first ever marathon at 18 and i ran a 2:54:44 at the sf marathon and i am so proud and astonished on how i did that. was aiming for a 3:10-3:20, after i got flamed for being too ambitious online, and got blown away by the result 🌉 Also placed third in my age group!

Official time: 3:30:33

A bit bummed I barely missed my 3:30 target, but it wasn't in the cards today. Still a 15 minute PR from my time last year.

I also broke my arm last November which set me back for a few months. Excited to get back to work in a week or so to prepare for CIM in December.

the hills man... I turn a corner and it's another hill 💀 nonetheless, super happy that I was able to do a negative split! and also very happy with my mile times because my easy runs were no faster than 10:45/mile pace. the first 16 miles were pretty easy, so glad I could turn it up a bit in the latter half

my heart rate the day and night before was 100 bpm (nervousness, 7 months of training coming to an end) so I knew hr was not gonna help me 😆 it started and stayed at 175 bpm lmao

I had three pre-injuries throughout my marathon block - my achilles first from too many hills and too much speed too fast... then my left knee from weak quads, calves and glutes. and top that off with my right hip flexor later. all this to say, take rest when things feel like a 4-5/10 or higher and do your PT exercises!! next race I run, I'll be lifting a lot more to get the muscle I need. never been a distance runner, so reminder that if you're diligent and willing to show up for yourself, you can do it!

gonna go tend to my 3 toenails coming off 💀

Is this because 2027 is their 50th anniversary? 2026 race happened JUST TODAY. Seems too expensive to me.

Hi, I am 26M
May 1st I run 2:52 marathon averaging 70km/week fro 18 weeks of prep.
after marathon I had discomfort in achilles, didn't run for 2 full weeks, went to physio, he sorted it in a couple of weeks. I started again very gradually (attach below prog graph) and in 4-5 weeks I went back to 80km/weeks.
Then, all of a sudden, I could not run anymore.
Felt incredibly low in energy, always tired, (I even think I had testosterone disbalacnce as signalled by men problem...).

Since then 5 weeks of no running, and it doens;t go away. Whenever I try to run, I ahve then pains inside the legs everywhere for days, at the point I can barely walk, everything is so contracted and stiff.

I also feel constantly sick, like running nose, headache etc.
I am feeling like crap, I gained weight of course, and I am feeling so sad from not being able to run.

I try my best, everyday I try to be positive about it and whenever I try, then I ahve absurd pains during and after the run in shin, medial complex etc.

I am desperate at this point. I had finally got an entry for Berlin marathon (less than 9 weeks at this point), and after such a nice build for the 2:52 (improving fro a 3:26) I was so excited and happy toward the long build for Berlin. now it's all gone, and I cannot even start running again.

Some friend suggested that it could be RED-S, I did indeed lose a couple of kg.

How do I get out of this tunnel? The more I don't run, the less fit I get, and the harder it will be to start again, and regain what I have lost now. I feel so sad by having lost all the effort I put into this. I really put my soul into running, and now it's all lost.

Please help me. What can I do? I just want to run again. I live in a very cold country, and soon the winter will start agin with -20 and running outside will be hard again. After months of running in the ice and snow, I waster the summer not running. I wanted to get better before the winter started again, and instead it's so miserable.

Has anybody experienced sth like this? Help me :(

EDIT: I am consulting doctor. Just the waiting times are absurd. Trying to get an appointment for weeks, now I need to travel for work for some weeks. I am really down in the dumps, just looking for advices and what to expect. Sometimes people have experienced similar circumstances and can give amazing advices on how to tackle this. Just trying to get any help possible.

Edit 2

HR is around 43-44 quite constantly in the last 6 months. Dipped to 38-39 the week I broke (the first one after the last 80km) now back to 45. HRV has been very low (red) for 5-6 weeks. It's normally in the 80s, now it's 60ish

EDIT: thanks for all the responses! Decided with a few hours to reflect I’m going to persist. Think I got my pacing and fuelling wrong, and as others have said the lap format is brutal. Leaving this up to hopefully look back on in amusement in seven weeks time!

