My Valencia Marathon Breakdown: What Went Wrong 

For 99% of people running 2:37 marathon would be an unachievable goal so well done for that. I'm sure you'll achieve your goal next time keep inspiring us mere mortals.

I think it's really brave to be so open about your goal time and it's been really fun to follow the series!

Having a bad race can be emotionally devastating for days, even weeks. Great job keeping your chin up and moving on. Cheers mate! You inspire all of us with these videos.

To have stomach cramps, walk and finish under 2:40 is still a great performance, although not what you came for. You seemed to have the fitness to achieve your goal time so it's definitely going to happen in the near future!

Ben this actually made me quite emotional. I'm a lot older & slower than you (7 marathons, 40 years old, 3:50 marathon PB back in 2018) but have made many of the same mistakes in two recent marathons when I was fit enough to run sub 3:30, I finished in 3:53 and 4:02 (one due to illness, one due to a bunch of stupid decisions). I was devastated both times but your honesty and mantra at the end is spot on - you have to feel proud of the journey and the experience, and also remember that not many people have the commitment to even think about tackling 26.2 miles. You'll bounce back mate. All the best.

That happened to me in Houston marathon I went 10 seconds faster per kilometer and it back fire me in the 25k not only I didn't finish in my expected time I ended up walking and finishing slower than my previous marathon. Holding yourself it's key, even if we think we can get away with it 😅 I got too greedy, but it humbled me back

I love that Ben Parkes has made a cameo in this vid on your calendar!

Hi Ben, I started watching your videos at the start of the year when I set out to run couch to 10k . Fell out with it when I got to running 4.5 miles. Didnt run most of the year. Few 5ks here and there.Fast forward to now I have a 10k booked for 7th Jan.4 weeks through a self written 7 week plan (your vid on this helped). And 4 weeks smoke free .Feeling really good about running, feel its helping me a lot at the minute. Just wanted to say a massive thanks.your videos made me do this. Big up to you bad self.

Thanks for this series Ben. Really enjoyable and inspiring. Looking forward to your adventures in 2023. Thanks again 👍💪👏

Love the honesty and outlook! Onto the next 👍🏻👍🏻

Really enjoyed the training series! Analyzing your training, splits, efforts, races, etc is extremely important. Keep it up, can’t wait for the next one 😊

Thanks for the really great recap! Love learning about the process!

I find your analysis and transparency so helpful. Thanks for explaining your thought process! You're truly an inspiration to me and all of your content is fun and really informative. Cheers, Ben!

Thanks for the honest review Ben and you have obviously learned lots from the experience

Ben, you're the man. Massive props for going for it and doing the training series. It's been really enjoyable. Keep up the training and all the best over the Winter season 👍🏻

Keep up the hard work Ben. You have inspired me for sure.

Top man! Such an amazing positive mindset after a setback, so well done to you!! You are a true inspiration, Ben! Looking forward to seeing your next vlog series :)

Your positive energy is really inspiring! It’s really hard to stay positive when things don’t go as planned, especially in a marathon after all that preparation. So seing you react like this is really motivational 😊 Stay strong Ben! You’re killing it! 💪💪💪

Run to inspire! both when things go your way and when they don't you are always inspiring Ben. Keep up the good work. All the lessons you've learned in Valencia are just part of the process to your future best ever Marathon, without this lessons it will never happen. I have toughen out a few races when things haven't gone my way, it is really more mentally challenging than physically, for you to finish with a smile on your faces says a lot. Stay positive, recover and get back to it mate.

That start looks so chaotic!! I can’t get my head around how people aren’t just tripping up over each other. Well done Ben, great result still, plenty more progress clearly to come. Looking forward to seeing your future races.

Inspirational stuff, Ben! Well done!

Ben, much respect for this vlog. My experience is, the marathon is a beast that can teach us something new every time. I’ve run 23 and not one of them has been the same, and each one has taught me something I’ve used for the next one. This will be an enormous touchstone for your future efforts. You do inspire and your mindset is a big part of what you’re contributing to others!❤👍🏼

I think you did well in your decision to finish. I can't imagine the pressure on you since you had put all of this online for anyone to see. Thank you for finishing as I think that is a really valuable lesson for all levels of runners.

well done mate. appreciate your videos. and you finished with a time i wish i had.

