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Preface: in 2025 KADS coach Micheal Perry won the club ballot for the London Marathon 2025. Following the race he wrote this post. It describes his (very) long path towards the elusive sub-3. As a masters athlete with a full time job and a young family, his determination, effort and strategic training has been a huge inspiration for many of us here at KADS.  My story with the London Marathon, after over 11 years of failed ballot attempts, 7 years with the KADS ballot & one failed good-for-age attempt in a very hot Lisbon 🥵 by 11 seconds. I finally got the golden ticket. I had unfinished business with the marathon. My plan was to put this to bed. Also, this was my last marathon for some time; (The Last Dance). I'll be handing over my house marathon shoes to Kirsty, who signed up for the Edinburgh marathon this year. We are a little crazy training for marathons at the same time with two young girls & one that doesn't sleep. I think our marriage has survived all the training or she just doesn't want to upset her coach. 🤣 Full Marathon Journey Started with my first in a dry sunny Manchester Marathon in April 2018. I downloaded a plan I found online and joined KADS in September 2017. I thought joining a running club would help me become a better runner 🤔. The training went great and weekly runs on Wednesday nights with KADS helped. I was recommended to run the Ashby 20 which I signed up to. It was later cancelled due to snow but I still have the famous hoodie. So, with no long races under my belt apart from a few half-marathons. I stepped onto the start line in Manchester with no pacing strategy. I went flying out of the blocks at Half Marathon pace trying to bag as many miles as possible and loving it. When the pain hit at 18-20 miles, I start to slow down. Hitting a wall always hurts, but I'm going to finish this as it's my first & I'm not after a time. I dragged myself back to Old Trafford Cricket Ground in a time of 3:17.  Yorkshire Marathon This race was in October 2019. I wanted to beat the time I had the year before. I'd been a KAD for 2 years & all my race times were improving. Again I was on the start line with no pacing strategy or game plan. The idea was to hit halfway at 1:28 - 1:30. Boom 🤯 I did, but my first 4 miles were so fast going through York 🤦🏻♂️. 13 - 20 miles I was on for a sub 3 marathon 😮. I only wanted to beat my first time & get a shiny new PB. Between 23 and 26 miles: wowsers the pain! My pace dropped. I got over the line with a new PB of 3:02 😁.  Lisbon Marathon 2022 After a few years of breaks 😷 not just my own choice. Everyone I knew got a place in the London Marathon this year. I started longer running with a few lucky KADS. I started 2022 still recovering from an injury which put me out for a few months. I had been in contact with Matt Long which I got to put a few sessions on for KADS in 2021/22. Matt offered to coach me with my return to training happening on March 22. In May, I set a new 5-mile PB; later that month, I had the race I was training for, the White Peak half marathon. The goal was a PB sub 1:25. I ended up winning this race with a nice 7-minute PB 1:18:41. I was on a high going into marathon training with only a block of 11 weeks of training for the event. October in Lisbon in the past few years has been cloudy and even grisly rain. I didn't need to worry about the weather. 🤦🏻♂️ This is the marathon where everything changed. I learnt so many lessons. The training block went well, even though it was short. Flights booked, hotel booked, taxi to the start book & train to the in-laws afterwards booked 👍. On my arrival in Lisbon, the weather was amazing 😍 it was perfect for a weekend trip sightseeing. It's totally shocking to run in 30c record-breaking weather for the time of year. We turned up to the hotel next, well let's just say that very loosely hotel 🤦🏻♂️ a hostel in Bangkok would have been better. It's just one night I'll go to bed early & everything will be fine. 12am wake up. The hostel/hotel was next to a nightclub. Boom, boom until 4am 🤯. Up at 6am to travel to the start which was 8am. It was already 18c 🔥. The pacing strategy stayed with the 3-hour pacer; the problem was that 150 others had the same idea. I ran with them for half a mile which felt like an hour. In the pack, it got hotter & hotter. I had to run in front of them. Getting faster & faster 🤦🏻♂️ you've heard this before. I got to the halfway point at 1:26 far too fast! I had stupidly run the Robin Hood half marathon two weeks previous & I was feeling the after-effects in my legs at mile 16. Another lesson learned. I burnt out & hit the wall at 23 miles. Another contribution to hitting the wall was my lack of fuel in the run, I had four energy gels that contained no carbs; I even finished with one still unopened. I lost a minute a mile to the finish with a time slower than 2019: 3:05:11 out of the good-for-age qualification time for London. So many mistakes in this marathon, from hotels, weather, racing before the event & pacing.  