Marathon.

“I made it, which is positive and a great feeling, but it was much harder than I thought it was going to be,” said the Suffolk Police Federation member.

PC Adam Fish completed the London Marathon.

“It was partly the heat. I set off at 11.20am, which wasn't ideal,” said Adam, who explained that the start time meant he was running under some of the day’s warmest conditions.

He also said that he had to contend with his injuries, as well as ‘stop and start’ for fellow runners.

“You can be on a comfortable run and then you have to stop or change direction quickly because a fellow runner has seen someone in the crowd that they want to speak to. It took its toll on my neck and my knees,” continued Adam.

Knee and neck pain

“My left knee isn’t good and is in a brace, which is fine when I’m plodding, but if I suddenly have to change direction, the movement on the knee makes it painful.

“My neck was also painful. When you’re on training runs, you’re just concentrating ahead of you but constantly looking around because you have people coming up on either side of you took its toll.”

Adam fractured his C6 vertebrae when he came off his bike at the Belvoir Castle triathlon on 1 September 2024.

He had an operation to fuse the C6 and C7 vertebrae, and returned to full operational policing within five months and is back working on response.

London Marathon

He completed the Marathon in around five hours and 45 minutes. He was running in aid of Aspire, a UK charity that supports people with spinal injuries.

And despite all of the challenges, Adam said he was proud to complete the course.

He said: “I’m really glad I got it done. I don’t think I’ll be signing up for another one anytime soon, but I made it, and that feels good.”

Adam has set up a JustGiving page for people to support him and the Aspire charity.

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