The Marathon Runner

Back in May 2017, I had the privilege of training my client, Karen, for the Copenhagen Marathon. She worked incredibly hard and took a massive 17 minutes off her personal best, crossing the line in 3 hours 46 minutes.

It was an amazing achievement — but there was one small catch. Karen’s ultimate goal was to qualify for the London Marathon, and she missed the qualifying time by just one minute.

One. Minute.

Most people would have called it a day at that point… but I knew Karen had more in her. I wasn’t about to let all that progress go to waste. So I made her a slightly mad offer:

“Let’s run the Dublin Marathon together in October. You’ve got this.”

We got back to work. In the gym, on the roads, rain or shine — every session had a purpose.

And on race day? Karen absolutely smashed it. She finished the Dublin Marathon with another new PB of 3 hours 41 minutes, qualifying for London in the process. Mission accomplished.

Oh… and as for me? That day, I ran my first ever marathon, finishing in 4 hours and 4 seconds. Not bad for a rookie, right?

Me and Karen after she smashed the Dublin Marathon!