Milan Marathon 2025

Milan, Italy. Sunday 06-April 2025.

Letting the cat out of the bag (25-March-2025).

I know I said “Never again!”, but I am doing another marathon, this time for men’s mental health. I am entered in the Milano marathon on 06-April-2025 raising money and awareness for Andy’s Man Club. 

Why did I change my mind?

It was a combination of factors that aligned. I knew after the London Marathon 2019 it would have to be something serious (or a bonkers amount of money) to make me ever even consider a repeat. In spring 2024 I had been gestating in my mind a series of posts about my time at Oxford which reminded me just how miserable I had been there. I used to say I would trade three years off the end of my life to be able to splice those three years out of my past and never have lived through them.

Extract from [Oxford Life 02 - Social] 

"All this had a detrimental effect of my cheerfulness, what nowadays would be termed mental health. By the third year I was not in a good place. There was no obvious pastoral care provided by the university, so I went to the doctor to explain the depth of my unhappiness. They asked a few questions: Do you get on okay with your parents. Yes. Are you managing okay with your studies. Yes. Do you have a girlfriend? No. Do you have a boyfriend? No! The outcome: “Nothing really to worry about. Off you go”. Thanks a bunch pal (sarcasm)! These days I am sure I would receive a more sympathetic hearing."

My state of mind was such that I didn't go to a single lecture in my third year. No one noticed! No one asked how come, how was I, how was it going. It was like I was invisible.

Extract from [Oxford Life 06 - Academia] 

"Oxford turned a keen, hard working pupil capable of getting a First into an unhappy, disillusioned student who scraped a Third. All this for a piece of paper that has sat in an envelope for 50 years. No one has ever asked for it or even for proof that it exists. Am I bitter? Too f***ing right I am."

Around the same time as I was drafting the Oxford posts I read about Dave Lock running his 25th marathon for Samaritans at the age of 62 [BBC Sport]. That planted the seed of the idea in my brain. There was a cause that might provide the motivation. My 22-year old self could really, really have done with someone to talk to back then.

Here was an opportunity to do something for that 22-year old me.

Also a friend had just run his first marathon, the Manchester Marathon 2024, so I thought it does no harm to buy a discounted early bird entry for 2025 and if I don't feel like doing it I don't have to. I prudently took out the cancellation insurance so I could get back my entry fee back if I did not go ahead.

And there the idea sat in the back of my mind for six months. No one knew apart from Mary that I was even contemplating such folly.

Training.

After London Marathon 2019 I realised that what people are actually sponsoring is the training. That is where you put in the hours and miles that make the marathon possible.

Some time around September whilst in Italy I decided I might possibly go ahead so started upping the mileage with midweek runs, previously notable by their absence. 

At this point I decided to engage a personal trainer to help with the preparation. I was recommended Jo at Fellside Active. I had a number of sessions with Jo doing exercises I would never has done off my own bat like hill reps and fartlek / interval training. I am convinced that helped.

The training continued back in the UK in November and December and even while we were in New Zealand in February. I would find a park or path or city block and run round and round until I had done the distance or the time.

As with previous marathons I plotted all my training runs (65 runs, 535km) in Excel and plotted a best fit line, applied a fudge factor to predict a finish time of 5hr 38min.

So that was my plan: Jeffing aka Run/Walk: trot an 8 minute kilometre followed by 8 metre walk, rinse-and-repeat, to get me over the finish line in 5hr 40min.

Switch to Milan.

Having decided I would go ahead, I still had told no one apart from Mary and a couple of very close friends. Looking at our travel plans it would have meant flying out to Italy and then two weeks later flying back to the UK for the weekend to do the marathon and return to Italy. The flights were looking very expensive to get to Manchester and back when Mary asked the question “are there any marathons in Italy you could do?"

As luck would have it there were several including the Milan Marathon on the weekend we would’ve been heading to Cisternino. That meant we could break our journey to Puglia in Milan with the added bonus of visiting my nephew, his wife and their son, my great nephew, who I had never seen although he was born in December 2023. So I booked myself a place in the Milan Marathon, Mary rearranged the flights and I got my refund for Manchester.

Switch to Andy’s Man Club.

The original plan was to raise money for Samaritans but there are other men's mental health charities; CALM springs to mind. Then I learned that Andy’s Man Club had started a branch in Penrith, so not just national but with local flavour. I popped along on a Monday, early so as not to intrude on the actual meeting, and asked the lead facilitator to give me his sales pitch which he did. What I like about Andys Man Club is that it is face to face and helps build a support network. All the others are primarily telephone help line providers but there is no substitute for meeting in the real world. 

