Manchester Marathon Race Report - failed sub 3 attempt, but 16 min PB
Race Information
- Name: Manchester Marathon
- Date: April 19, 2026
- Distance: 42.2 km
- Location: Manchester, UK
- Time: 3:07
Goals
| Goal | Description | Completed? |
|---|---|---|
| A | Sub 3 | No |
| B | 3:05 | No |
| C | PB (3:23) | Yes |
Splits
| Kilometers | Average Pace |
|---|---|
| 1-5 | 4:11 |
| 6-10 | 4:10 |
| 11-15 | 4:16 |
| 16-20 | 4:17 |
| 21-25 | 4:16 |
| 26-30 | 4:29 |
| 31-35 | 4:48 |
| 36-40 | 4:57 |
| 41-42.2 | 4:40 |
Final time: 3:07 (4:26/km)
Background and Training
29 M, running on and off for about 5 years. Previous PB (3:23) was from December 2024, which was my 4th marathon, but the first time I had anything resembling structured training. Used Daniel's 2Q plan (with minor adjustments to plan around work and travel stuff), averaging around 60-65 km/week and peaked at 75 km/week.
I started running consistently since last September, building from 60 to 85 km/wk in December. Each week was usually 5 runs with a threshold workout and weekend long run. While I did have some success with the 2Q plan, I felt that it didn't scale well to low/medium mileage runners, so I decided to try the Wind Plan (18wk, 105km) from Marathon Excellence by John Davis (Running Writing) since lots of people seemed to have had good results with it. I'll be honest, I haven't bought the book yet and have been just following the plan somewhat blindly.
Excluding 2 separate weeks where I had some niggles and hip/lower back pain, I averaged around 90 km/week for the 15 weeks before tapering, peaking at 106 km. From around early Dec to late Feb, most of my runs have been on treadmills, as I just couldn't manage to run consistently with Manchester weather. While it helped maintain consistency, my main concern with treadmills was speed/pace accuracy and I may have overestimated my fitness. The marathon pace I used for training was eventually 4:14/km about 4 weeks out, so I had the ambitious goal of trying to go sub 3. Race day plan was to start with the 3 hour pacers and just see how I felt.
I also did a real carb load for the first time. For previous marathons I just had a bit more carb heavy meals the days before, but this time I really tried to target 8-10g/kg of carbs for 2-3 days. The amount of food itself wasn't too bad for me, but still got kind of boring. Open to any carb loading recipes/ideas! Final 5k shakeout run on Saturday morning and then basically laid on the couch for the rest of the day.
Pre-race
Start time was 9:10 for my wave, woke up at around 5:30. Had a bagel with jam, a banana, and some coffee. Got my poop done. Did some dynamic stretches as my legs and hips were feeling a bit tight. Arrived by tram at Old Trafford station around 8:15, since I didn't need bag drop. It was already quite busy, which was a bit surprising since it was fairly empty when I did the half marathon at a later wave. Final pre-race pee at the urinals before entering the start process. It was a cool 8-9 C (46-48 F), but very sunny, so I expected it to be a warm one.
Race
You know when people say that they can't imagine holding marathon pace for 42k when it feels so tough in training, but it magically feels easy after tapering + race day vibes? I was a bit skeptical about this but decided to just trust the process and that was exactly how I felt the first half. I was cruising comfortably around the 3:00 pacers and couldn't believe how smooth it felt. Sub-3 was starting to feel possible!
Met my wife at 7k and 19k (she was also busy!). Got my gels in every 5k with the water stations (goal was about 85g/hr). Body was feeling great, pace was not super easy but definitely comfortable. Crowds were amazing, high-fived lots of kids! Temperature was cool but very sunny, so I dumped plenty of water on my head and back at each water station and tried to run in the very limited shade. Altrincham was tough as many have mentioned before, but the deafening crowd got me through it. Decided to just hang on to the pacers and try to speed up if I still felt good at 35k.
Crossed half way at 1:29:15, perfectly on track (also a half marathon PB). Then disaster struck at around 26-27k when my right calf started to feel like it was going to cramp and I had to slow down a bit. It never actually cramped, but any time I tried to speed up again, it started to tremble a bit and I had to back down. Eventually, the pacers started to get further away until I couldn't see them anymore and I knew sub 3 was out of the picture but I wanted to get at least 3:05.
By ~29k, I had to stop a couple of times to stretch my calf out and my chest was also starting to hurt (the infamous wall??). After that, everything was a bit of a blur as I fought to survive. Each water station felt further and further away. I couldn't appreciate the crowds or high-five kids. When I got passed, I tried to keep up with the other runner, but most of the time couldn't. By 38k, both calves were on the verge of cramping and I had to walk for about 10-20 seconds every 1-2k. Huge shoutout to all the supporters that were shouting my name and cheering me on. Wouldn't have made it without you! There was also a guy who had "I can do hard things" in what I think was a temporary tattoo on his shoulder and seeing that really helped me push through the final kms.
Finally, as I got around to the university for the last stretch, the adrenaline of finishing and seeing my friends cheering for me in the last 200m gave me the energy to push and finish at a mildly disappointing 3:07.
Post-race
While not the sub 3 or even 3:05 I had planned, still a solid effort and a 16 minute PB that I'm massively proud of. I definitely started out too quick, and if I had been more conservative at maybe 4:20/km, I might've been able to sneak in 3:03-ish. Legs actually feel not terrible today, so I'm wondering whether I could have pushed myself a bit more at the end. Probably could have also had a bit more caffeinated gels or at least have them a bit later in the race, I had mine at 0 (10 min pre-race), 15 and 25 km. For future training, I would be keen on adding in strength work since is was basically non-existent this block, but I would have to research a bit more about how to do that. I'm also thinking of actually buying the Marathon Excellence book since I didn't really know the rationale behind each training run, but seeing lots of people have success with NSM has also got me excited to try it.
Would have been amazing to go sub 3 before turning 30, but I guess it'll have to be for next time. Next race planned is the Manchester half marathon in October, no specific goal yet. I'm also considering doing a couple more halfs before taking on the full again just cause I find it more fun to race and less stressful to prep. Either way, had loads of fun and learned a lot about running and myself. And if you made it to the end, big thanks and happy running!
Made with a new race report generator created by /u/herumph.