There are many unique aspects to running a marathon, one of them is that you don’t get a second chance.  After spending 4 to 6 months training to a peak for marathon race day, if anything goes wrong, with illness, injury, pacing, or you just have a bad day, that’s it – you can’t run it again.

It takes a month to recover from a marathon, then you need to rebuild your training to peak for another race. In practical terms that means 6 months later, so you can only race two fast marathons in a year. Many elite runnners only peak for one marathon every 12 months.

In the UK the most popular race is the London Marathon held in the spring. The exact date is connected to Easter so it moves every year, but it’s usually April or late March.  If you have a bad London Marathon, your second chance is in the Autumn. A classic International double is to run London, and then New York in November.

In my prime running years I had run 2 hours 41 minutes, and 2 hours 44 minutes. Anything under 2 hours 45 minutes qualifies you for entry into the AAA British marathon championship. I had only just scraped through, but these times also meant I had automatic entry into the London Marathon – no ballot for me.

I had many disappointing London Marathons, and my second chance attempts were run in the autumn at Nottingham, Wolverhampton and even Berlin.  Unfortunately my second marathon was always slower.  

I have two explanations. Firstly I find it very uncomfortable to run the necessary 20/23 mile training runs in the summer heat. Secondly, the marathon takes a lot out of you. I think I only have one decent marathon in me per year.

If you have a bad spring marathon. My advice would be to concentrate on speed work, and half-marathons during the summer. Then build up your mileage during the winter, for another marathon attempt the following spring.

John McNally