Dry March.

Not drinking is supposed to have all manner of benefits. It is conventional wisdom that if you lose weight you can run faster because you are not carrying so much weight. There is even a calculator that works out how much faster you can run for a given weight, distance and time: Weight vs Pace Calculator. I thought I would try going dry for a month in the run up to the marathon to see if a) I would lose weight and b) run faster. The answer for me was "No" to both. 

I did have two nights back on the booze when we hosted a dinner party and when we went to a wine tasting. After a month having noted no benefits in terms of weight, speed, sleep, complexion, energy levels or anything else I allowed myself one glass per night on the two days before the marathon. 

Marathon Fair.

For those of you who have not done a marathon this is how is works.

You have to pick up your race pack prior to the event. This is a like a trade fair in an exhibition centre designed like Ikea or duty free at the airport in that you have to walk a labyrinthine path past stalls promoting services and selling merchandise: shoes, sportswear, nutrition, etc, you get the drift. The important part is the pack containing your bib (runner number) and chip. For this event the chip was on the back of the number, previously it was a small plastic rectangle that you attached to your shoelaces. 

The bag can also be used to drop off your personal effects in the bag drop area before the race to be collected afterwards. 

Then there is a goody bag of freebies from the sponsors, some a bit "random" (sponges and dry rusks) although the hand gel and shower gel will be useful.

An opportunity to take a selfie that you can share on social media - coincidentally promoting the Wizz Air brand!

And there is an app that your friends can use to track you on the day.

Race day [Edited 19-April-2025 to add extra photos].

Given the range of abilities they assign you to a start pen based on the predicted time that you provided at registration. I said 6 hr as that was at the upper end of my hoped for time. Even if I'd said 5 hr I would still have been in Group 10, right at the back.

On the day I am standing just behind the 5:30 pace runners with their green balloons and in front of the pink 6:00 pacers out of shot.

Me in my Andy’s Man Club t-shirt which arrived just in time for me to pack it before we set off for Italy.

The course is very convoluted, starting and ending at the Duomo (Cathedral).

The start time was 8:30 for the elite runners; it was closer to 9:00 before I crossed the start line. 

As the event progresses the crowd starts to thin out.

At the halfway point I managed a selfie to post live to FaceBook. I am not sure if I am gasping for air or just not good at selfies!

In the second half the crowd is well spread out.

At the finish line back at the Duomo.

At the end you get a medal and a t-shirt. They had run out of M so I settled for a S rather than XL. Seems to fit OK.

This is what the tracking app showed as my time and splits. The final published results always vary slightly from the live timing - in my case 05:45:04, but who’s counting 4 seconds.

They kindly provide a video of me passing through various key stages. Look out for the white baseball cap. I look bow legged but, honestly, that is just the shorts packed with jelly babies and a 330ml bottle of isotonic drink.

How it went.

Well, I crossed the finish line but I made the schoolboy error of going too fast at the start. Not helped by being hotter than predicted, 20 degrees instead of 16. My plan was 8 minute kilometres but my body was jogging along at 7:25. I should’ve eased it back. I paid the price in the second half but still finished within the timeframe I was hoping for. However, I had to dig deep. The last 10k were seriously hard work and I was definitely wobbly the last couple of kilometres.

Mary met me at several points round the course to hand me a refill bottle of isotonic drink. She reminded me of my wobble on the Brighton Marathon 2017 which acted as a timely reminder to keep hydrated.

My official pace was 8:11 per kilometre - not far off my planned pace of 8:00 but badly distributed.

At the end I had to sit down for half an hour during which I threw up what seemed like most of the isotonic drink I had consumed. I then started shivering, Mary had to lend me her hoodie and we went to sit in the sunshine. 

On the way back to the apartment on the Metro my Reynauds kicked in which took me by surprise. Normally it is associated with chilly Thursday Social Runs around Lowther Castle grounds with Eden Runners. Here it was 20 degrees. It obviously has to do with core body temperature being out of whack not just cold. Now I know why you see runners being given space blankets as they cross the line.

Went for a lie down after the marathon and this is what my Garmin watch told me about my stress levels. "Recovering from exercise. Try again later." No sh*t Sherlock!

