Can “anyone” really do a marathon?

[AvonCallingBarksdale]

I can do 5K in 35 mins and am doing a 10K next month. Having watched the marathon today it just looks so amazing and I’d love to think I could do London. However, can anyone really do a marathon? I know you can walk for bits and it’s about the finish line not the finish time, but is it realistic to think that an overweight menopausal woman can go from 10K to 42K (with training??) I can’t imagine mentally being able to go out for 4+ hour training runs 😵‍💫

I entered the ballot for 2017 and got a place first time. It was one of the best days of my life. No question.

I am doing one later this year- and am the same speed as you are.
Have done one before- and it's fine!
It's just miles after a certain point.
So long as either your mind or your legs will let you carry on then you're fine!
If either of those let you down- rely on other runners!!

No not everyone can and it's probably pretty bad for your joints, knees and feet I'd have thought. It's not natural for humans to run that distance and for such a length of time, carrying out a repetitive movement and pounding solid ground for no real purpose.

My friend is doing the London one today
2 years ago she was 5 stone overweight and could only walk 2 or 3 miles very slowly and then would be knackered.
She walked and then walked and ran a bit and walked and then ran slowly and then ran more quickly and then a bit further. She had a couple of injuries but took advice and kept going
Its amazing what she has achieved, the main thing is determination I think and a refusal to give up.
I could never run a marathon though, Mostly because I have no desire to

You are really wrong about this. Humans evolved to run very long distances, slowly - it's how we were able to succeed as hunter -gatherers as we ran our prey down and exhausted it over long periods of time. A marathon is a cultural touchstone but is by no means the limit of human endurance, and people who run long distances (marathons and beyond) are pretty much without exception some of the fittest, healthiest people you'll ever meet.

Long distances on hard surfaces can be punishing on your joints, but nowhere near as much as being overweight is. I'm honestly baffled by people who perpetuate this myth that long distance running is bad for you; it's literally what we are meant to do.

Thanks all for sharing - my DH and DS run a lot but I’m very much a plodder who loves the idea of crowds cheering and the exhilaration of the whole experience just without all the work to get there 😂. I watched a relative do Royal Parks and there was huge support there so maybe a half is a better idea rn.

The worst that happens is that you don't complete it. That's all!!
Just go home! You've e still done more than most people by simply trying to.

No, or at least it’s unhealthy or risking injury for some people to train that much. Eg muscular skeletal conditions that one may not know about before training.

That’s not ‘the worst that can happen’, sadly.

If you can do 10k then you can do a half, and if you can do a half then you can do a marathon. Not right now obviously, but in time and with careful training. You'd be best off mixing up your terrain and gradient too, as it's often the repetitive pounding that causes injuries rather than the running itself. Good luck!

GoodVibesHere · Today 18:26

No not everyone can and it's probably pretty bad for your joints, knees and feet I'd have thought. It's not natural for humans to run that distance and for such a length of time, carrying out a repetitive movement and pounding solid ground for no real purpose.

I don’t think that’s right is it. I think now it’s agreed that running doesn’t cause knee problems. Being overweight puts extra strain on joints but running in itself isn’t a problem. And the “no real purpose” , personally being able to run, albeit quite slowly and not very far, means the world to me mentally and physically.

DH trained for a half marathon for 6 months, had a trainer so trained properly. Then towards the end of the race something in his knee went, hobbled across the finish line and was out of action for a year. He has managed to do 5k regularly since then but once he gets to 10k, starts feeling his knee again

@LusciousLondoner that’s such a shame for your DH.

I always start with could I walk it? Well, yes, I can walk 10 miles now, so with an improved fitness I could.

Running a marathon is then about dedicating yourself to a sensible training regime and being prepared to do this week in week out slowly and gradually. It will take a lot of time when you get closer to the event and you'll get days of cold and days of rain.

Having run a few half marathons, when I see someone complete a marathon, I don't see them finishing 26 miles....I see them.ending the challenge and investment of hours of training with 26 mile ending.

I am in awe of each and every one. Half's were a big enough challenge.

