Race Week | Chicago 2026 Marathon Build: Episode 6

Docuseries just came out for Clayton's Top American finish in Chicago Marathon 2026! Super impressive run from him.

Race Information

• Name: Dublin Marathon
• Date: 25 October 2026
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Dublin, Ireland
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/20724527979
• Time: 2:55:30

Goals

Background

Rower at university training 8-10x a week so left very fit but almost zero running experience. 3-4years later I entered the 2002 London marathon on a bit of a whim to give me a goal to aim for, and trained hard with lots of hill work. No GPS trackers or smartphones, so had no idea how fast I was in pace terms, but I did use a Polar HRM strap and watch which I used to regulate my effort; I had used it when rowing too so I had good idea what my zones were even if we didn’t call them that in those days. Ran the marathon aged 25 on race day wearing Gym trainers and my fuelling strategy was to eat a banana half an hour before the race. Finished in 3:11:xx quite flabbergasted with the result tbh, immediately set myself a life goal of running a sub 3hr marathon which seemed pretty achievable at the time.

Next year this qualified me for an automatic good for age place. Bought myself some proper running shoes, life got in the way of training and didn’t do nearly enough, I was cocky and thought I could still produce a decent result anyway. It didn’t go well and to cut a long story short blisters bled badly, foot hurt even worse, walked around a third of it. I had broken a couple of bones in my foot and afterwards despite lots of physio etc I couldn’t walk without pain and was told I wouldn’t be able to run a marathon again.

So I didn’t run for 15 years.

I did continue to keep fit mainly through swimming and cycling. But time heals and my body got used to the way things had healed and walking had long since been pain free and I decided to give it a go again. Mid 40s I started running once a week max, paranoid the injury would flare up. I still had some speed, in the interim period Parkrun had been invented and this was mostly what I did for my weekly run, fairly quickly getting my 5k time below 20 mins but struggling to go too much lower.

Autumn 2023 when I got a shoulder injury I couldn’t swim so upped my runs to two then three times a week, unsurprisingly I got a bit faster. A year later having invested in some of these new fangled shoes I got my 5k below 19mins and decided to see if I could run some distance again and maybe, eventually, even run another marathon. I did a 10k in 2025 (in 38:xx), and as of the start of 2026 had run 13miles only once in training in over 20yrs.

Training

2026 moved pretty fast, I entered a Half in march and was running 10-15 mile long runs weekly much of Jan and all of Feb. Having got that under my belt (1:26:xx) I entered Belfast marathon for May 2027 which would be about a week ahead of my 51st birthday, almost exactly 25years after my first marathon. But the opportunity to get a coach and place in Dublin marathon came up which I took, bringing things forward, but too good to miss: this was a group aiming for sub 3 hours.

The training was best described as Canova style, less distance but more intensity, which suited me as I hadn’t done anything more than 30 mile weeks, so jumping to 70+ would have probably broken or injured me. Weekly long runs were mostly at MP -10s/mile which was hard work, and quickly these went up to 20miles which I did 4-5 times, along with a 24 miles in 3hrs session to get used to the time on the feet. Quite a long block at over 20 weeks, with a couple of 10k races thrown in as well as a half marathon.

Things were going pretty well, I was hitting the paces and did the last 10k in 37:xx and HM in 1:22:xx so a sub 3hr was definitely on. Then 7 weeks before the big day I was mugged/attacked and left unconscious, lost a tooth, couldn’t breathe through one side of my nose, and had a few scars to boot. Fortunately (?) almost all the damage was above the neck, so running was still OK, and once I had my nose re-broken and could breathe again the training was re-started (just before it was time to taper!) I was still confident I was capable of a sub-3 but there was much less margin of error.

Race

The conditions were not good, big headwinds were forecast with the tail end of storm Boelo, and the windiest sections were also the bits with the hills and the first 7 miles the worst affected. Various people had crunched the data and suggested it would add 5 minutes to a 3hr race which was not what I wanted to hear. I set out with two race plans, my original one optimistically going for just under 2:55, and Plan B for 2:59:59 (pretty much add 15s to the miles with hills/headwinds and add 5 to the ones without).