Thanks to Mary.

Mary has been a star through the whole journey. Making sure there were slots in our hectic schedule to fit in the long runs and prompting me to go out for a training run when required. Plus the logistics support on the day. I could not have done it without her!

Smugness and Revenge.

I was once quoted as saying, whilst "in my cups", that the only two motivations I understood were "smugness and revenge". Well, running a marathon at 72 certainly fits the former. As for revenge, they do say that "Living well is the best revenge" [George Herbert] - so take that Oxford University and Hertford College!

Money and Awareness Raised for Andy’s Man Club.

Well that was both objectives achieved. It's not too late to donate: https://www.justgiving.com/page/mark-mclellan-milan.

Never Again.

Now I really mean it. In the words of Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon “I’m too old for this shit!”.

London Marathon 2019 - Epilogue

My experience of running a marathon seems to be very different to many others. A triumph of common sense over pride and ego is what finally got me over the finish line. That and Jeffing it.

If I had one piece of advice to give to others it would be: run your own race, at your own pace. Forget targets, forget PB’s, ignore what others are doing, ignore the pace runners. Run what works for you. It’s about the distance not the time.

This is my journey to the VLM 2019 finish line:

22 January 2016. Age 63.  Couch to 5K. Inspired by some friends doing Couch to 5K I went for my first run in about 30 years and managed 2 miles. Two days later I went for a 5K run. Well that was easy! “How hard can it be to run a marathon?” I asked. "Hundreds of thousands of people do it every year." “Try a half”, my wife advised.

9 October 2016. Age 64. Royal Parks Half Marathon. Based on my training runs I predicted a time of 2:14:50 (I plotted all my runs in Excel and drew a best fit line). I went with the 2:15 pace runner and trotted over the finish line at 2:14:52. Easy, peasy.

7 April 2017. Brighton Full Marathon. Based on my training runs I predicted a time of 4:40. Went with the 4:30 pace runner planning to ease off a little towards the end and hit my target time. It was the hottest ever Brighton marathon! They run out of water and I ran out of steam. Collapsed at 22 miles and, after a long rest, walked to the finish line in 5:45:39. Technically I finished but morally I was unhappy with it.

22 April 2018. Age 65. London Marathon. More training than last year. Eased back on the updated predicted time to 4:55 and went with the 5:00 pace runner. Guess what? Hottest London Marathon ever!! Plus the pace runner set off too fast and I didn’t have the nous to drop back and run my own pace. Result: I collapsed at 18 miles, threw up my isotonic gels and retired from the race - never even made it to the finish line.

28 April 2019. Age 66. London Marathon (again). This time I abandoned all targets and predictions. Decided to completely ignore the pace runners. Decided that it was not important to run continuously all the way. Decided to Jeff it. Walked for 45 seconds every kilometre, rinse and repeat 42 times. Kept up a steady pace and crossed the finish line on my third marathon attempt. The time was a passable 5:16:05. No hitting the wall, no collapsing, no aches and pains. Two weeks later I ran my second fastest ever Parkrun.

Many people say how much they enjoyed the day and how fantastic the crowds were. For me it was just a very tedious 26.2 mile slog and I suppose the crowds provided some distraction from the boredom and discomfort of working my way round. I am clearly a grumpy old man.

We all learn something from running a marathon. I have learnt that I have a level of self discipline and determination that I would not have believed. You really need that to do the training.

That’s me done with marathons. I just don’t see the attraction of running. It’s back down to parkrun on a Saturday for me. If I ever even think about doing another then I’ll take myself outside and slap myself round the head.

London Marathon 2019

London. Sunday 28-April-2019.

Result!

I finally completed a marathon on my third attempt. Now it really is never again!!

The remarkable thing is not that I completed a marathon but that I was so determined, stubborn even. After two failures (I include Brighton here even if I did walk over the finish line) I might think this was nature's way of saying "give it a rest" yet I persisted.

I do not know why it was so important for me do this but something made me put in untold hours of training. Possibly pride, maybe vanity, even fear of the Grim Reaper, who knows? For this marathon alone 76 training runs since last August totalling 823 km (511 miles).

When you add in the other two marathons and the half marathon it is a total of 221 runs covering 2340 km. I only started running in January 2016 with the distant goal of a marathon and I still can't tell you why but I know I can stop now. Parkrun is enough for me from now on.

