Breaking 3 Hours: My Melbourne Marathon 2024 Race Report

The Sub 3 hour Marathon has always been a goal of mine, and this year I attempted it on the melboune marathon. After following Hanson's advanced marathon plan, I was ready to put it all on the line on race day.

Race Information

• Name: Melbourne Marathon
• Date: October 13, 2024
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Melbourne, Victoria
• Website: Melbourne Marathon
• Strava: Strava Activity
• Time: 2:57:03
• Goals:
• Goal A: Sub 3 - Achieved
• Goal B: BQ - No

Training

Last year, I followed Hanson’s beginner marathon plan and ran a 3:05. While I was fairly happy with that result, my training was far from ideal—a vicious cycle of building up mileage only to get injured. This year, with my sights set on a sub-3 finish, I changed my approach. I stepped up to Hanson’s advanced marathon plan and cut out all the cycling I had used to supplement my training.

In 2023, my strategy involved hitting the hard workouts and long runs from the plan, but I did a lot of cycling on the side, including 100+ km rides on the weekends and one or two easy aerobic rides during the week. This year, I focused entirely on running and sticking to the plan, ensuring I got the necessary time on my feet. Last year, I believed that as long as I was building aerobic capacity, it didn’t matter whether I was running or cycling. But this time around, I realized that I had already built that aerobic base, and what I needed was to strengthen my legs by putting in the miles on foot.

The 2024 Melbourne Marathon sold out shortly after the 2023 race, but luckily, I managed to secure a spot through the ballot.

One of my issues last year was my Achilles getting hurt. I tried to counteract it by doing calf raises but it didn't really do much to help the issue. This year I've found that what really helped was adding a lot of weight to these calf raises. building up to 65kg each leg. This significantly improved my Achilles strength and allowed me to consistently hit 90-105 km weeks leading up to race day.

Hanson’s plan typically schedules the rest day for Wednesday, but I found that moving it to Monday worked better for me. This allowed me to recover properly from the long run and have an easy day before hitting the speedwork, which I moved to Wednesday. Thursday was an easy aerobic run, Friday was reserved for the tempo run, followed by an easy run on Saturday, and then the long run on Sunday.

These Sunday long runs weren’t easy. I didn’t do any “LSD” (long, slow distance) runs. Instead, I ran them at a decent pace—slower than marathon pace, but still at a solid effort.

I did my hard workouts in Vaporfly 3’s, courtesy of Ted—thanks, Ted! The Vaporfly’s gave me an extra bounce and speed, which really helped me power through those tough sessions.

Although I had concerns about the Hanson’s plan capping long runs at 16 miles, I made a personal adjustment to boost my confidence by changing the final 16-mile-long run to a 20-miler. I also pushed my long tempo runs faster than my goal pace, starting at 4:10/km in the early weeks and building up to 4:03/km during peak weeks. My thinking was that if I could run faster than my goal pace of 4:15/km in training, the race would feel easier.

I also built a Spotify playlist months before the race and listened to it during my hard workouts. It kept me motivated throughout training, but unfortunately, I couldn’t listen to it on race day due to a last-minute toilet predicament.

Pre-race

On the morning of the race, I had a simple breakfast of a plain bagel and instant coffee. I wasn't feeling particularly nervous or confident. The forecast predicted a high of 25 degrees, and I felt the heat on the back end of the race.

Race

I arrived at the start with some pre-race jitters and felt the need to use the toilet. The delay meant I started well behind the 3:00 pacers. When the gun went off, I found myself with the 4:30 group, about two minutes behind where I wanted to be. I took one Maurten gel before crossing the start line and spent the first half of the race gradually working my way through the crowds, finally catching the 3:00 pacers by the halfway mark while taking a gel every 20 minutes. Feeling strong, I decided to push past them.

By kilometer 33, the hills and heat started to take their toll. The dreaded "wall" loomed, and I began to feel the onset of cramping in my calves. My head also started tilting back, as if I were a kitten being grabbed by the neck—a problem I had last year as well, and something I'll need to work on for future races. By the mid-30 kilometers, my pace had slowed to around 4:20/km, so I decided to walk briefly at one of the aid stations to catch my breath, prevent the cramps from worsening, and properly take in some water. Afterward, I tried to speed up again.

By kilometer 38, the 3:00 pacers passed me once more. I fought to stay with them, but it became increasingly difficult. I followed closely behind, keeping them within 5 meters. As I approached the finish, I made some ugly faces outside the G, pushing through the pain as I headed inside to the finish line. Exhausted but satisfied, I crossed the line elated to have finally broken 3 hours with a time of 2:57.

Post-race

After finishing, I got my medal and finisher's shirt, then had myself a banana and some Gatorade. I meandered around the expo area and sat down for a bit to take in the moment.

Future Plans

To be honest, I’m feeling a bit lost right now because I thought I would achieve this further down the line in my running career. Now, I’m thinking about different challenges that might satisfy my competitive itch. Earlier this year, I completed the Peaks Challenge and finished under 10 hours, so I’m considering trying to beat that next year. I’m also thinking about giving triathlon another shot—my first attempt in 2019 didn’t go well, as I ended up drinking a lot of seawater during the swim!

I might even try something entirely new, like Hyrox, to build more strength and athleticism. Stay tuned to see what I take on next!