It was hard and you felt the wind, but I tucked into a group and it never felt as bad as I’d feared. My plan A times were 6:50 for the first 7 miles and I averaged a nice steady 6:48. I speeded up on the downhills and steadied on the flats, by half way I was bang on target, if not slightly ahead for Plan A. My HR had been probably 5bpm higher than it should have been - adrenaline or the extra work into the wind - maybe a bit of both?

I was running negative splits, as per my plan, getting faster, passing people all the way, and after 10 miles the field thinned out, no chance for much drafting into any more headwinds. More hills into the wind at mile 14+15 were hard work but I was still hitting my A-paces, crowds were brilliant in places and I ran my fastest mile through one of those sections even though it was flat (mile 18). Heartbreak hill wasn’t that bad, again probably built it up so much in my head that reality could never be so bad, maybe seeing a few people walking helped me feel strong.

From there it’s about 4 miles to go, I had banked almost a minute spare on my watch to hit the 2:55:00 time which would have been enough to qualify for a place in Berlin marathon. My plan said 6:25 for mile 24+25, which are both downhill, then 6:15 pace for the last 1.2 miles. I ran both those first two at 6:28 (close enough) taking advantage of the downhill, but then it flattened out and we were back running into the headwind on the (long) home straight. Hoping to lift the pace to 6:15 I had nothing left, I ran the last bit at 6:35-40 pace which added 30s vs my plan-A splits. I had given everything I had, my quads were screaming at me and the tank was pretty empty.

What about the minute spare? Well my watch had me running 26.37miles, that extra 0.15 is about 1 minute of running. I finished with a chip time of 2:55:30, that 30s lost basically after mile 25, by not speeding up for a fast finish, but those were still run at below average split, and the second half was run two minutes faster than the first half. I am extremely happy with that on a day where a lot of people I knew didn’t run the race they were capable of.

So no Berlin place, but as a 50yr old smashing my PB set at age 25, and running sub 3 for my second marathon and achieving a life goal that was long since lost: I am still absolutely ecstatic. I’m still getting faster as well so there is more to come.

Made with a new race report generator created by /u/herumph.

Race Information

Name: mainova Frankfurt Marathon
Date: October 25, 2026
Distance: 42.2 km
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
Time: 2:59:10

Official Splits

Background
33M, 77kg. Played basketball young, did powerlifting until 2 years ago. Started running 3.5 years ago to lower my cholesterol. Had trouble training with structure without a goal, so started signing up for races. My first marathon (Athens) can be read in my profile. It was just a basic, undertrained - run easy until the end - marathon that went well with a 4:22something. Last year (Athens again) was a complete nightmare. Tried to go for a huge 3:30 PR, the heat and humidity were unbearable, my bib was melting. I couldn't take any gels in after the half and predictably hit a wall and finished at around 3:50. This experience was so unpleasant to me that I decided I want to run a flat marathon in a cooler country. In March I ran a 1:32 half, again in Athens.

Training
Started with Pfitz 55-70 in mid July. Initially things were going terrible. Training in the Greek summer was literally unbearable, with me failing almost every run (there was a day that I had a 18k and managed to get 3kms in). The temperature was over 30 degrees even at around 22:00 which was the time I did most of my runs. I eventually got a bit better at it, but I could never finish my long runs that ended up with dehydration everytime. At this point I had started contemplating changing my goals.

However in early September there was a dramatic temperature drop of around 10 degrees Celcius. At this point I started hitting all my workouts. I felt fit suddenly and even thought that I am peaking too early? I ran a nice local tuneup 10k at 38:56. Started feeling good and thought that I definitely had a 3:05 in me. I was very worried however about the inadequate long runs and all the missed MP runs of the program.

One advantage I have is that due to the terrible open spaces in my city I am forced to run on terrible roads and pavements. I constantly have to stop for cars and weave around. This probably makes me train harder than the pace says so I usually overperform in races.

Overall my training volume was 38% more than last year, however only one of my long runs was over 30kms (a few were at around 27,28,29 though). Had a few weeks of more than 100kms, but the average is around 85 (with the early terrible weeks driving the average down a lot).