London Marathon 2025 The return of the marathon & returning as a coach. There was going to be no room for mistakes this time. Now a coach and a full-time running geek 🤓. Everything I read said to get your Vo2max as high as you can going into your marathon block. In December 2024, I did a 10k race after quite a few weeks of hard, fast running & a new PB plus a high Vo2max. Job 1 done ✅. The plan is 20 weeks, which will involve running to & from work. In December, Kirsty signed up for the Edinburgh Marathon. So, to share training time, I would do 90% of my training on my commute to & from work, with Friday being the longest run. The beginning of the Sunday night session at the headstocks industrial estate. This would be the base of all my 5k/10k/HM speed work which is also key to a good training block. I booked in Retford half marathon as a warm-up race. I was really pleased with the result & I would say my best overall performance in a run, beating my 5-mile PB in 2022. A new PB of 1:17:59. Training continues. I reached peak week (the final hard week before taper), and pop, there goes my calf 12 miles in on a long run. This resulted in me tapering faster than I would have liked. I took a few day's break, plus did my miles cycling & easy running until I was able to start running faster pain-free. 11 days out I was able to train as normal again. 😁. We arrived in London in beautiful weather, deja vu (Lisbon 2022). The day had arrived, and the temperature was slowly rising; I managed to get off seconds after the elites started. I knew early on it was too hot & settled for the sub 3. I think I learnt from my mistakes in Lisbon. I knew if I pushed I'd be in a mess like a lot of the runners were. About a good 30% were struggling from 19 - 22 miles. Richard Whitehead was walking when I passed him. They were dropping like flies. I just had to block them out & focus on the sub 3. Even though my watch told me as I passed Big Ben that I'd completed the marathon 🤣. I still had 600m to go 🤦. But what an amazing experience London is. You all should have a chance at running the London marathon. I was lucky enough to win the KADS ballot last year & I won't be putting my name back in ever. It's only fair you all get to experience the magic that is the London Marathon. I am stepping away from fast marathons, To train on top of being a father, husband, having a full time job & a coach. There aren't enough hours in the day. Trust me I've pushed the clock 🤣. A big thank you to my wife for putting up with me and pushing me to get faster at the marathon.  KADS athlete Luke Jones recent completed the UTS 50K race in stunning Snowdonia in North Wales. It's not flat around there but he had stunning weather for it! Here's Luke's report from the race.  Pre-Race Bathed in factor 50, I had sourdough bread with peanut butter and jam, a banana, and sipped on a carb mix on the way to the start. I’d been preloading electrolytes most of the week. Suddenly feeling the nerves... Llanberis (Start) to Gwastadanas (CP1) Another glorious day in Wales—does it ever rain here? I started toward the back of the first wave, which made for a slow, crowded start, but I stayed relaxed and just rolled with it. Took it easy on the Llanberis Path, pulled out the poles, and settled into a rhythm. The sun was already hot, and I was sweating more than usual, so I alternated between sipping my carb mix and electrolyte mix. Before I knew it, I was at the Finger Stone, still feeling calm and controlled. I stashed the poles on the approach to the Pyg Track and took a salt tab and started the first decent. By then, I’d broken through most of the crowd and settled into a steady descent. The traffic probably held me back just enough early on—which ended up working in my favor. I ran out of water halfway down but spotted a tap at Pen-y-Pass and refilled a bottle. Cruised into the first checkpoint feeling good. I topped up two litres of water, grabbed some waffles, pretzels, and watermelon for the road, downed some Coke, and was out. The volunteers were fantastic—super efficient with my bottles. Gwastadanas (CP1) to Bron-y-Fedw (CP2) I really started to feel the heat through the woods. Nausea crept in, and I felt bloated from the water. Took a fall just before the Watkin Path—landed on my back, and my caffeine gel exploded. Sticky and sore, I slowed down to regroup. Held my position through to the South Ridge, where I noticed others beginning to slow or even stop. I started overtaking steadily on the climb to the summit. Jon Albon passed me here—pretty cool moment. I ran out of water by the summit, which was the busiest I’ve ever seen it. Managed to navigate down to the Ranger Path which was also super busy and took my time descending into CP2. The atmosphere was amazing—it felt like a finish line. Seeing my dad spectating gave me a massive boost. Again, the volunteers were brilliant. I dropped to three bottles here, since the next CP was closer. Ate some nuts, waffles, pretzels, and drank more Coke while they refilled my bottles. Grabbed some watermelon and headed back out. Bron-y-Fedw (CP2) to Betws Garmon (CP3) Now the