Training the marathon route

London Marathon

At times I like to switch up my training route to keep it fresh. Sometimes, not knowing how long you have to run down a road until you see the street you need to turn left at, keeps you guessing about how long you have left.

At other times though, it’s really important to tread the same route, especially if you are tracking your pace, or if you know the elevation of the route. It means you can gauge your pace accordingly.

In May 2018 I ran the Hackney Half Marathon and found it pretty easy going. Mainly because I had either cycled or dog walked the route for years, but my familiarity with the route meant that mentally, I know how long I had to run before turning, and therefore I could countdown the miles in my head. 

So, in the same vein, I am planning to familiarise myself with the London Marathon route. 

I will be splitting the route into three and running them on separate weekends in January.

Dates for your diary

DateSegmentRoute link
Saturday 5 January 2019Mile 1 – 10View on Strava
Sunday 27 January 2019Mile 11 – 20View on Strava
Sunday 3 February 2019Mile 21 – 26View on Strava

The routes are approximate so they start/finish by a tube station.

If anyone wants to join me, I’ll aim to start running at 9.30am and I tend to run at a pace of 7 minute miles.

If you’re not running or training, feel free to sponsor me, I’ll be raising money for the NSPCC.

About Andrew Smallwood

Experienced digital strategist with a foundation in web development and analytics. Leads multi-disciplinary teams in content creation and digital marketing ensuring data is at the core of decision making.


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