I crossed the finish line in 5:16:05 and I'm happy with that; pretty much my expected time based on the training. My splits were consistent, I maintained a steady pace throughout, no hitting the wall. I drank 500 ml of Lucozade sport and ate two Nakd fruit bars.

I was number 33231 across the line out of 42439 finishers. More importantly for me, I was 210 out of 291 in my age bracket of 65-69 which I was pleased with seeing as how many above me were members of running clubs.

For many people the big milestones on the route are the Cutty Sark or crossing London Bridge. For me the first was passing the spot where I collapsed last year and I was feeling OK. The second was passing the 35 km mark which was where I collapsed in the Brighton marathon and I was still feeling OK. Only 7km to go at that point - just a parkrun and a half - and I was feeling fairly confident I would make it but there was certainly not going to be any sprint finish!

Afterwards no aches or pains in joints or muscles, a blister on one big toe but that was it. Last year I lost the two middle toenails which dropped off a few weeks afterwards, this year all are looking good.

I have to thank Blue Cross animal charity whose Gold Bond allocated places made it possible for me to run in both London Marathons. You can support them by sponsoring me if you so wish:
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MarkMcLellan

Run/Walk and pacing.

Last year in the 2018 London Marathon I collapsed at 18 miles and withdrew, caught out by the heat and the pace at the start (the latter an error of judgement on my part). I said never again. I lied! This year I planned a less optimistic target of 5:30 and trying the run/walk technique.

Quite late in the training regimen this time I learned about run/walk. Gave it a try and it worked for me so I switched for the last month of training. That included my first ever 35km training run equalling my previous longest ever run (the failed 2017 Brighton Marathon) and feeling fine at the end. I started with a ratio of Run 1 km / Walk 1 min then tweaked that to walk 0.1 km every km when the watch beeped and then run the rest.

Pace runners can be a good way to avoid the beginner's mistake of starting out too fast. In my naivety I didn't know such people existed before I did my half-marathon. For that and for my first marathon they were metronomic and helped me keep a steady pace.

Last year the slowest pace runner was 5:00 with a run/walk pacer at 5:30. This year they went all the way to 7:00. I cannot but help think this is a response to lessons learned from last year's hottest ever VMLM. A good thing for us slower runners.

In 2018 my chosen pacer set off too fast. She did the first 5 km at 6:41min/km, equivalent to a 4:42 marathon time. Eighteen minutes faster than the target. Same again for the second 5 km that included a couple of individual 6:16 minute kilometres which is a 4:25 marathon - way too fast for me and the heat of the day. I gave them feedback!

So this year I ran as my own pacer with the aid of my trusty Garmin VivoActive. I set it to beep every km and give me a pace so I could adjust my speed accordingly.

Photos.

From the official photographers, Blue Cross and snagged off the BBC iPlayer:

At the start.

Run/Walk - running 0.92 km every km.

Run/Walk - walking 0.08 km every km.

The Blue Cross cheering point at 30 km.

Running with the crowd as seen on the BBC.

Approaching the end - on the red carpet.

At the finish - crossing the timing mats.

At the finish - and we're done!

Results and places.

My pace was very consistent, slowing down a little as the race went on but really not by much, a pretty good straight line. The final official results show my average pace as 07:27 mins/km with a narrow range from 07:12 to 07:51. Sometimes I impress myself!

Well back in the overall field but I don't care, I finished.

Given the typical gender difference I was further back in the Male category, no surprise.

But the best result was in the age category which is a source of some satisfaction. Better than the above two percentages.

In preparation for last year's marathon I attended a half day seminar which included a session on pacing. The speaker described how many start off too fast and it is like the tide. In the first half you see your fellow runners rushing away from you but by the halfway mark the tide turns as they tire and they all flow back past you. The stats provided really bring this home.

Even in the first half, because I was with the 5:30 plus crowd, I overtook more than I was overtaken.

In the second half the impact of my steady plodding to conserve energy becomes pretty dramatic. I started overtaking many of my fellow runners and very few had the energy to pass me. I love this graphic!

Many rivers to run.

There are only so many times I can run round Wandsworth Common before I start feeling like a hamster in a wheel. So I’ve taken to running out and back along rivers. They are level and it’s difficult to get lost!

Last year I mostly ran the River Wandle down to Beddington Park and back.

This year I switched to the Thames Path.

Even on holiday the training must continue. Last spring I was in New Orleans with our friends Tim and Sarah so I ran along the mighty Mississippi, following the New Orleans half marathon course. Such was my fitness at that time, and thanks to the time shift, I was able to leap out of bed and run a half marathon before breakfast!