race started to come alive. The field had spread out, and I was still overtaking people. I remembered how steep the Mynydd Mawr climb was from my recce, so I was mentally prepared. Felt slow on the descent at first but then clicked into a flow state and settled in with a strong group. I was surprised at how well I was moving through the runnable sections. Rolled into the final checkpoint ready—bottles out, quick refill. Two volunteers helped and I was back on the trail in no time. Ate more nuts and pretzels, still feeling sick from the carb mix and gels. Just one stretch to go. Betws Garmon (CP3) to Llanberis (Finish) This section was all about maintaining effort—trotting the runnable bits, power hiking the climbs, keeping forward momentum. The trail through the woods was technical and tricky, but I kept moving well. At the turn up Moel Eilio, I got my head down and dug in for the final big push. I kept my poles out on the descent knowing there was a final hill, then thinking I was done climbing put the poles away—only see yet another hill! Poles back out, cracked that last climb and hit the gravel path. I had had my map screen on so far. Finally checked my time: 8:10. I was buzzing. Let rip down the gravel, overtaking two more runners. My feet and legs still felt surprisingly good - proof I’d paced it just right. Hit a small hill near the end and realized I was pushing a bit too hard, so I dialed it back slightly. Running back into Llanberis felt like floating. I’d pictured that moment for months. The finish line atmosphere was electric. Crossed in 8:46 - faster than I ever expected, especially in that heat. Post-Race Reflection This was, hands down, my best race experience so far. Everything came together—from training and recces to nutrition, pacing, and coaching. I handled the heat, managed the lows, and finished strong. Still plenty to learn, but this one left me proud and hungry for more.    P.S. if you're interested in the UTS events in Snowdonia, here's a promo video with some of the highlights from the 2025 events: Setting out before 6 in the morning to get to a 10 mile race that doesn't start until 11 isn't something I'd want to do every weekend but I was happy to make the trip up to the lakes to run in the iconic Fairfield race. The route is fantastic, starting from Rydal and taking in Nab Scar, Great Rigg, Fairfield, Hart Crag, Dove Crag and High Pike. You get most of the climbing done in the first 4.5 miles and then it's mostly downhill from there, with a few rocky bits to keep you on your toes. It was very hot on the day and there was pretty much no shade the whole way round which made running challenging but the views out on the fells were incredible and completely worth the hard effort.
Due to the heat of the day water was added to the mandatory kit, I had intended to take the minimum 300ml in two small bottles but after chatting to some others at the start opted instead for my 500ml bottle, which then fell out of my waist pack as soon as we started running, left me picking it up in the middle of an oncoming crowd, jostling to regain my position and having to carry it in my hand for the rest of the race, probably should have stuck to the plan. I felt comfortable on the first uphill section but ran conservatively trying to save my legs for the quick downhill running later in the race. There were a couple of times when all around me slowed to a walk so I did the same but later wished I'd kept running for longer and saved a bit of time. It's the first time I've gone up Fairfield from that side and it was definitely an easier approach that either of the ways from the North that I've done previously. I was already familiar with the second half of the race from Fairfield top on, having ran this section a few times before and so knew there would be some quick running, especially with the ground being so dry. I put some effort in after the turn and felt strong on the last couple of hills. I followed the example of some local runners and got a couple of great lines on the downhill, avoiding some of the worse sections. I am finding myself more hesitant than I used to be at steep downhill running since falling a couple of times last year, this ultimately cost me a bit of time, and I think I need a bit more practice to rebuild my confidence. The rocky path back into Rydal definitely felt like a drag (as described on the race map) and my feet were feeling a little battered by the time I made it to the finish line and I was very glad for the water sprayers and can of fanta. Overall I really enjoyed the race but think I should be able to go a bit faster at it so will go and give it another crack next year. Dom Another fantastic turn out for KADS for the second DRL race of the year at Cromford with 34 of us out to play. We were treated to a lovely sunny evening for my favourite course of the summer season with the talk afterwards being about just how tough the uphill mile is, just how fast the downhill one is or how long the flat one at the end feels. Judging by the smiles at the end everyone else must love this course too.
