Michael McDermott writes:
So the story begins on 19th August 2025. After much “Shall I, shan’t I?” I’ve taken the plunge and signed up for my first marathon, the Malaga Marathon on December 14th. 4 half-marathons under the belt, early sixties, not long retired, I feel like it’s now or never. And if the worst comes to the worst I’ll just have to spend a week in December on the Costa del Sol. Hey ho.
Of course the story doesn’t really start then. Perhaps it was when I used to take our white westie Freddy, down to Cannon Hill Park on a Saturday morning and gaze with amazement and admiration at these super-athletes who could get out of bed on a Saturday morning and run a whole 5 kilometres around a park. I’ve never been a runner. That was way beyond my possibilities.
No, the story really begins in spring 2022 when I saw a flier for a couch to 5k session at Bournville Harriers. I signed up and under the wonderful coaching of Nicki Mann I completed the course, moved on to a transition course, joined the club and started doing Monday night runs. I did my first 5 mile race at Coombe Abbey in November 2023, starting piling up 10k medals and t-shirts before my first half-marathon, Birmingham 2024. And once you’ve done a half marathon your thoughts only go one way.
So how about a training plan? Well there are plenty online but I had to modify them, I couldn’t do all of the training on my own, I needed the structure and camaraderie of Monday runs and Thursday reps so they were first in. Which means the best day for a long run is Saturday (parkruns will be on hold) and a solo reps session on Wednesday.
I’m now 6 weeks out. I can’t say I’m confident but training is going as well as can be expected. The Rugby half marathon and NICE 10k went smoothly enough and I’ve increased my longest runs from 21k to 24k to 28 and finally 32. I’ve been working on a jeffing plan and trying different gels and biscuits so I’m clear in my head what I’ll do during the run. Whether it’s the right thing remains to be seen.
Tuesday 9th December, M Day minus 5. Flying out tomorrow, have been taking it more easily recently. I didn’t know maranoia was a thing until someone told me it existed. Now I’m confident of my diagnosis. Every twinge feels like a potentially serious injury, every leaf is hiding a huge pothole and a square foot of frost in Cannon Hill Park takes on the appearance of the Cresta Run on a cold day. And I don’t want to start running on the Cresta Run. That’s a slippery slope.
Saturday 13th December, M Day minus 1. We have a place not too far from Malaga but we’ve booked a hotel for tonight so that before the race I don’t have to worry about details like finding a parking space. We’ve also booked for tomorrow after the race so I don’t have to worry about details like moving my limbs. Number safely collected from HQ and plenty of atmosphere round Malaga and the hotel seems to be full of runners.
Sunday 14th December. M Day. I did it! I finished. Very tough. Watching enviously as the half-marathon competitors funnelled off when I was only halfway through was a difficult moment and there was a long, straight run into a breeze between kilometres 35 and 40 but once I got through that and back into the city centre I knew I was going to make it. The final couple of kilometres through the cheering crowds made all the previous pain worthwhile and I got across the finishing line with my arms in the air and a smile on the face.
I was hoping to get round in under 5 hours so was delighted to finish in 4.51.56. It wasn’t quite enough to get a place on the podium which was a little disappointing. I mean, if I can run for nearly five hours surely they could build a podium for 6,989 people, but no, apparently that was too much trouble.
And none of this would have happened if I hadn’t become a Harrier. Without coach Nicki, without the company of my regular Monday running group, without the other coaches and everyone who made me welcome and supported me when I took up running, well thank you to all of you.
Happy running in 2026 everybody.