Tom Waterfall – First Marathon, 3:02:59

Tom came to me after being referred by several of his friends who’ve worked with me before. We started with a Runner’s MOT looking at lower leg pain that had stopped Tom running, tweaking the exercises a few weeks later as pain had subsided.

A few months later Tom looked to start training for his first official half marathon in Hackney, on the way to his first marathon a few months later in Valencia. His recent 10k time projected 1:27 for the half marathon and 3:02 for the marathon.

With excellent consistency, and some subtle modifications to his weekly routine, Tom ran a fantastic 1:26:59 in Hackney despite hot and humid conditions, bang on target and showing excellent linear progression.

Three months later, Tom ran a 10k PB in the early weeks of the marathon block, followed by another half marathon PB the next month in 1:24:55, improving by over 2 minutes.

This put a sub 3 marathon in the frame, but with a deliberately cautious training block since it was Tom’s first marathon, it would be the “A” goal if the race day was perfect.

The marathon itself was a great, if slightly warmer than usual, day in Valencia. After some congestion at the start, Tom got into his stride, pacing his race better than a lot of experienced marathon runners, finishing his debut in 3:02:59.

I have no doubt that Tom can go on to break 3 hours when he chooses to run another marathon, and I look forward to seeing his continued success.