On the men's side of things we had Chris Neilson marking his debut at the DRL with 12th overall in a time of 32:59, he was followed by Rich Myers (39th), Martin Lee (40th), Ryan Stocks (43rd), Iyan Bunhejee (74th), Kev Johnson (79th) and David Hill (83rd) making up the team. Also, for the men we had Dan Bailey, Dom Devlin, Robin Damion, Darren Dodsley, Steve Robinson Day, Simon Tooth, Rob Gooch, Chris Laban, Nick Tennant, Chris Chandler, David Brockhurst and Michael O'Brien. For the ladies first home was Helen Woods in 35:53 for 5th in the lady's race, 47th overall. Scoring for the team we had Zoe Attenborough (Furley) ( 27th), Eve Taylor (28th) and Nicola Chamberlain (42nd). We also had Sam Garside, Emma Meredith (Makin), Vicky Sutton, Jen Turner, Wendy Akers, Sarah Neilson, Kirstie Dodsley, Katie Newton, Jo Myers, Karen Layton. After two races this leaves us in 8th position for the men and a fantastic 4th for the ladies and 7th in the joint competition. The next race in this league is 10th June at Denby. Let's keep up the great numbers racing for the club, you don't need to be EA registered or have done any of the previous races to take part, all you need is a KADS vest so anyone who is a member of the club can take part. Hon the Mighty KADS Dom Men's Captain  It’s the Thursday after the London Marathon and even though things really didn’t go to plan, I’m feeling good. The blisters have subsided, my little toenail has opted not to fall off and my quads, which were sore after the race, are recovered. I could get up and down stairs after the race, no problem, which was useful as there are plenty of them on the route home! The plantar ache in my right heel which was worrying me in the lead dup to the run seems to have eased off. I might have got away with it?! Mentally I’m disappointed with my time. London is an absolutely incredible event, but I’d trained for that elusive 2:59 and ended up running 3:11. I ran a 1:22 half at Retford 6 weeks before London which the various predictor websites told me was roughly a 3-hour marathon. In the end the weather got me. This year’s was the fourth hottest London Marathon in its 45-year history. 2018 was the hottest, a full 2 degrees hotter than this year.  I’ve run about 15 marathon-distance runs in total (including long training runs and ultras), with five being timed road marathons. The fastest I’ve managed was a 3:01:32 last year, and I felt fit enough to fight for those last 90-odd seconds. I was in really good shape after 5 months of training this winter and spring, at roughly 50 to 60 miles a week with plenty of marathon-paced efforts. London this year was around 13°C at the start and 18 or 19°C at the end, although it was probably hotter in full sunshine and surrounded by runners and buildings. It peaked at about 22°C for the runners in late waves, but again that was probably a low estimate of how warm they felt. It was even warm in the start area. Ideally, I like to be shivering in a coat at about 7 or 8°C, but this year was sat on my coat in the shade of the loos!  I got well hydrated in the days beforehand, took electrolytes in the lead up and the morning before, wore sunscreen, a cap and shades, had seven 30g carb gels with salt in them, ran under all but one of the on-course showers (I missed one on the other side of the road), poured water on myself and drank at every water station. Some of the lads had chewable electrolytes too, but I didn’t have any issues with cramp so didn’t feel I needed them. All that stuff, plus a couple of other things probably got me to the finish line. Not in the time I wanted, but at least in one piece. I’ve since read of people dropping with heatstroke in the later stages and saw plenty of runners being carried or lying at the side of the road.  As well as taking care of hydration I ran a conservative pace for the first half. Not on purpose mind you, read on… When I applied for a good for age place, I sent in a predicted finish time of 2:59:59 and was placed in wave 2. Last year I put down 2:55:00, which got me in wave 1. The good thing about being in the second wave is the pacers, in theory at least. There were 3:00, 3:05 and 3:10 pacers available in my wave (no pacers in wave 1). Only problem was I didn’t get into the queue for the wave 2 pen early enough. I was there about 10 mins before it opened, but by then there were literally hundreds of runners between me and the pacers. I never saw the 3:00 or 3:05 pacers after catching a distant glimpse of them at the start, and only just managed to catch the 3:10 pacers after about 10 miles of running. I picked up a pace band at the expo though, so knew what splits I needed to be doing anyway (although trying to stare at the band while running and avoiding people was awkward).  