You are a beast Ben! I'm busy trying not to blow-up and you document it. I 100% agree you got to run your own race each time as well as fuel or over-fueling (I've done it). Also in training if you need rest, get rest. I appreciate all of your insight and I know you will bounce back!

Love the positive attitude Ben. 👏

I like your mindset Ben, it will take you far. Keep it up and thank you for sharing your experience :)

Don’t be too hard on yourself Ben! You can do all the right things and sometimes it just isn’t your day. That’s still an incredible time! Starting off without a toilet break beforehand would be enough to stress me out. Thanks for your honesty, stomach cramps/stitches often hit me during a race and it is really frustrating. Onto the next one now!

Love following your journey Ben! Keep your head up and grind-on! Sending positive thoughts from the States

This describes about a third of my 20 marathons. Lots to learn, each time. Failure is always an option, quitting is not. The marathon is the highest of highs when things go right, the lowest of lows when it doesn't. But either way, you sign up for the next one.

I haven't followed your journey at all, and I still think this was a very informative and empathetic video. If you'd been someone zipping through through the race no issues, I don't think I would have wanted to watch it. You didn't achieve your goal, but you gained wisdom in its stead. You learned and grew as a person. This is, imo, what it's all about.

I admire your honesty Ben. Great analysis of what went wrong and what to do better next time. I know on the gels I take that it recommends to take them at least 30 minutes apart. Good luck on your next marathon. Looking forward to it.

Marathon is more than a time. It has nothing to do with a 5k 10k or half. It is a different sport. Needs patience and respect. Failure is a big part of this game. Even if have never ran a marathon target time because everytime something different happens i will never stop trying. Because im in love with the sport. 🏃🏃🏃

‘Drop the ego’ need to do this on some of my runs for sure! Great vid Ben 💪🏼

Great Vlog Ben; and a text book case in how to take usefully learnings from a result that wasn’t what you were expecting. I’m sure you’re encouraged that your fitness was on point; I look forward to seeing to impact of the tweaking to your fuelling and race strategy! Great to see the sponsors’ kit, both look awesome, will likely invest one day due, in part, to this series! 👌

So glad you are able to learn from this experience. I’ve looked at your splits on your Marathon training runs and been amazed at your pacing which is bang on. 2:37 is still a excellent time though. Good luck next time, you know what you did wrong just don’t make them again. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻👍🏻

Yep, I think these gels can be really taxing on the gut when coupled with race day adrenaline, extra stresses and so on. I see it with a few triathletes I follow as well. Great attitude Ben and good luck for the next one.

Love the calendar picture with Ben Parkes! lol

Similar thing happened at my last marathon. I found it devastating at the time to blow up after months of training for a goal. Looking back, I’m proud to have finished in front of my family no matter the time. And as Kipchoge says, success is measured in the quality of the planning and preparation. The training looked great, so I’m sure you’ll do better next time. Great to watch.

Ben, fantastic job! You have a great attitude, you're an inspiration! (Btw I followed you on the Valencia marathon app tracker)

You got a 26.2 training run in the bank. Enjoy getting excited about the next occasion: You're race. Always inspiring to watch. Well-done.

Thanks Ben. Great experience and amazing positive

Even though you ended up having a bad race day I really enjoyed following the series leading up to it. I know without a doubt you’ll smash the 2:20 goal in your next race!

You did an amazing job Ben!

I like this Ben... running can be very emotional because you put so much in to it however you have been very pragmatic about the race and importantly during the race when you saw things weren't right 👍

Definitely agree with your point on the gels! For a 2h race I find my stomach won’t cope with more than 2 gels during the race! (I’m probably on the extreme side tho!)

Great Ben! Keep getting after it!

Training for my first half and full marathon there is so much good information in your videos, that hopefully make me do the same things right and will prevent me from making the same "mistakes". Fueling during a race and tapering or the right training/rest/recovery balance is one thing that is new for me (never did a race longer than 15k) so I enjoy every bit of information and all of the experiences.