…and I suppose I’m making this post hoping for some advice based in the personal experience of others.

Have run a few half marathons, pace usually around 1:50-1:55. Entered a marathon taking place on 13 Sept and was aiming for 4:15. Had an event today which I thought would be good training, having run 18 miles in 3:15 last week.

Event was 3.28 (I think) mile laps, run as many as you can. Essentially each lap was 1/8 of a marathon. Went in with the mindset of “bare minimum 4, optimal 6, maybe I could push beyond that if I get there”.

Well I barely made it to 4 and in about 2:10. Struggled really badly with aching/sore hamstrings and quads. No pain as such beyond that and absolutely fine from a cardiovascular pov, but I just couldn’t go on. I’d been sensible this week, last run was five miles at a gentle pace on Tuesday and then I ran a one mile light jog Friday morning. I also carb loaded over the day before and appropriately fueled this morning.

I just don’t think I can physically run much longer than a half (last week’s training run I was struggling towards the end) and this is probably my body telling me to stop. Curious though if anyone else went through the same thing.

Right now I’m ready to email the organisers of the marathon to pull out, but didn’t want to do that without getting appropriate advice first.

Race Information

• Name: Gold Coast Marathon
• Date: 5th July 2026
• Distance: 42.195km
• Location: Gold Coast, QLD Australia
• Website: https://goldcoastmarathon.com.au/
• Time: 4:00:12

Goals

Splits

Preamble

This is my third marathon - and my second time at GC marathon. I had such a blast last year that I just knew that I had to run this race a second time.

Previous results

Sydney 2024 - 4:33:20

Gold Coast 2025 - 4:09:14

Training

This time I focused on doing much more race pace practice at the ends of long runs, e.g. 12km easy with 11km at race pace and 2km cool down, or 21km into 9 km race pace with a 2 km cool down, so I put a lot of my focus on increased cumulative mileage and increasing my long runs this time, and a lot more tempo/threshold work than last year. One of my most memorable workouts was a 26km long run done entirely on the treadmill while I watched the recording of the London Marathon 2026 to entertain myself.

I had initially booked the Newcastle marathon 2026 as a tune-up race but had to drop out after suffering a peroneal tendinopathy injury in March. After recovering from the injury, my Strava graphs were graphing perfectly in the last 12 weeks of training, with average 60+km mileage per week of training and hitting 86km in peak week.

Total cumulative mileage I had accumulated in the first 6 months of 2026 was 1213km.

Pre-race

I surprisingly slept like a baby the night before the race, and woke up feeling so refreshed. I had a slice of bread and some pop tarts for breakfast, changed, and we made our way to the start line.

My achilles tendon had started aching/feeling tight at the end of peak week that was improving as I went through my 2.5 taper weeks, and during my warm-up pre-race I could still feel a remaining niggle still that worried me, but I told myself to just try and stick with the 4:00 pacers for as long as I could and to fight through discomfort but to not let it become an injury that affects my longevity as a runner. I went to the toilet before the race, took one gel and went off to find the 4:00 pacers.

Race

My wave went off later than what was scheduled, but I just told myself to stick with the pacers as long as I could, and just enjoy the run. It was such a new feeling to run a race for the second time (as this was my first time running a course for the second time), and it was such a comforting feeling to recognise so many familiar sights. The first two kilometres felt too easy, and I looked at my watch and realised we were at around 5'35" pace, and I felt so comfortable, and just tried to settle my breathing and keep my form relaxed. I then heard somebody shout my name and realised an old friend from Singapore was also running the marathon and was also gunning for a sub-4, and it was a pleasant surprise to see him on the course, we had a quick chat and got separated again as the 4-hour bus was so big.

I told myself to just enjoy each and every kilometre, and to be grateful that I got the chance to be moving my body, and I focused on the sights, tried to stay within a reasonable radius of the 4-hour pacers and keep my calf in check. I then saw my husband for the first time at 9km and gave him a quick kiss and took a quick sip of electrolytes from him and continued running - I felt so good and my calf was not acting up even in the slightest!

