Inverness’ Mhairi Maclennan says she is “excited” about future races over 26.2 miles after a perfectly-executed marathon debut in London which saw her finish as the top British female.
The Highland 29-year-old’s time of two hours, 29 minutes and 15 seconds meant she crossed the finish line on The Mall in 11th place.
It was a challenging and thrilling experience which has whetted Maclennan’s appetite for future marathon outings.
“The one thing that’s frustrating about the marathon is you can’t do them more than twice a year at most if you’re trying to push your body to where I pushed mine,” she said.
“I’ll probably be waiting until February to maybe do another one, but I’m definitely excited to take everything I’ve learned this time around and apply it, and looking forward to seeing what I can do over that distance.
“I’ve always known I’ve been able to keep pushing really hard when it’s been hurting.”
Previously a 10K specialist, Inverness Harriers member Maclennan says it has been a long-time ambition to move up to the marathon.
She thinks her coaches were correct to hold her back, however, as she would not have been able “to cope with the training required for a marathon before now.”
Maclennan – who has for five years been hampered by recurring chest infections brought on by black mould-induced Aspergillosis – added: “It’s probably the first time I’ve been resilient enough to cope with it.
“I loved 10Ks, but the older I’ve got the faster a 10K has started to feel… and I haven’t necessarily been going any faster.
“It was high-time for me to move up distance.”
Given her previous health issues, Maclennan’s ambitions in the marathon are simple – to be healthy enough to train consistently around everything else going on in her life, to enjoy it and to try to bring down her time.
There were never any thoughts of earning a Team GB spot for the Paris Olympics in July and August.
Maclennan is busy organising her wedding to fiance Louis in September.
She also runs Kyniska Advocacy – an organisation trying to end gender-based violence in sport by lobbying for policy change and supporting affected athletes.
The qualifying standard for Paris is 2:26.50, while the British selection meeting has already come and gone.
But, still only in her late twenties, has Maclennan’s marathon debut got her thinking about a potential trip to the next Olympics, in Los Angeles in 2028?
She isn’t thinking too far ahead, and said: “I don’t really believe in setting limitations for yourself. I’ll continue to run as long as I want, and if that takes me on a journey to improving my times, then that’s great.
“But I’ll only do it as long as it’s fun, so looking as far away as four years is just not in my sights right now.
“I just want to get to the point where I’m able to consistently train, enjoy it and not keep getting thwarted every time I have a good performance.
“I’m obviously competitive, and if I found myself in two years’ time, having been able to put together a couple of years of solid performances, then it would be a discussion at that point. But not before then.”
For now, Maclennan is targeting some regular shorter races before August-September time, hoping to reap the benefits of the fitness built up from 20 weeks of marathon training, with the Scottish 10K championships or a half-marathon in her thoughts.
Maclennan ‘sent it’ amid hectic London pace as she describes ‘most pain’ of racing career
Maclennan admits, while she headed to Sunday’s London Marathon in full belief she could run sub-2:30 by maintaining 2:28 pace for most of the race and leaving something extra in the tank for a late push – provided there were no unexpected problems – the actual speed of proceedings was a shock to the system.
She said: “The pacemakers were going around 2:26 and, at one point, 2:25 pace.
“I did say a couple of times: ‘This feels quite fast’. But they reassured me, and said: ‘No, you’re going to be fine, you’re looking really strong, you’re super-relaxed, everything’s great.’
“So I decided I was just going to send it. Maybe I’d blow up – probably I’d blow up – but it wouldn’t be until near the end!”
Maclennan revealed the final stretch in London was likely her toughest-ever racing experience, saying: “It was the most pain I think I’ve ever been in.
“I was already starting to really feel it at 18 or 19 miles, and I guess by that point I maybe naively thought: ‘I’m nearly there’.
“But obviously I still had seven miles to go – which is longer than most of the races I’ve ever done – so the last 12 kilometres from where the pacemakers dropped out were probably the toughest (racing) I’ve ever done mentally.
“Definitely the last 6k was the toughest physically. I just really felt my body was willing me to stop and I was having to push through it screaming at me.”
Peres Jepchirchir won in London in a women’s marathon world record time of 2:16.16, with Maclennan describing the Kenyan’s feat as “crazy”.
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