Manchester Marathon

I met Ollie over a year ago when Charlie and I coached the ABP run club for the Southampton running event held annually in April.  Ollie and I spoke about his first marathon, it sounded like hell on earth to me, setting off too fast he started to crash at mile 12, not taking on any fuel on board added to the pain of it being an incredibly hot day in September and just to add the cherry on the cake he had the added pressure of running for a charity close to his heart. Despite all the trauma Ollie finished the marathon and was determined to keep running and not let this race experience put him off trying again for another marathon. 

 Ollie recalls what I said to him

“Your first marathon is like a pancake; you normally need to do another one to see what you can really do”.

I was delighted that Ollie joined RunVerity as an online member when the ABP run club finished and together we worked on his goal of a sub-4-hour marathon which was another year away.  As the year rolled on and Ollie’s training progressed, we entered a couple of races together and it was an honour to get to know his mum Claire, and his partner Jess, they really are his biggest fans. Seeing Claire at Bramley 20-mile race in amongst the RV support crew cheering and whooping felt like they were part of our community, I never underestimate the strength of this kind of support.

Jess gave birth to their baby girl in November 2022, literally the start of his 18-week training plan; Ollie really had his hands full with a new baby and new shift pattern at work. His grit and determination were evidential as he fitted his training runs into his life, sometimes running at 3am or 4am in the morning after a night shift so that he didn’t miss a run.

Ollie and I touched base every week via email, all his training runs were within the parameters of the pace guides we’d discussed in relation to his goal.  The recovery runs were run with his mum, the general aerobic runs through the week were spot on and watching him progress on his long runs as the high mileage weeks came thick and fast was like watching a perfect science formula.

But of course, we’re not science experiments, we’re humans, there is no formula for mental toughness, learning to adapt when races or runs don’t go to plan, this is where the art of running comes into play.  Ollie did get tired; he listened to his body and did miss a run when life/work/running collided.

As race day approached, we spoke at length about what the race would look like, what could go wrong, what might go wrong and how to adapt to every eventuality, we had controlled all the variables we could, we just had to wait and see if the stars aligned on the day.  And they did!

Ollie’s Pacing for Manchester Marathon

You can see the consistent pacing from the start and where he pulled it back from mile 5.

 Ollie reflects on the race;

“It got very tough, as it should.  Although slightly quick to start off with, I was holding back a lot, mile 5 was too quick though and I’m proud of pulling it back to marathon pace, it would have been so easy to say to myself I feel good, let’s see what happens, but I just knew I had to pull it back. I didn’t hit a wall at any point, no walking, just a lot of fatigue, I wanted to pick the pace up past 20 miles but it just wasn’t there so I went on the comfortable feel as best I could. I just had full faith the whole way round that it was going to happen, confidence in my ability and the training, it’s a feeling that can’t be explained until you do it.

I fueled at mile 20, the gels by this point tasted yuk! But I knew I needed to keep fueling, you can’t expect a Michelin starred meal at this point, the gels are going to taste yuk, but that’s not the point, you’ve got to get on with so you can finish what you started”.

September 2021 – Southampton Marathon 5hrs 33mins

April 2023 – Manchester Marathon 3hrs 57mins

Ollie could have given up, said that marathon running wasn’t for him, but he didn’t, he gave it another go. Training and running a marathon can chew you up and spit you out, sometimes it takes no prisoners, and when that’s put into context of fitting in training around family life and work, it’s easy to forget that sometimes doing things for the experience and not the result is just as important. And it’s a bonus if it all works out.

Ollie is buzzing from the race “the magic of Manchester was euphoric the whole way round and this city will now always have a special place in my heart.”

Good luck to everyone running marathons this weekend, enjoy the day!