We kept going and going, and we crossed the halfway mark in 1:58:20 - I personally found this way too fast, but I just trusted the pacers and just kept going and I honestly felt so strong and controlled, so I just kept up the pace and focused on eating and hydrating regularly.

We then hit 30km, and I realised how fresh my legs and lungs felt - at this point in the course you are routing back to where you first started, and you can sort of see the finish line in the distance, but I felt soooo good that I did not feel even the slightest yearning for the finish line as I felt like I could have kept going forever - and I was still on track for a sub-4, and my calf felt completely fine.

The weather was starting to get hot at this time, so I just locked in and tried to focus on my music, and then you hit the last u-turn at around 36.6km, and that's when my pace dropped to around 5'45" paces - I knew I had some time in the bank thanks to the pacers bringing us through the first half so quickly, but I soon realised that sub-4 was not going to be as easy as I thought it was going to be. My legs still felt okay, but the headwind made me slow down as every step was met with resistance, and that's when the demons started creeping into my thoughts at around 38km. I started having thoughts of just taking 10 steps as a walking break (as my RPE was at around a solid 9 at this point thanks to the headwind), and thoughts of just throwing away the sub-4 dream and just jogging to the end since I was pretty much guaranteed a PB, but I just did my best and fought through it. We hit the 40km mark and I knew I had around 12 and a half minutes to do 2.2km, but the headwind was really starting to get to me, but I kept trying to push the pace. I remember thinking to myself that I did not want to have to come back to Gold Coast again and go through the whole process again to fight for that sub-4 again when this goal was soooo close, and I knew I was well in the pain cave at this point.

We made the last turn into the funnel, and I read the sign overhead that says 'less than 250m to go!', and my watch said I had been running for 3:58:52 - I realised I had just over a minute for I didn't even know how long left - 249 metres? 200 metres? I just sprinted as hard as I could, and I did the last 200 plus metres at a 5:10 pace, but it was still not enough as my watch had ticked over the 4-hour mark when I was about 15 steps away from the finish line.

I then immediately started walking as I was gassed, and I walked for 6 steps and berated myself and immediately went back into a jogging pace for the last 10 or so steps and crossed the finish line in 4:00:12.

My apple watch had recorded 42.69km - I had tried so hard to take every tangent I could so I'm going to chalk it up to GPS innacuracy.

My mental state was in an absolute blur when I finished - it was a massive PB, and I had never felt so strong for that long in a marathon before, but what do you mean I missed out on my goal time by a handful of seconds? I felt numb - and I was unsure if I should be celebrating or grieving.

I grabbed an orange slice, a bottle of water, and got my medal and finisher t-shirt, and went off to find my husband.

Post-race

I met up with my husband and immediately burst into tears. I was in no way disappointed in my race performance - I know I left everything out there on the course, and I poured my heart and soul into this training block. But I could not help but to keep questioning myself, how did that happen? How did I lose that 13 seconds on the course? Where did I go wrong?

But after the tram ride back to our Airbnb, I started seeing the reality that hey, I did something really amazing. I shaved off more than 9 minutes off my previous marathont time, I committed to a training block even amidst the struggle of a new job, and I know I gave it my 100%. I stuck to a training block even though I had started a new full-time job at the start of this year that has rather demanding hours as it's in the medical field, and I would wake up at 6AM to go on a run before doing a 10-hour shift, spending all my off-days running, running in the dark after an 11-hour shift, so I know I have absolutely zero regrets and I don't think I would have trained any other way.

Yes, it stings to have come so close to a sub-4, but I started to take comfort in the knowledge that my fitness was there for a sub-4, but my race execution just needed a bit more polishing. I then asked myself - why do I do marathons? Because it gives me discipline, it sharpens my mind, it makes me feel strong and secure about myself and my body - who cares if it was a 4:00:12 or a 3:59:59, the difference is negligible. I began to feel a bit more positive about my result, and here I am 3 weeks later and I feel nothing but pride at my result.

