So, a little about my running history: I started back when I was in my twenties, first with runs around my neighborhood park and later ramping up to 5Ks and 10Ks. It was only when a friend of mine suggested training for a marathon together that I even considered running a distance as long as 26.2 miles — but I surprised myself and did it.
I ran two more full marathons — in all, I’d run marathons in Bermuda, Washington D.C. and San Diego — but the friends I’d trained with for those races mostly stopped running those kinds of distances, so I did too. And switched over to halfs, which I’ve more or less stuck with since.
What I noticed is that, as the half marathon distance became more popular over the years, people ran marathons — the 26.2-mile distance, I mean — less and less, to the point where many cities stopped offering them in their big annual race weekends.
But things always change. Over the past few years, especially as the World Marathon Majors have expanded and grown, I hear about and see people talking about training for 26.2 more and more.
My question today: what about you? Do you have any interest in running 26.2, and/or have you put a marathon on your calendar lately? What’s inspiring you to try the distance (especially if you never have) and how are you fitting it into your life? — Terrell
My husband and I are running Tokyo in a few weeks. That will be number 5 of the original 6 world marathon majors. We will just need Boston to finish them all. Of course I signed up for the NYC lottery, and probably will every year until I can no longer complete the distance. I would like to do Chicago again sometime too. There are a few others in Europe I'd like to do as well, but not sure if that will happen. At this point, I'm going to keep doing my strength work so that I can try to make it to all of those start lines. If the marathon becomes too much, I hope that I will still be able to run half marathons.
It's been a while since I've dropped by here. That marathon subject line snagged my attention, which must mean I'm still drawn to the distance. I ran my first marathon in 2024, which was only a success in that I actually finished. In 2025, I improved my time by over 2 hours and was so proud of my effort/progress. I'm now recovering from a herniated lumbar disc, which my physical therapist assures me is not from running. (Mild scoliosis, post-pregnancy issues, and leg length discrepancy is more of the issue.) I'm working hard on alignment and stability in hopes of returning to running. I'm not sure if another marathon is in my future, but I have hope.