When my sister finished her first half marathon, she said to me: “I don’t think I want to do a marathon. Can I just stick to shorter races?”
And, of course the answer to this is, HELL YES!
You make your own rules, chase your own goals and do what excites you when it comes to running. There’s no rule that says you have to do a marathon, or even that you have to race at all. And yet, there is a pressure on runners to go longer and a sense that the only way to show your dedication and progression is to keep going further.
This is, of course, nonsense.
Pro American runner Lauren Fleshman who specialised in 5k races told a story once (read it here) about being on a plane home and sitting next to a runner. He had running shoes on, it was clear he ran so she started chatting to him about his running. He was an amateur marathon runner and he asked her if she’d done a marathon. She replied that she preferred 5K races.
“Keep going, you’ll get there eventually” he said.
It’s funny how pervasive this notion is that running a marathon is the pinnacle of our running achievement. When you watch the Olympics, you don’t see the sprinters as less impressive than the distance runners or think that an 800m gold medal is less important than a 10k gold. And yet we do it in our own running all the time.
I love running marathons. I’ve run a few of them, and I enjoy them. Over the past couple of years I’ve worked to get my marathon time down and run a BQ, but there are a lot of other things that I want to achieve in running that are unrelated to the 26.2 mile distance. Things that I think will be equally as challenging, things that scare me and motivate me.
Right now I’m training to run a half marathon in under 100 minutes (or sub 1:40 which has less of a ring to it). I’d love to get my 5k down to 20 minute and my 10k PB also needs some serious attention.
Like fully committing and preparing for any race, marathon training is hard. It takes up a lot of time, and if your heart isn’t fully in it, you’re not going to enjoy it. And if you’re not going to enjoy it, then really, what’s the point?
Don’t run a marathon because all your friends are doing it. Don’t run a marathon because everyone you follow on Instagram is doing one. Don’t run a marathon because a magazine told you you should. If you want to run one for yourself that’s cool. But remember that you don’t have to prove anything to anyone, run what you want.
There are a lot of other things I enjoy about running and about life generally that aren’t always compatible with marathon training and running. Improvement isn’t always about going further and marathons aren’t the only races where you can push yourself and find yourself a PB.
If I haven’t managed to put you off, and you want to give marathoning a go, have a look at my ‘How to Run a Marathon‘ training guide.
I love the people who run ultras because they say it’s more chilled out.
I’ve run around half a dozen half marathons now, and often feel that I should bite the bullet and sign up for a full. However, this experience has also made me keenly aware of what a huge step up in terms of training time and wear and tear on my body a full marathon would be.
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It's one of those things I'd love to SAY I did. But I've run a few 10ks and at the end of every one, I'm like nope. That is enough. It's just not fun for me to run long distances personally and that's ok.
Thank you so much for this. I’m running my second half marathon this fall and I always get the question, “So when are you doing a full?” I just have no interest. The training for a half is grueling enough for me and although it would be a great accomplishment, I just don’t have the mental fortitude to try it.
Preach, girl.
I worked in specialty running for several years and I remember a coworker telling me a story once of him (0 marathons completed, but runs a 15 minute 5k) and another coworker (also 0 marathons, but Olympic miler) being asked by a customer how many marathons they had run and when they replied none, the customer says, “oh I thought serious runners worked here.”
I agree completely – I know lots of runners who have no interest in the longer distances and are brilliant at 5 and 10kms! I don’t tend to perk up until about mile 7 which will will be helpful in training for London next year. Though at the moment getting to those sorts of distances again is a while away. Best of luck with the training!
Totally agree – thanks for this, lots of the running magazines focus on inspiration stories involving marathons which can be discouraging when you are first starting out and feel chuffed with yourself for managing 1km, 3k, 5k, 10k etc! 🙂
I began running Dec 31st 2015 and completed a 10k race and half marathon this year with the aim to do another half marathon in a couple of month’s. I believe any achievement big or small is amazing! It’s the feeling of achieving something for yourself. I started crying half a mile before the finish of my half marathon as I couldn’t believe I did it! I love watching races of all distances!