I CAN’T RECOMMEND autumn marathons enough.
They’re the most exhilarating way to wreck your summer.
You will cross the finish line with an immense sense of
accomplishment. You will wear your medal and your
weird foil cape with pride. You will have memories to
last a lifetime and race pictures where you look like
you’re undergoing enhanced interrogation. You’ll also
drop an atomic bomb on your weekends – the Long Run.
Each Saturday or Sunday, starting in late spring – just
when things are warming up and a beer garden table
calls your name – you wake up earlier than you would
for work, don your running shoes and head for an hour
or four of pavement pounding. It’s one big to-do thatsits on your calendar staring you down all week. It’s a
nightmare – and I love it. Never more so than when it
ruined a perfectly good day of a trip to London. It’s my
favourite city, because it is rich with history, culture
and opportunities to chat over pints in pubs. I was there
for a festival, surrounded by broadcasters, writers and
comics from all over the world. People I wanted to talk
to all night, which I mostly did, except for that one pre-
long-run evening when I had to pack it in early. Next
morning, I resentfully hit the streets.
And about 20 minutes in, something magical
happened. Tired of dodging pedestrians, terrified of
veering into the road and the path of psychotic cabbies, I
got off the main thoroughfare. I started to run away from
the parts of the city I knew, to explore parts I’d never
seen. I found the places only a local would know – the
second-hand record shops, the authentic pub the travel
guides don’t mention. I stumbled onto Victoria Park, a
gorgeous green space, where I ran into other runners.
Because I was forced to, I got to know my favourite
city a little bit better. If I missed the excitement of a
Friday, I look at it this way: I gave up a few hours of a
good night and got an unforgettable morning in return.
I now do my long runs around unfamiliar parts of my
hometown. I learn new things every time and I dodge
the horrible decisions I might have made in the last hours
of a Friday night. Yes, marathon training will take over
your life. Maybe that’s not the worst thing in the world.
I mean, what else were you doing with it?Because it takes
over your life
NO. 18THE PACERS
THE RUNNER’S
WORLD PACE TEAM
HAVE BEEN
HELPING RUNNERS
HIT THEIR LONDON
MARATHON
TARGETS FOR OVER
20 YEARS. THIS
YEAR OUR
NUMBERS HAVE
INCREASED FROM
43 TO 65 ,
ALLOWING US TO
HELP MORE
RUNNERS. WE’RE
NOT THE ONLY
PACERS OUT
THERE AND
WHATEVER
MARATHON YOU
RUN, THESE
SELFLESS SOULS
MAKE GETTING TO
THE LINE THAT
LITTLE BIT EASIER.No.
‘The largest bag of
cheesy puffs I can
lay my hands on,
paired with several
cold beers. To
follow, an epically
proportioned pizza
featuring all
manner of terribly
unhealthy meat
toppings.’- John Carroll,
RW Chief Sub Editor
‘A big, juicy veggie
burger with extra
pickles, tomato,
avocado and
sweet-potato fries,
washed down with
a cold-pressed
juice, with lemon
and ginger.’ –
Michael Wardian,
WR holder for 7
marathons, 7
continents, 7 days‘Chicken burger
with lashings of
ketchup and too
many session-
strength IPAs’- Rick Pearson,
RW Section Editor
‘A big sirloin with
triple-cooked chips
and peppercorn
sauce, supported
by a few lovelyglasses of malbec.’- Andy Dixon,
RW Editor-In-Chief
‘Burger, medium
rare, with lettuce,
tomato, onions,
cheddar and
jalapeños, backed
up by a cold beer.’- Desiree Linden,
2018 Boston
Marathon Champ
‘Chicken tikka
jalfrezi, tarka dal
and mushroom
rice: salt, fat,
carbs and
protein – and a
decent hit of chilli
to ensure I don’t
fall asleep while I’m
eating it.’ – Kerry
McCarthy, RW
Commissioning
Editor17
The postrace feast!
A MINIMALIST’S PLAN No.
Run three days a week
/ Do a short, easy
run of 30 minutes, a
comfortably hard run
of at least an hour and
a long run. If you have
time on the other days,
cross-train. Take at least
one full day off.
Build slowly / Every
week, add no more
than one to two miles
to your long run. Build
up for three weeks, then
go back down three to
six miles for a week,
to recover.
Practise your plan /
Train in the shoes and
kit you plan to wear on
race day. Try different
on-the-run fuel to find
what works and when
to take it.
No.
The cravings hit on long runs, in the shower, while you’re foam-rolling. You think about it as you drift
off to sleep – the meal you’ll eat when you cross the finish line. Here are just some of those fantasies(and that’s pretty great, says David Holmes)... but it
doesn’t
have to
rule youPHOTOGRAPHS:DANMATTHEWS^(PIZZA),^DAVID^ALTABEV^(PACERS),^GETTY^(SIGNS)