It was great race for you Ben because you maybe can feel your limit at this time👍👍👍

Honest review Ben .We've all been there in regards to starting fast !!! .Best advice I was given was make sure your 1st mile/k is your slowest .

Nice one Ben, really interesting to hear the breakdown. Even if you made a video of all your excuses I would 100% watch that, be interested and learn from it, so don't worry about being too negative or anything. It's the reality of being an ambitious runner, if we always hit our goals then we're not making good challenging goals!

Thanks for sharing your experiences and advice! I have no doubt in my mind you'll achieve that 2:20

Great, rational and level headed reaction. Big respect

Great honest overview of your race. I think the “mistakes” for want of a better way to express it are something-regardless of ability we have all experienced at some time. Well done anyway. Great advice to all all of us.

Well done Ben, sound advice 👍🏻

Thanks for sharing your experience. As a fan I always enjoy your channel. After 3 years and 9000km training with sweats and tears, my marathon finish time "improves" from 3h28m in year 2019 to 3h40m in year 2022. This broke my heart although I would never give up ......

Such a dude: great outlook - I’ll remember your advice if things go awry in Paris !

Thanks for posting this, despite having done a ‘few’ 42k’s myself your key points on pacing and fueling I need to hear every time. I’m sure you’re right about training health affecting race day HR. I’ve obsessively kept my data for years, was unwell pre London 2018 but ran anyway, with HR 7-8 bpm elevated. You’ll be back bigger and faster!

Great series Ben. I hope there will be another for the build-up to your marathon in February. Also, my personal opinion is that your increased fuel intake was the main cause of your stomach issues on the day. We live and learn.

Every failure is a step closer to success, wishing you success in beating your time in the next marathon.

Great video - interesting about the lack of toilets Malaga very poor too - did the full there a year ago and the half last Sunday - little to none around the course

good lesson ben. stay hard . don't listen to your body. you're elite .

Great to hear such an honest breakdown on your race. I think you deal really well with it💪🏻 Very helpful for me to learn alot. Btw: Having an aprox. 5 bpm higher pace-equivalent heart rate, after a taper-week is absolutely normal and is a sign of freshness and not of beeing ill😄 With a high Trainingvolume in a Marathon (also other endurance sports) always a slight vagus „overshoot“ apears (the vagus-nerv is a part of your parasympathic nervous system) and your pace-equivalent (or more exact „power“-equivalent) heart rate drops, also your HRmax, as a sign of fatigue. I hope my english is not tooo bad😷😄

Ben I love your videos (running and vlogs)! You don’t talk too much or too little and the editing is always spot on. Love your honesty here and I have a couple questions - 1. I see your heart rate went up to 180!! (From the snapshot just after 4 mins). Is this correct?! And 2. What did you do for work before RU-vid? It’s great you’ve been able to make this your main source of income so quickly! Thanks for the vids, keep up the good work :))

This all really just shows that you totally have a 2:20 marathon in you. With the tweaks from what you learned, you will get that time. Can't wait to see you get it.

Hi Ben! Top stuff and thanks for all the advice you have learnt from your race! 👊🏼 Just a side note: watch out for gels with lots of caffeine. Too much caffeine in a quick succession is proven to give stomach cramps and upset the stomach. Keep up the great work!

You got invaluable experience for next time, sometimes the only way to learn is the hard way. Well done, wish I could compete on that level!

Good video Ben. I’m pretty convinced the ideal pacing strategy is run slightly slower than goal pace for the first 1/4 -1/3 of the race, goal pace for middle then gradually let it all out in last 10k or so. Much easier said than done though!

2:37 is still a great time Ben. Well Done! 👏

Realistically, blame that woman who made you cross the line the day before😂 Only reason you didn’t get sub 2:20, think you are definitely capable of it on another day.

In 2012, cycling not running, I did the 2nd edition of that year's Etape du Tour, a 200km Pyrennean adventure and an actual stage of that year's Tour de France. We left from Pau with around 8000 riders in a square and how many toilets. Portakabin with 4 toilets....thanks.I feel this and I am sure you will get nearer better of the times. Great channel and a an excellent video.