Total KMs:
July 242
August 334
September 377
October 300 (including the Marathon)

Pre-race
Arrived in Frankfurt in Friday. Had booked a hotel 10 minutes from the start so I immediately picked up my bib and rested. My legs felt quite stiff from the flight. On Saturday I had breakfast and went for a cool 5k shakeout which made me feel better. Had a ton of carbs through the day. Couldn't avoid some sightseeing with my girlfriend in the first half of the day, however by 5pm I was lying in bed resting already. Had some pasta for dinner and went to sleep. There was a yellow alert for rain and an orange alert for wind.

Race
Woke up at 7am (with the clock change giving me an extra hour). I was actually feeling sooo rested, in Athens I had to wake up at 4:30 to get the bus to go to Marathon. My harmstrings were feeling quite stiff, but taper tantrums I though, got two slices of bread with jam, a banana, had my coffee and got ready. Even had time for a toilet break. During the 10 minute walk to the start line it was raining heavily, so I took shelter until 9:50. Only did some dynamic stretching, I was too cold to warmup and didn't have a poncho.

My plan was simple: go at around 4:15- 4:17 per kilometer until 30k. DO NOT WEAVE. Decide then by feeling if you will go for 3:05, 3:10 or sub 3. Keep your heart rate under 160. One Precision Fuel 30 gel before every 5k water stand. 2 caffeine gels.

Started in the back of block 1. There was a lot of space in the beginning but I tried to be patient. It was raining and I was not warmed up yet. I had Pete's (race) pacer installed with a goal time of 2:59:20. I thought that if i stay until 20 seconds behind, I can catch up in the second half. There were a lot of puddles on the road but the pace felt manageable. My heart rate was between the 150-160 range and my legs were feeling fine. Wet shoes were annoying but I had used a ton of bodyglide between the toes. Incredible crowd support for such a rainy day, you could see people with umbrellas everywhere. Many tall buildings but I manually lapped each KM to keep the GPS accurate.

At around the halfway mark, I got my a new half marathon PR (1:29:50). I was feeling great, my heart rate was steady and I felt I had energy left. I had a few aches here and there, I would tell myself "Wake up babe, new pain just dropped" to keep myself entertained. I was stressed for the last 10kms but I stayed patient. The crowds were thin at this part, so I tried to stay in a calm, peaceful state. The rain stopped.

At 28k, I got a mini panic attack by suddenly seeing the 3:00 pace group running faster than me behind me. I tried to stay forward and thought I should speed up at this point, we are nearing the good part. In the next water station I was noticeably ahead of them. My first real pain started at exactly 34.8k with my harmstring locking up. My cadence held at around 178, I decided I need to keep going at this pace as it still feels doable. My heart rate had dropped to around 148, I was surprised.

The last 5k were incredible. The crowd support was awesome. I was in pain but I could still hold. I tried Clayton's trick of counting to 100 again and again. Then I tried to think of a person that told me that I am fat for a marathoner a few weeks ago, gave me a lot of motivation. I would look at my watch all the time, looked like the distance was not moving fast enough. My heart rate was under 145 for some reason. I was constantly passing people at this point, although I didn't really notice at this moment.

Red carpet finish as I saw 3:00:10 on the official clock. I knew I got my PR as I started at least a minute late. Had my mini celebration, tried to keep walking. Volunteers helped to walk down the steps, got my medal, poncho and alcohol free beer! I couldn't believe I did it, especially with 30 seconds negative split.

Post-race
Celebrated with my girlfriend, we got a nice Five guys burger and fries. My legs were sore but overall I was feeling good!

Reflections
I think I probably overachieved a bit, things lined up and I got a perfect time for my fitness. Probably the rain even helped me. At the same time, I followed the plan and was very patient, which also comes from experience of a few previous marathons.
As a runner, I am probably affected by the weather very much.
I believe I can build on this. A complete training cycle with a 2-3kg weight loss can probably give me a few more minutes.
I am thinking of avoiding my local Athens marathon for the time being. My next race will probably be the Athens half marathon in spring (which I really enjoy). I will probably try another (non local) European race, ideally Rotterdam if I make it.