This year in February I was in Rome for a three week language course so I ran alongside the River Tiber.

In Puglia there are no rivers (true fact) so I’ve had to improvise. There is a cycle path along the Aquedotto Pugliese which does go up and down but not too badly.

In the long run.

The last long run of the training plan was two weeks before the big day and I was pleased with how it went. Previously I’ve really struggled to get past 25K. This time I ran/walked my way to 35K. My longest *ever* training run including my two previous marathon attempts. So this technique seems to work for me.

Drove to the Pineta Ulmo, parked up and then a run/walk to Locorotondo and back.

Through typical Val D'Itria countryside dotted with trulli.

The nature of out and back is that you get a very symmetrical elevation profile. Although overall it was uphill on the way out and downhill on the way back as aqueducts naturally flow gently down hill but they can cheat by tunnelling through hills while I have to go up and over. As you can see there were some hills which were hard work.

Parkrun.

Parkrun is an integral part of the training regimen. As a spin-off from the marathon training I achieved a Personal Best (PB) not once but nine times.

The Salento Parkrun of 06-April-19 was showing support for Autism awareness by asking participants to shave something or wear something blue. A perfect opportunity to wear my Blue Cross running vest (last year’s as the new one was back in the UK). All this marathon training has clearly helped. Not only was it my 50th parkrun, with cake and candles, but I demolished my PB by an astonishing 60 seconds: 25:36, previously 26:36. Not just for Salento but for all locations. I’ve earned that 50 T-shirt.

The Salentino Parkrun is set in a large nature reserve and is a lovely flat course.

My fellow runners on this milestone run.

Running for Cats.

I ran in memory of all my furry companions: Blue, Peaches, Cleo, Oscar, Oliver, Cristal and Spielberg, and on behalf of Blue Cross.

Blue Cross animal hospitals and pet care clinics provide free veterinary treatment to sick and injured pets when their owners can’t afford private veterinary fees. https://www.bluecross.org.uk/veterinary.

I have been lucky enough to be able to afford to go to the vets. I cannot imagine what it must be like to have to give away your pet or have it put down because you cannot afford the care needed. Too horrible to contemplate.

Please donate to Blue Cross by sponsoring me if you so wish:
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MarkMcLellan

Thank you for reading this far. A bit of a marathon post *groan*.

That's all folks.

Salento Parkrun Number 6

Lecce, Puglia, Italy. Saturday 09-June-2018.

It seems like I’m collecting parkruns.

For those of you who don’t know there is a clue in the name. People gather in hundreds of parks up and down the UK, and in parks around the world, at 9 o’clock on a Saturday morning to do an organised 5K run.

Mostly I have done my parkruns in Tooting Common. But as we travelled about the UK for various weekends away I have picked up Parkruns in Scotland, Ireland and England (North and South).

I very nearly added an Italian Parkrun in Florence when Mary was planning to do a language course there. But in the end her trip was curtailed so that never happened.

Last time I looked there were no parkruns in Southern Italy. But then last month we had some visitors who said “there is a Salento Parkrun” and, lo and behold, someone had just started up a parkrun outside Lecce. It is run by Italian, Saverio, who had lived in Maidenhead for some time and discovered park run. On his return to Italy he decided to start up a local event. Inspired by our guests we decided to combine an early start for the park run followed by a visit to the beautiful city of Lecce.

This parkrun being in its infancy there were only eight runners and four of them were from our party. It is a very different experience running round the olive groves of a national park compared to running around Tooting Common where the first two runs in 2018 had over 800 runners!

It was only the sixth Salento Parkrun and our friend Sarah was able to set the female course record; unfortunately another UK visitor knocked her off the top spot a week later.

The 'A' is missing from my vest because I put the iron-on letter upside down and ironed it onto the sheet of paper.

One of the runners was visiting from Sicily and shot off like a greyhound and was round the course in 19:09. Me, I was happy to have managed it in under 30 minutes.

Garmin timings:

When I was back in the UK for a week I decided not to do my usual Tooting run but instead cycled up to Wimbledon Common so that I could add another unique Parkrun to the list. That is now nine different locations I’ve done park run.

Again under 30 minutes so again happy with that.

When I go back in September I think I’ll have to pop over the river to Fulham and bag Parkrun location number 10.