Being towards the back of wave 2 meant I was running with folks doing maybe 7:00 to 7:20 min mile pace. I needed to be doing 6:45 to 6:50 to get under 3. Just not possible, at least for the first half, the road was packed. I was a constantly shifting pace as I caught people up, managed to run sideways to get through a gap and on for a few more strides to the next road block. I ran up the pavement at one point but risked not being able to get back into the road. This year London set a world record for the number of finishers with 56,640, and it felt like it on the route. It was heaving! Our coach Micheal ran in wave 1 and said he had the same experience, other lads in later waves said the same too. The other thing which probably saved me from a DNF was running to heart rate. From past marathons I know I tend to be able to keep my HR about 165 (I’m 52 now, and it’s dropped over the years). I kept an eye on it and even running at 7 min pace it was up to 168, then 170, and I had to ease off. I’ve since read that as the body warms up, the heart has to divert blood from the muscles (for running) to the skin (for cooling). Also, as the inevitable dehydration kicks in later on, blood volume drops which further pushes up heart rate which eats into your glycogen stores. End result: I had to slow down in the second half, I had no choice.  I break London down into sections. 1. The 6 mile(ish) stretch to the Cutty Sark then 2. another 6 to Tower Bridge, then 3. The halfway mark then 4. 20 miles and 5. the last mile or so from Big Ben. The Cutty Sark seemed to come quickly and I barely saw the ship. I could see I was losing time over these initial miles until I crossed halfway in about 1:32. I tried not to worry about it and thought I might speed up later on. Reality was I hit the wall around 20 miles and gradually dropped over the next few miles all the way down to 8:30 min mile pace. The final 6 miles were a very hard struggle to complete and I felt I was barely moving. The 3:10 pacer came back past me and I failed to hold into them, which was really demoralising. I don’t usually seriously consider dropping out of races, but it crossed my mind a good few times on Sunday. I went into a bit of a dark place for a while.  The last mile felt like five. The crowds were incredible. I passed a chap being carried by two other runners and the screams of support were so loud! As you turn onto Mall, with the palace on your left, there is a double right hander. Around the second corner the end gantry comes into sight maybe a hundred metres down the road. I’d imagined this so many times in training, visualising looking at my watch starting with a 2. Not to be, but I at least made sure I found a gap and got my arms up in front of the photographers!   Over the line I came to an almost-halt, feeling light-headed but with it enough to confirm to the volunteers I was OK. They were dealing with folks who needed treatment and ushered the rest of us along towards the medal collection queues. The people handing out the medals are so nice, telling every single runner how well they’ve done. They make you feel so special. I’d suffered those last few miles, and I’ve never been so keen to get my hands on the medal. I really felt I’d earned it, the hard way (and I kept it on for the journey back across London). Spotting one last photographer, I shuffled along with a couple of other guys to get a picture of me kissing the thing!  No foil blankets were needed this year, so I ambled off to pick up my bag (zero queues, more amazing volunteers), drank a meal replacement bottle Ju had sorted for me and went to find her on Horseguards. Anyone doing London will know, that place is bonkers on race day. There are thousands of people, but we’d arranged to meet at a certain point and there she was. I clung onto her and the emotion hit me like a train. This happens sometimes when I’ve had to dig too deep. It lasts a minute and I’m good to go. From there Micheal had arranged for us to meet at a nearby pub on Whitehall. The road was closed to traffic and absolutely heaving with people. The London Marathon is so damned big! Into the pub for a well-earned cold drink and to share a hug with Micheal, who’d gone under 3, I was chuffed for him but also, I must admit, very relieved to hear he’d struggled with the heat. I’d followed his training closely and expected him to go under 2:50, even with an injury later a few weeks before the race. Gareth and Andy Aiston (from Ilkeston RC) were also there for hugs, hand shakes, stories of the day and mutual respect. Job done. Again, not the time I wanted, but I had to be proud I finished. I learned a lot about warm weather running that day which I’ll take with me into the future. No more London Marathons for me though, three were enough, time for someone else to experience that incredible place. Highlights of this year’s London Marathon for me were:
“There are so many runners at London part of the challenge is avoiding everyone else. At the first water station today, I failed in this regard. Bearing in mind the water stations are very long in these big races, maybe 30 volunteers holding out bottles over a 20m long table, so plenty of opportunities to get a bottle.... Also noting there are about 50,000 runners all piling down the same narrow section of road at speed... At the first water station today the chap in front of me took a grab at a bottle, dropped it and decided to stop dead, turn around and bend over to get it. I get this, he didn't want to waste a bottle. Fair enough. Only issue was it placed the top of his head in the direct path of my crown jewels. Later on in the run I was barely moving but at this point I was travelling. Nowhere to go, he effectively reverse nutted me in the groin. Oooofffppphhh! Thankfully no damage done, at least not to me.” I carried on running straight away, only afterwards wondering whether the guy had survived the encounter undamaged. Hopefully he did and made it round OK. Cheers guys, and let’s go KADS! Jay |
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