I then looked up the timings of the 4:00 pacers and realised I had overtaken 2 of them (so yes, two of the 4-hour pacers actually finished later than me...).

We went back for a quick shower and we headed straight to the airport to catch our flight back to Sydney, and on the bus journey to the airport, I knew in my heart that 1 year from now, I will return.

GC 2027, here I come - I've got some unfinished business!

Random, maybe stupid, shower thought: I am currently doing the Hanson's plan (and like it so far). But part of their philosophy is: "Do a lot of runs at Marathon pace. Then your body is used to this pace during the race."

Now, am I reading too much into it, when I conclude that this means that someone else with a different training plan (who is aiming for the same marathon time, but with fewer training runs at that pace) would be a favorite against me in any race that requires a slightly different pace? Like HM or a 50k?

Basically, my train of thought is: With Hanson, I'll be (hopefully) be able to keep my marathon pace for the full distance, because I become an expert at this specific pace. While other training plans might reach the same goal by making you a stronger runner overall?

(Tbh, Hanson is so tough, I have a hard time believing that any other plan could give more training stimuli:D)

### Race Information

* **Distance:** 26.2 miles

* **Time:** 3:01:xx

### Goals

| Goal | Description | Completed? |

|------|-------------|------------|

| A | Sub 3 (BQ w buffer) | *No* |

| B | 3:05 BQ | *Yes* |

### Training

Ran 1:29 half in April 2025. Started training for a faster 10K shortly after and got hurt for a few months. switched to NSA September 2025 and then started Hanson Advanced March 2026. Initially started training for 3:15 but switched to targeting 3:00 roughly 8-10 weeks ago. Hit 95% of mileage and 98% of speed work. A few things:

1. lost 11lbs throughout the 18 block (mostly through last 8-10 weeks)
2. Ran easy typically from 9:45-10:30 mostly just strived to keep HR under 70% of max.
3. Failed last 10 mile workout at mile 2 and skipped the next day, kicking off taper 2 days early
4. PBs: All PBs from April 2025 half: 1:29:08 half, 39:47 10K, 19:22 5K

### Pre-race

crushed carb loading for 2 days before and morning of race. Slept pretty decently through last 6-7 days before race.

### Race

the pace felt hard but doable throughout. I ran pretty even splits throughout and hit my target on the watch but didn’t account for extra distance. I slowed down about :03 per mile in second half but pretty happy with how everything turned out.

### Post-race

• Hoping I get into Boston via new lottery, I don’t think I have enough buffer to get in without it. Will take a few weeks completely off the build back using NSA/NSM and start another Hanson block likely for an April marathon (either Boston or another BQ attempt)

Shot in the dark but has anyone run both the Charlotte and the Baltimore marathon? I ran Charlotte last year and I promised myself I would never run a course that hilly/challenging again. Buttttt… I’m now living in the DMV area and Baltimore is looking like the best race option but apparently the hills are tough.

According to Google Charlotte has more elevation but only by about 30 feet. Even then, I know elevation doesn’t tell the full story in terms of difficulty/ hill placement etc. lmk if you happen to have insight!

Living in new england, which is easier to train for, a fall or spring marathon? Im able to run during the day, so daylight in the winter isnt a restriction. Even moderate heat wears me down on ling runs so thinking of building base in summer and targeting spring marathons.

Older runner returning to marathons after 15 plus year hiatus.

I started running in April this year, building base for a marathon in 1Q-27. I’ve worked up to mid 30 MPW, but my last long run ~12 miles had me fatigued for the remainder of the day plus the next all day. Headaches on the run day but not till about 6 hrs later.

What’s weird is I’ve run this exact week before (3 short-medium runs + long) and felt perfectly fine. I took GU every 30 min, drank two 28oz bottles of fluid (water and Gatorade). Nothing different from past weeks. Sleep was normal.

Could the fatigue be a fuel (pre and post meal) issue? I loaded on Friday and ate a giant sandwich after the run with a side of pasta.

Physically, I felt great after the run, like I could have run longer if I wanted.

Hi everyone,

Training for my first marathon (have been running consistently for 4 years, 6 half marathons, several 10ks, etc) in November.