Loved following the series Ben! I had the same outcome, I’m going to take far less gels next time round haha. I was having 1 every 5km and started chundering from 30km onwards 😂 lesson learnt

Great insights

When we are looking for best time at marathon especially looking for try to beat PB have to be 120% condition. But still great effort and Achievement Ben❤️

Good and honest. Well done

Bruuh your are the beast, you Will come back and crush it next time 🇸🇪

Great series Ben, thank you so much. I am not anything near your calibre but by personal experience I think your stomach issues relate to the gels only. I use the same brand (probably the best in the market) and it works well most of times. However, I messed up a couple of races because, for some unknown reason, I simply didn't seem capable to absorb those gels on the race day. It must be connected to the 'readiness' of your stomach to receive a concentrated amount of sugars on the day. I noticed that if you manage not to upset your stomach on the day before the race (I saw you eating that greasy pasta at the restaurant!) you have better chances to absorb the gels on the next day. That's my experience at least. Look forward to seeing your next challenge.

Well Done Ben. You are going to smash the 2:20 when it all comes together. 2:37 is still bonkers to us mortals 😎

Did my first HM earlier this month and I paid the price of going slightly quicker for the first 5km only to suffer in the last 5km! Now I don't feel too bad that veteran runners like yourself can still experience the same thing despite the best of intentions. Don't worry Ben! Hoping to see you hit your target next time!

Ben great analysis and super sympathetic! My experience from ultra running is that the body cannot absorb more calories than two gels per hour, the recommendation here is one gel (or something with the same energy content) every half hour from min 45 to take. With your target time of 02:20, that would be 3 to a maximum of 4 gels. The narrowness of the recording can also be increased through training, but it should be actively trained. All the best for your next race! Cheers, Oliver

This is so so similar to what happened to me!! I also ran Valencia.. and feel I had a cold coming a day or two out (put this down to maranoia) And fuelling.. I trained with sis 40g gels and a maltodextrin mix 400ml water but never at marathon pace or similar intensity! Also.. 400ml of water mix was waaaaaay to much for my stomach. So had a gel every 5k .. 15k had the mix and from there I just had to hang in there for the whole race. And I definitely had an illness coming.. since coming back I’ve been ill all week in bed with a temperature 🤦🏻‍♂️ I ended up running a 2:56 so super happy with that. The marathon is just such a crazy distance to understand.. for everything to line up on one specific day is so difficult . Love your channel and thanks for all your advice and help. Great run and you finished it! Crossing the line is such an achievement given how you felt 🔥🔥

Everyone who said all the great things about your effort here I totally agree with. And you are a hell of a runner. Way to end it with a smile, soak in the atmosphere. Inspiring. Great vids. That said, I have to admit I did chuckle a bit in your concluding Lessons that it was, perhaps, "overdoing it a little bit early on" as that seemed like a theme here. There is a fine line balancing high-end ambitious goal setting, and "overdoing" it--which is what happens when you begin to indulge the "do more, more of everything, more" temptation. Which leads to disaster nearly 100% of the time. I don't think most people are able to objectively control all aspects of high goals and elite training, able to manage all the details of a successful progressive roadmap. Maybe you will figure it out! I think for most people the best lesson, and best fixer here, would be to get a coach asap.

Cheer up. Still a great time. No serious injury. Go again in 2023

Cracking effort Ben! Your positivity towards running is really enspiring and you have really got me buzzing about running! I ran a 10k yesterday and had really bad stomach cramps towards the end of the run. It made me realise that I need to look at what I eat before runs in mornings!

Get the pacing right at the start and you will do 2:20 no problem, well done on the race, a 2:37 is awesome....you da man!!

