'I'm just going to go for it': Edinburgh mum to take on London Marathon while 7 months pregnant with her second child

Sam Donaldson, 33 from Leith, will be at the starting line of the massive event on Sunday, April 26 weeks before the birth of her second child.

Her decision to initially apply for the London Marathon came after she suffered an injury in the 2024 Edinburgh marathon.

Sam said: “I was very inspired last year watching the London Marathon on telly and I thought ‘I need to try and get a spot’. This was going to be my redemption.”

After being one of 58,000 runners out of 1,000,000 applicants to book their place in the race last summer, Sam got the news that she was pregnant in October 2025.

Sam said: “It was a big shock. My first thought when it came to the marathon was that I had so many goals I wanted to reach.

“But now I’m actually really happy that this is the situation because I’ve pushed myself, not in the sense of getting a great time. It’s now literally just aiming to finish.”

She decided that the opportunity was too special to pass up and went about making sure that she would be medically sound to continue training for the race.

Sam, who is already mum to three-year-old Fyn with her husband Campbell, explained: “I was also thinking with a newborn and a toddler at home, I’m probably not going to have enough time to train if I deferred it to next year.

“So I decided that as long as I get medical approval, I’m just going to go for it.”

Sam has been training for the marathon with her coach Mark, who runs coaching business On Your Mark’s.

She said: “At this point, he is a coach-slash-councillor. He’s been really helpful in helping me to manage the workload.”

The training has been an adjustment for Sam, who rekindled her love for running during the Covid lockdown.

She said: “Running is one of these sports that if you put in the work, you see the progress.

“But with being pregnant, I’m only getting more unfit and larger obviously.

“It’s been a lot of having to grit down and push through because you’re not getting those little mini rewards. Everything is getting harder and the bump is heavy.”

Sam will be running the London Marathon to raise money for the MS Society, which helps to support her mother-in-law who was diagnosed with the condition.

But another reason which has spurred her on is setting an example for her soon-to-be newborn daughter.

Sam said: “I cannot wait until she grows up and I can tell her ‘you ran a marathon!’.

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“People often think women are not that powerful or anything. But we can actually be one of the strongest versions of ourselves during pregnancy. That was one of my inspirations.”

She added: “I hate boundaries that are put on women, especially when they’re pregnant. They are expected to stop and just become ‘mum’ or ‘pregnant lady’.

“I’m not saying everyone has to go out and run a marathon because that is extreme. But you can still do and achieve your goals even through pregnancy. And I can’t wait to teach my daughter about that.”

You can donate to Sam’s MS Society fundraiser at 2026tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/sam-donaldson.