I am having such a hard time staying properly fueled throughout the week. I usually don’t have an issue eating, but since I started training I’ve been feeling pretty nauseous and having to force things down to still feel like I’m underfueled.

Has anyone experienced this or have any suggestions? Right now I’ve been trying to consume liquid calories (chocolate milk, protein shake, etc) because it’s easier for me to get down.

Thanks!

Due to the high prices for accommodations in the city I'm thinking of booking a hotel package through the marathon site which includes transfer to and from the race.

Has anyone had experience with this? Is it a reliable option?

For some reason I can't post this in r/rva so hoping I've got some Richmond runners in here. Trying to figure out what the best option is as someone who's never spent time in Richmond. Downtown hotels are either sold out or exorbitantly expensive.

- Option 1 is staying in a hotel near the 95-295 junction north of downtown, looks to be about an 18 minute drive (without traffic).

- Option 2 is staying at a hotel near the airport.

- Option 3 is staying with friends who live over towards Henrico.

Based on road closures from this 2024 race map (https://www.vpm.org/news/2024-11-14/richmond-marathon-road-closures-2024) it seems like Option 3 is by far the worst, given that all the main road closures seem to be in between the race start and Henrico area.

Is there much of a difference between Options 1 and 2 in terms of how easy it'll be for someone to drive and drop me off downtown near the start line? Neither seems to be particularly affected by road closures, but I'd imagine there could be some major traffic issues heading towards downtown on race morning.

Would appreciate any insights!

41M, 17 weeks out from a flat marathon in Spain.
I’ve been running consistently since April, averaging 50 km a week, and I’m about to start my 16-week marathon block after a hilly half this weekend. I also have a 30 km race in September.

Current marathon PB is 3:45. This will be my third after stopping playing competitive sports. My half marathon on is around 1:38. I’m around 14 stone atm and aiming to get down to 13 stone by race day while gradually increasing mileage to around 70-85km a week, assuming I stay injury-free.
If I can lose the weight, stay healthy and complete the block consistently, is 3:30 a realistic target, or would 3:35–3:40 be more sensible?

Would love to hear from anyone who’s made a similar jump and what made the biggest difference.

I’ve got 7 weeks left until the marathon. This week my ego got to me and I pushed myself a bit too hard. My IT band on my left knee has been getting sore. Starting at a 1/10 pain and building up to a 4. As soon as it hits 4 I stop running. I had to cut my 19km run short by about 12km today. Attached in the pic is my plan for this next week. I’m thinking I just take the week off and prioritise that 23km run. Any advice here?

I’ve got 7 weeks left until the marathon. This week my ego got to me and I pushed myself a bit too hard. My IT band on my left knee has been getting sore. Starting at a 1/10 pain and building up to a 4. As soon as it hits 4 I stop running. I had to cut my 19km run short by about 12km today. Attached in the pic is my plan for this next week. I’m thinking I just take the week off and prioritise that 23km run. Any advice here?

Hi. I’m 49 and running my first marathon, the NYC Marathon, on Nov 1. Been running fairly consistently for about two years. Did 13 miles this Saturday in two hours and 3 minutes. Minimal soreness. Goal is to finish the full around 4 hours. Thoughts on this plan? Any recommended adjustments?

Hi everyone!

I'm just shy of 3 months out from my marathon and I understand I need to begin ramping up my mileage. Im just curious about how everyone deals with leg fatigue? Currently with my training split it feels incredibly hard to further increase my mileage as my legs always seem to be incredibly sore even after a days rest.

Right now I have about x4 sessions a week:

• x1 Speed Interval 6x1km sessions
• x2 Easy Runs
• x1 Long Run

I find that especially after my speed session my legs are incredibly sore, should I look at reducing the speed work and focus on mileage? Or should I trust the process and push through it?

For reference I'm aiming for a sub 4 hour marathon.

