Major milestone:
Breaking the 3:30 barrier at Copenhagen Marathon May 2025. At almost 57 years old, this is my best marathon time in over 39 years, from when I was just a teenager.
What is the secret to your success? 
A combination of sensible training avoiding placing too much stress on my body. I factored in rest days and off-road and hill variations for strength, together with sound nutrition (my wife bakes excellent Danish rye bread, which is packed full of fibre and seeds).
What is the biggest obstacle to reaching your goals and how do you get over it?
Time. Constraints of a full time job and the need to allow adequate time for the family and home.
The trick is to strike a good balance and by avoiding putting too much pressure on yourself through overtraining.
What is the most rewarding part of training?
To know that you are following a plan and that every run is a step closer to achieving the goal. And then when you get to the taper period, you know that the job is basically done and you just have the victory lap to look forward to!
What advice would you give to other members of the Runcoach community?
Be disciplined and patient. With time the results will come, you’ll see. And when it comes to Marathon Day, just go out there and enjoy yourself. You have put a lot of time and energy Into this, as well as the cost, so revel on the glory of hard-earned “me time”.
Anything else you would like to share?
At Copenhagen, I knocked off 35 minutes in just 18 months since taking up running again in my mid 50’s and entering city marathons starting with Dublin in 2023. I felt free like nothing would stop me - the first time I felt like this since I was just 17 doing my first marathon. You are never too old to start running again, so long as you believe that you can do it and are prepared to work hard to achieve results.
What feedback would you offer on the Runcoach experience?
The coaching from Coach Cally was first class. Always supportive and full of wise advice from her depth of experience as an athlete and coach.
Tom’s drill routines also work a treat and even before a marathon just to loosen things up before the big start.
