Brighton Marathon 2025 Race Recap

Only the disciplined ones are free in life. If you are undisciplined you are a slave to your moods, you are a slave to your passions - Eliud Kipchoge

Discipline was something that I definitely needed for my next running challenge - my first ever full marathon. I bought an entry spot for Brighton 2025 way back in June 2024, not giving it too much thought. However, having come out on the other side completing it, and being in a situation where I attempted to run 2 marathons in 3 weeks 😅 (more on that in my next blog 👀), I have a bunch of learnings / reflections and thoughts I want to share with you on the whole experience.

A marathon is something I've always wanted to do, and it was finding the right place, right time to commit to one and give it a go. Having just graduated from university, finished my year abroad, and also completed my offshore rotation as part of my Graduate scheme, it was looking like 2025 would be the year I would have a more regular and consistent weekly schedule - making fitting in marathon training a lot easier. And so as we rolled over from 2024 into 2025, my Brighton Marathon training plan was in full swing.

This blog will (as my race recaps usually do) go through the build up to Brighton, how the race went, as well as post-marathon thoughts and feelings. Importantly, with this blog I hope to bring to light that most people out there can't drop everything and focus on marathon training 100% of the time - they have the rest of their life to get on with too! I think that's really important to remember in whatever you're training for - the only person you can compare yourself to is you! 💪

Brighton Marathon Training Block

I went with a 12 week training block (see image above): 2 runs a week 👟, along with ideally 2 gym sessions 🏋️ and some off-feet cardio (e.g., bike or swim). As this was my first marathon, the above training plan is meant to build you up from 0 to completing a marathon, perfect for someone like me who is just entering the world of marathon running. The 2 runs are split into: short / interval tempo runs, and longer, slower runs - gradually building up the weekly mileage and then tapering down. I felt 12 weeks was a good amount of time to get in shape - assuming you stick to your plan and complete all sessions! 🙃 More on that below.

As I mentioned near the beginning, the majority of marathon runners have to balance regular life/responsibilities with training - not an easy task 🤓. February 2025 saw me relocate to the US for 4 weeks for work, something which I was not aware of when signing up for Brighton. This definitely hampered my training plan, and whilst I made an effort to stick to it as closely as possible, I did not do all my runs / strength sessions. At first you think "what's the harm in missing 1 session?", which there isn't, provided you get right back on it. But after missing a few long runs, it made it harder to ramp up mileage while staying injury free. I clocked in my longest run at the time of 27km out in Houston, which was a great feeling - but honestly training wasn't optimal.

Arriving back in the UK, I had about a month till Brighton. I got a 34km run under my belt - a huge confidence boost which made me realise that I can finish a marathon, the mental block was unlocked. However, in hindsight (which is such a wonderful thing), I reckon I ramped up my mileage too quickly, which led to me picking up an injury on my ITB just 3 weeks out from Brighton 🤕. Not ideal at all - and where you learn the hard way about missing training sessions. My goal had to be revaluated: from running a sub 4 marathon, to simply getting around and finishing. That was quite a hard pill to swallow, especially seeing as it wasn't that long ago I ran a 01:40 half marathon - but you have to listen to your body. Added in to the mix was that I had secured a spot in the 2025 London Marathon through a charity (which I was so grateful for 🙏) - meaning the challenge had changed: 3 weeks, 2 marathons, 1 cause. So as the days to Brighton counted down, I was definitely feeling sub-optimally ready, but excited to see how I would do.

6th April 2025 - Brighton Marathon

The one thing about races in a different city is that far more logistics are involved! In advance of heading to Brighton for the weekend, I needed to sort out: transport 🚅, accommodation 🏨 and pre-race meals 🍽️. Hotels sold out really quickly, and the rooms left were being priced at extortionate rates for the weekend - so book well in advance. I would recommend staying close to the waterfront (if you can), as the finish line is close by.

Brighton is easy to get to from London by train, and there are plenty of vegan food spots in the city. I visited Bonsai Plant Kitchen & Happy Maki over the weekend, both which had delicious food options 😋Saturday was spent catching up with an old uni mate, and walking around in the sun. It was then an early night to get ready for Sunday.

Sunday 6th April had arrived - and it was about a 30 minute walk to Preston Park where the start of the Brighton Marathon was. Walking is your best bet on race day, most the city is shut down so getting buses / taxis is tricky. The route (shown above) had different start and end points, taking you north, east and west of the city centre, before finally finishing at Hove Lawns. The start line area was organised and spacious, making it stress-free to drop your bag and warm up. There was a buzz in the air that starts to get the adrenaline going, a feeling I always like! Prior to this, my last race was the Cambridge Half Marathon in March 2024, over a year ago. I made my way to the start line, and we were off! 🤩

Although advertised as a flat route, Brighton was hillier than I thought it would be. Heading out east into Ovingdean there were these rolling hills, and combined with a head wind it proved tough to navigate. Great weather though apart from the wind - sunny and not too hot. The sections of the race that were in town, the crowds got bigger and this definitely boosted my morale. The crowds were amazing, it makes such a difference running with people cheering you on, music (samba bands, choirs, DJs) - the whole city really does come together to make this event special.

Miles 19 to 26 were difficult for various reasons, sometimes because of the slight uphill, and by kilometre 39 I would say I hit the infamous 'runners wall'. I did get a runners high earlier in the race though, around the halfway mark, which felt amazing, but a marathon is long enough that you can experience everything in a single race!

Despite a dodgy ITB, I had actually run all 39km, but it was at this point I reduced it to a walk, focussing on putting one foot in front of the other. Those last 3km were hard, but the crowd were roaring and you could actually see the finish line in the distance. Crossing that line, I felt a wave of emotion come over me - it had hit me that I finished a marathon. I would say it's the first time I've felt this strong an emotional reaction to finishing a race - and I reckon that's my minds way of acknowledging the months of work that went into it. And with that, Brighton Marathon was complete in 05:10:06 🏅

Now for some reflections

Respect to anyone who finishes a marathon, we all have our own stories to tell and our reason as to why we're standing on that start line choosing to run 26.2 miles. We've all got different things going on in our lives, so comparing yourself to others is useless. The marathon compares you against yourself - and tells you if the work you've put in will pay off or not. It's a mental game as much as it's physical, there were times I had to dig deep and find willpower I didn't even know I had. The Marathon Weekend was great, and definitely picked up some learnings for my next marathon which was in 3 weeks time:

• Take sweets with you - fizzy laces, jellybeans etc. I enjoyed eating those on my run
• Don't carry water with you as it slows you down, use the drinks stations provided
• After a marathon, as tempting as it is to not do anything, stretch and keep your body moving. Use all tools necessary to recover: foam rolling, massage gun, magnesium oil, ibuprofen gel, sleep, hydration etc.
• Learn how to properly apply sports tape - mine ended up flapping about for most the race
• Keep soaking in the atmosphere and interact with the crowd - it's the best bit!

Spoiler! As you will soon find out in my next blog - my London Marathon 2025 didn't go exactly how I planned. But that's a story for another day...

For now, thank you Brighton for a fabulous weekend and for all my friends and family for their continuous encouragement. I'm proud to call myself a marathon finisher!