Why I missed my sub 4-hour marathon target time 

I really feel for you .. but i did the London marathon in 4hrs and 1 second😪 gutted

I ran the Detroit Free Press marathon in 1984 and finished in 3:30:09. I really had no goal but based on my training I figured I'd break the 4 hour mark. I trained for about a year following a book I picked up somewhere, this was before internet. I followed the program pretty closely - it was all based on time not distance. I had jogged for years before, not regularly but often, but I still decided to just follow the book so my first run was 10 minutes long. I ran 5 days a week and each week there was one longer day mixed in with some shorter times and the runs got progressively longer over the weeks and month. I think the longest I ran was three hours, but a month before the race my runs were an hour minimum. I did not run three days before the race and I ate nothing by carbs the day before and I filled up on them too. Other than that I had a water bottle I ran with like you did and took that with me on race day and ditched it once it was empty and then drank along the way from official water stations only. I still have the picture of me crossing the finish line. I ran a couple of time after that, but really that was my goal and once I did it....I pretty much stopped running. Oh and I was a smoker the entire time I trained too. I know crazy right. I have thought about taking it up again at 66 because I really enjoyed those hour long runs. It was a very meditative and calming experience and I could use that now in my life. You nay have inspired me to take it back up. Not run a marathon again, but just run. I know my head would benefit form it which I am sure you can appreciate. Thanks for sharing your experience Rob and not just running, but other things you have been through.

Congrats on finishing and good luck on your next one! And thanks for the tips!

I feel you pain. Same race, I was 4:00:44.

Amazing video brotha! Hope nothing but the best for your next marathon I know you’re going to kill it!

I love this video! It’s so real . Congratulations for completing A marathon in the first place 👏

Great Video and well done for raising 3K good luck with the next marathon.

Tremendous achievement to complete a marathon, especially in just over 4 hours. No 2 ways about it. As for your advice, its really appreciated coming as it does from someone who has actually run a marathon. I will use it on my weekly 5k park run😁. Planning to do Soweto marathon next year (actually its a half marathon). So you inspire us,Rob. Thank you☘

For my mara training in 2018 I ran 10k weekly at race pace as part of my plan building up to 20miles at race pace 6 weeks before taper - 20 miles at race pace builds confidence (10k left to run on the buzz and knowing what it should feel like in as I did it weekly for 6 months) On race day ran 08:43 / mile for 18 miles then dropped off significantly to roll home 3:58:11 FYI Boston is the flattest in the UK! Well done Rob, I'm sure you will take lessons learnt and smash 4h

Nice video and honest reflection. Love the little clips. Plenty of good advice in there just the one about running faster and longer, that is a common mistake that a coach would prevent a runner from doing. They would have race day pace dialled in for their runner so they are well practiced at it before the day and just extend it for those lovely 26.2 or 27.0! Just one to watch out for anyone going for their first marathon reading this comment! Have a great time in Manchester. I'm doing London in fancy dress aiming to break the GWR in about 2h50. I'll be grabbing ALL the drinks 😂

Thank you for sharing Rob. Here are my mistakes: 1- Running too fast and too far in the last long run . (That should have been a training session, not a race day simulaton. I could not recover well after that run in almost 1month) 2- My first goal was to run 4:30:00. I changed my mind after my last two long runs. Sub 4:00 was a fantasy. And mara did not let it be. I fell down at 4:00:08 in the last 100meters. That was a terrible, huge cramp. Made the finish line with wheelchair. 3- Even pace was not the thing I experienced before. In the race day, somehow I decided to run even pace. Should have ran negative. You know what they say: f around and out. Learning from mistakes always hurts.

Awe man.. get it smashed. Manchester was my first last year and its an amazing atmosphere. You will love it mate. I was shooting for sub 4 too but 8 weeks prior I got sciatica and basically never trained once. Still managed a 4hr 10 minutes and basically walked/staggered the last 3 miles. 🤣😂 going to aim for around 3.30 this year as back feeling strong. Good luck. 👍

Too bad on missing your goal, but there is lots of good news here, mostly that you got so very close on your first marathon. I think when you run your next marathon you'll likely smash the 4 hour mark, as changing just one of the three "mistakes" (or learning experiences) would likely have gotten you under 4 hours this year.

You have 26.2 k subs right now! Perfect!

It's a great achievement to train and run a Marathon. I took energy gels with me on my first half marathon a few weeks ago, and forgot to take them out of my backpack before starting, I had to rely on water , some squash, at the aid stations and a salt and caffeine tablet given by another runner.

How did Manchester go?? I was there and it was my first ever marathon. I was so nervous it was crazy

Yet you finished marathon race so that makes you elite in my eyes. I hope you were not very stressed because of some minute over predicted time, that's life man. I'm preparing for sub4 marathon but I'm not there yet. Today I skipped long run, didn't feel OK this morning... now I feel like a biggest looser and bad character and one that will never finish marathon :-)

Just finished my sub-4 marathon yesterday in Prague. I made it in 3:59.42 :) The last few kilometers were tough, to catch up all the lost time and inaccurately measured distance by GPS in my Garmin . But I made it.

Yo you have 26.2 thousand subscribers and a marathon is 26.2 miles 😱

@3:10 That's all fine and dandy but there's one problem! Nice one 🙂

The faster you run, the harder it is to drink/eat properly. We are not boxing in the same category. I am a 5h runner.

I have never seen so many edits into one video, it’s a bit much

All those tens of absolutely unnecessary shreds from bunch of movies mixed with loud music have made this potentially great video almost unwatchable. Sorry man. Anyway I'm giving you thumb up because the topic and your experience is very helpful for many runners.

Great content...Are you gonna run another marathon?

Interesting… when I did Chester marathon it only came out to 26.32 miles so not too far over. Must be to do with the number of entrants and the ability to take the most efficient path. Still not ideal.

Idk how you can carry that bottle for the whole race! It annoys me big time to carry anything.

I have round about 10 already and i would add two Points to keep in Mind 1) Most of the GPS watches wich you use when doing your trainig ist misleading regarding Speed and distances. IT s Not a big difference in Short races but in a Marathon IT can make a big difference 2 ) you Always need to calculate some extra time for getting water and food at the food / water Stations especially in big and popular Marathons. Thatvare only my two Cents to add Here Steffen