And if you do get in you can defer for a year to give yourself more time!

yes anyone really can- I’ve done 9 and seen/supported a fair few non runners complete one! You just build it up slowly!

Im a slow runner so I train by time rather than distance (as 20 miles would see me out for hours and hours) so my long runs on my last marathon plan stop at 3.30hrs!

The London Marathon is awesome- yes other marathons exist but it’s a truly magical day full of emotion and feeling like a megastar as you run round!

Im very envious watching the Tv today as currently can’t run 2.62 miles post baby let alone London 🤣

Injuries notwithstanding, almost everyone who can run 5km could train for a marathon.

I think the more impossible it feels for you to start training, the greater the sense of achievement in doing it. First time marathon training is amazing as every week you’re running further than you’ve ever run before in your life, and the impossible gets a little more possible every day.

i’ve had a long time off distance running for various reasons but having run a few marathons and it being highly unlikely I will ever better my best time, it is my ambition now to complete an ultra.

100% this!!

And that feeling of crossing your first marathon finish line……. I’m about to start sobbing again Marathons always make me cry 😢

ooooh an ultra- good luck!!

Yes, you can. If you (a) want to, and have the right mental approach to the training and (b) do the training.

It's not easy - it's months of hard work. But if you want to do it and go about it the right way, then it's doable.

@CroccyWoccy DH reckons he prefers ultras because they’re more chilled out and he likes to have a snack en route!

Thanks. It is a shame, if he'd stuck to 10k he'd have been fine

Oh that is interesting about the hunter-gatherer thing. Mind you I highly doubt our ancestors were running 26 miles (or whatever a marathon is) to hunt prey!! The energy expended wouldn't warrant it, they'd have to eat so much to regain the calories lost over such a long run that they'd need to be hunting and eating a woolly mammoth! Yes they hunted far and wide across fields but they'd take breaks, not non-stop running on concrete/tarmac for several hours.

Obviously being overweight brings health issues, that goes without saying really.

I've had a go at reading that but my brain doesn't cope very well with scientific academic language unfortunately!

I think there's running and there's running. I don't doubt that there are people who approach marathon running in a way that puts their heart under unnecessary strain, but I don't think it has to be that way.

I run exclusively on fells and trails, so it's a very different sort of exercise, and most training is done in zone 2 - so not raising heart rate excessively for long periods of time. In addition, the mixed terrain and varying gradient is so much softer on your musculoskeletal system.

I'm no sort of scientist so light well be talking out of my arse, but the fell running community is populated by lean, energetic people with low heart rates (because we do talk about our heart rates!) and who don't seem to get ill all that often. Many people in their 60s and 70s still running regularly, albeit not very fast!

I couldn't do a road marathon I don't think - I'd struggle with the pounding on my joints, and I'd get bored. But I'd happily run (slowly) all day in the hills.

Edited for typo.

You absolutely can! I have ran about 10 now and an ultra, I started on couch 2 5K and progressed from there. I am what I would call a plodder, my fastest marathon is 4 hours 35mins, slowest was about 5 hours 30 mins. The sense of achievement and accomplishment is like nothing I have ever experienced. Definitely get one booked, the training can be exhausting (I only ran 3 times pew week btw) but absolutely achievable

I ran my first marathon last weekend at the age of 55. I’d spent a couple of years doing 10ks, then last year ran a couple of half’s .

The key is to build up gradually, and listen to your body. There is probably an element of luck - anyone can suffer an injury.

The thing is - I really love running. I love the headspace it gives me, and getting out in nature, so events are an excuse to disappear on my runs.

My marathon didn’t go to plan - I got very bad cramps at mile 19 - and I finished in about 5:16 when I’d been hoping for under 5. I think I need more strength training. And yes, I’ve entered the ballot for London.

Yes, you're definitely right about the stopping and starting thing. I bet they would have covered marathon distance and more though!

That's what real long distance running is like for the vast majority of people who do it though - you're not going flat out in zone 4/5 all the time.

There's a book called "born to run" which is really eye-opening in terms of reframing our relationship to running. It's completely changed my attitude towards it, and my enjoyment of running has increased tenfold.