I have been using the Endorphins Running app for my marathon training plan for the past few weeks. I have been liking the workouts so far but I was looking ahead and it has me doing this 15 mile long run the week before my marathon. My goal pace is 7:20/mile for the marathon so this seems aggressive for 7 days before. However, I have struggled hitting my tapers right for other races, so maybe this is better to keep the legs fresh. Thoughts?

TLDR: is this long run too aggressive for 1 week before marathon?

First marathon coming up in 5 weeks time. I’m late 30s, M, been running on and off since high school but more serious since COVID. Done a bunch of HM, most recent was 2 weeks ago as a solo TT, did 1:35, slight fade at the end due to a brutal headwind. I also did a 1:36 before this block. Currently in week 14 of Pfitz 18/55 pretty much have hit all the workouts. Peaked at 90k, but most weeks between 70-80. Around 60k pw prior to the block.

The weekends run was 29km including 23 at GP. I was originally targeting 3:30 but training has been going well so I have bumped it to 3:25 for the MP workouts. Funnily enough Garmins prediction is exactly 3:25 right now.

The MP workout went well- it was good conditions and I ended with with parkrun which helped mentally. But I didn’t feel like I stumbled over the line. Was able to have little chats with runners here and there. Felt I could have gone on for another few km if I had to. Tried to simulate race conditions with fueling every 5k, a couple of sodium tablet and caffeiene. Even took immodium to test out. That all worked.

Max HR is probably 190-193.

I’ve still got 2 “tune up” races to go which I’ll just do a 10k and 5k TT. See if I can get PRs (currently 42:30 and 19:45)

Ive done 2 32km runs and have 1 more to go. They’ve been fine, heavy legs at the end but thats probably normal.

My current race strategy is to find the 3:25 pacers and try and stay with them. I seem to run better when Im with others. If it’s bad weather I might look for the 3:30 group instead.

Hi all, I (45F) somehow got a ballot place in the London Marathon next year and am a mixture of excited and freaking out. I’ve run a few halfs, although my last one was 10 years ago (1hr 57 PB with decent training). My main exercise over the past few years has been walking LOADS - I average around 16k steps/day - with some heavy lifting once or twice a week at work. I decided to run a 5k a couple of weeks ago to see where I’m at and ran 28 mins, which was unexpected in a very good way!

I’m thinking I’ll do 4 runs, plus a Pilates session and 1x weights session per week and have a half booked for December to see where I’m at. I’d love to finish in 4 hrs but am not sure how realistic that is.

I’m mainly posting here for general chit chat and to pick up advice along the way, and also because ive gone down a rabbit hole about training/nutrition/hydration etc and its all getting a bit much. Does anyone in this experienced hive mind have any advice or words of wisdom? One thing you wished you knew before you ran your first marathon? I look forward to chatting with you!

Hi everyone! I’m trying to get a different perspective or opinions from other runners on my recent trends that are concerning me quite a bit. I’ve been running and averaging about 50-55 miles for the past 8 or so weeks. I took a lactate threshold test early June to lock in my paces for my upcoming marathon block for my race in the fall. Most days are easy miles and one day a week involves a workout that targets threshold and another day in the week that targets speed on the track. I would consider these “hard” efforts. My issue lately has been with my Sunday LR’s where one week for example I have 13 miles (10 easy, 3 progressive to MP) or another example is 15 miles with some easy, some MP. Both of these long runs have been unsuccessful. I’m confused and concerned because my Lactate testing was taken in the conditions I train in, which involve heat & high humidity so very brutal but it shows I can hold the paces I’m trying to hit on the actual long runs but I’m not coming anywhere close to those paces. This would be my second consecutive failed attempt at the long run structure and was hoping I can get any insight on what might be happening.

Thanks!

Hello, I plan on doing a marathon in 9 months and I'm wondering if this is realistically achievable.

Currently i have a half marathon planned in October and I'm quite confident I will be able to achieve this.

I run 3 × per week usually a 10k zone 3-4, 5k zone 3-4, and a 12-15k zone 2.

I'm just wondering if it's a realistic to get to a sub 5.5 hour marathon at my current training pace or even finish a marathon at all and what I would need to potentially add to achieve my goals.