Great video! I appreciate your analysis a lot. I find fueling during the marathon to be a wierd art. Running in Berlin, they offered the Maurten Drink Mix along with water and bananas. I had tried the drinks in training along with their gels and they seemed to sit okay. During the marathon I primarily drank the Drink Mix and took a bit of water. But, after kilometer 20 I felt that I was taking in too much and only took in fuel at every other station. In training I had been very consistent in fueling every 5k. But, it just felt better to do this during the race. I finished in a time that I was happy with, so I am happy that I really just paid attention to what my body was telling me, even if it turned into a really weird fueling schedule.

You've inspired me to run this afternoon

Great job on the series Ben. It sounds like it wasn't an easy lead up to the start on race day, especially without the loos! Although it's not what you were going for you still came out with a super time so congrats on still getting it done even though it wasn't completely your day

Nice feedback Ben. You go again next time

Great to see you being positive about what could have been a negative experience. Really enjoyed watching this series and enjoyed watching you race in Valencia after my own pre-race issues causing me to not even reach the start line. Would you do Valencia again? I know I now have that as a main goal for next year having seen how quick the course is. Just another question. Did you trial and error fuelling pre-race/run nutrition in the block. As I noticed that you ate a lot closer to the start time than a lot of other runners who did Valencia.

The fact the race didn't go as you planned and trained I think doesn't change the genuineness of this channel. As amateur runner I know that when you arrive to walk this means you have touched your limit that day. In any case, well done and best of luck for the future man.

Ben, an honest assessment and in your lows your bringing your audience with you - inspirational. To paraphrase the Stockdale Paradox " never lose hope whilst being brutally aware of the facts." This video suggests you know how two of the three factors that were more controllable can be changed ie pacing & nutrition. Maybe Maurten can sponsor you? To properly prepare in line with your plan from what you said you'd need 4 gels for your long runs and possibly 2-3 gels for your MP training runs.... which when the full block is considered is £££. After seeing your reaction to this dissapointment, I'm fully backing you to go sub 2:20 in your next two Marathons (providing they'reatvsea level and relatively flat). You're too quick, comprehensive in your prep and analytical meaning I don't think they'll be many more mistakes. Love to see a 10km series in the future!? Thanks for the content!

no wonder you had problems. The race was Sunday 4th December ;-) Seriously though great effort. I was happy with my 3:09 there. Slowly getting towards that sub-3 mark. Last year there were loads of toilets. This year used the secret hidden toilets in the river garden on the walk to the start. for a small fee I can let people know where they are.

Your airways remain more reactive for around 6 weeks following a viral upper respiratory tract infection. So managing this 4 days after is crazy impressive

12 deg Celsius = 53 deg. 3.18 km = 5.08 min. per mile. That’s better. PS With all the hindrances STILL running a 2:37 is AMAZIN. It’s a testimony of what your potential is. I can easily see a 2:20 or at least a 2:23 being clocked at one of your proceeding marathons.🏃🏃🏼‍♂️

Sometimes your best planned events can be your worst. Its when you go out not planning anything that can sometimes suprise you. Most people could only dream of finishing a Marathon (me included) so keep your chin up and it will come when least expected.

I had a very similar experience at Valencia 3 years ago. In April 2019 I had run Hamburg in 3h17 and was very very confident in getting a 3h10 at Valencia in the December of the year. Unfortunately I developed some sort of bug and effectively I knew it was going to be a slog after 2 miles of running. I got to mile 20 and had to stop. I walked for a mile then managed to run (slowly) to the end. I guess that was an achievement in itself but when I look at my watch I was pretty much in HR Zone 5 all the way round. Covid then became a thing around the globe and I’ve never been anywhere near that level of fitness since. A HUGE missed opportunity that has weighed heavy on my mind for the last 3 years. I did Manchester Marathon in 3h30 earlier this year as a come back race /confidence rebuilder. The positive news is that I intend to return to Valencia in 2023 and will spend the next year getting as close to full fitness as possible. Thanks for the video Ben! Enjoyed it and I applaud you honesty and positivity!

Still a good time Ben, now you know what you can run on a bad day. I wondered if your meal the night before could have been a factor as well? I'm sure you'll hit your target soon with the effort you put into your training.

You set the bar very high for yourself which is a good thing. Most people can only dream of 2.37.

Still the fastest Ben on RU-vid 😊