pickupthepacepaul

3, 2, 1… Happy New Year. As we count down the end of 2025, it is time to review my year of running. In 2024 I must admit, I was at a low in my fitness journey, I was at the heaviest I have ever been, was struggling both mentally and physically, and needed to do something about it. 2024 Recap. I am pleased to share that 2025 has been a much better year. To start off, I lost 10kg in the first half of the year. Over the last month I may have put a lot of that back on, but its more superficial and something I will address in the new year again. I have run 966 miles this year, which is lower than previous years, but I have swam significantly more, and done a lot more cross training with classes such as body pump. My highlights for 2025 include: 17 marathons (13 as a pacer), and 9 sub 4 marathon. I have now ran 178 Marathon (plus) and my 132 as an official pacer (including 69 marathons).

I would split my year of running into 3 parts. Marathons for myself, Pacing World Marathon Majors, Marathon Pacing.

Marathons for myself

This year I had no personal goals. Simply I wanted to get into better shape, and enjoy running. As such I only ran 4 marathons for myself, and all of them were with Phoenix Running. These are chilled out runs with no target times. I started and ended the year at Walton on Thames. First with the Doughnut Dash, then ending with the Christmas Jumper Run.

In the summer I wanted to do another couple of marathons and went to Denbies. Here I completed the Prosecco Run and Phoenix All Star. Not only do I love the location, but the challenging course was perfect for my pacing adventure in Taiwan.

Pacing World Marathon Majors

This year I was fortunate enough to pace 5 World Marathon Majors. Most exciting was going to Sydney to run and pace Sydney Marathon for the first time. I paced 4 hours for Sydney Marathon, Berlin Marathon, Chicago Marathon and New York Marathon. All very different courses and experiences and I loved them all. I managed to finish 3 in 03:59:41 and 1 in 03:59:49. I also paced 4:10 at London Marathon in 04:09:58.

Marathon Pacing

In addition to the 5 world marathon majors, I paced at 8 other marathons around the world. From the UK, to Europe, to Tawain.

Marathons included:

Seville Marathon – 4 hours in 03:59:39

Rome Marathon – 4 hours in 03:59:42

Limassol Marathon– 4 hours in 03:59:14

Milan Marathon– 4 hours in 03:59:53

Ibiza Marathon– 4:30 in 04:29:38

Richmond Marathon – 4:30 in 04:29:40

Sunmoon Lake Marathon– 5 hours in 04:59:38

Larnaka Marathon – 4 hours in 03:58:13

What a year… next year, more pacing planned and I aim to start getting myself in shape for some personal goals. Either another sub 3 attempt, or another Ironman. These will be goals for 2027, and I will decide during 2026, for now its just about enjoying the running and taking every adventure as it comes.

How was your 2025?