How I moved from marathons to ultramarathons and Ironman

My running history is not a neat progression through increasingly ambitious training plans. It is a collection of decisions: a first marathon, more races around Europe, an ultramarathon, Madeira, an Ironman entry and eventually hundred- and two-hundred-mile finishes. The original posts tell those stories. This feature puts them in context without making a beginner’s training programme out of the choices I happened to make.

I have run 30+ marathons. I remember finishing an Ironman in Port Elizabeth and not finishing one in Maastricht, but the exact dates and finish time still need confirmation. The two 2024 Centurion finishes have official public results. That distinction matters when building an honest chronology: a memory, a contemporary diary and a timed result each answer a different question.

Start with the first marathon, not the biggest result

My Chicago marathon account describes an underprepared beginning. I have kept its original address, spelling and all, because it is part of the site’s history. The story is useful as autobiography, not because minimal preparation is a sensible route into a marathon.

A first marathon asks for sustained preparation over months, not merely a willingness to enter. My experience should invite questions about what I would prepare more carefully, rather than persuade a new runner to repeat an old gamble. The distance is familiar enough to sound accessible and long enough to expose the gaps in a casual approach.

Four races, four weeks: a different kind of commitment

Running four marathons in four weeks in different cities is about stacking events as well as travelling between them. A repeated race schedule brings recovery and practical arrangements into the same conversation as training. It is not just four independent finish lines.

For someone reading that story now, the useful distinction is between an experience and a recommendation. A personal experiment does not establish a safe schedule for another runner. Think about the work between events, and seek individual guidance if you are trying to organise demanding races close together.

Going beyond marathon distance

My first ultramarathon and the preparation for a 42-mile event belong together. One documents crossing into a new distance; the other shows the earlier questions and preparation around it. Keeping both available is more useful than compressing everything into a generic list of tips.

Beyond a marathon, time on the course becomes a larger part of the problem. Food, drink, kit and access to support deserve deliberate practice. Walking can be part of a trail event without making it a failed run. What matters is being prepared for the actual event rather than insisting every long race must resemble a road marathon at a slower speed.

Madeira: keep the diary and result in their own lanes

My Madeira ultramarathon diary is a first-person story about an island race, not a universal account of ultrarunning. Its historical title is not a finish-time certificate. Readers should use an official result to establish a timed performance, and the diary to understand what I wrote about the experience.

That separation lets the original writing retain its personality. A later editorial overview should not quietly change old prose to create a tidier sporting CV. Nor should a headline become the source for a new precise result claim. The more unusual the experience, the more valuable it is to keep the original account intact.

Ironman: the leap into another discipline

My original Ironman article describes the decision to enter after Madeira. That is the authentic destination for the Ironman story on this site, rather than an unrelated article about training with a paratrooper.

The challenge changed because the event was no longer only running. An existing endurance background does not prove competence across the other disciplines or readiness for race conditions. The story documents my commitment to something unfamiliar; it should not become advice to bypass preparation.

I describe Port Elizabeth as an Ironman finish and Maastricht as a DNF on the basis of my recollection. I leave their order, exact race years and finish time out of this timeline until I can confirm them. Entering an event, attending it and finishing it are different facts. Keeping those separate is more important than making every chapter look like uninterrupted progress.

The two results that anchor 2024

The official South Downs Way 100 record gives 22:43:38, 126th overall and bib 561 on 8–9 June. The official Winter Downs 200 record gives 69:14:32, 18th overall and bib 167 on 11–14 December. Read the South Downs Way 100 feature and the Winter Downs 200 feature for the ledgers and selected public checkpoints.

Those results establish completion. They do not reveal a perfect training formula, every decision made during the races or a guaranteed progression from one distance to the next. Their value is that they give the wider autobiographical story a public, checkable anchor.

A better question than “how quickly can I move up?”

Ask what needs to become reliable before choosing a harder event. For a longer race that may mean practising with kit, understanding current rules, arranging permitted support and making food accessible over a longer duration. For a different sport it may mean admitting that being experienced in one discipline still leaves you a beginner in another.

The lesson I want this collection to offer is not that everyone needs an ultra or an Ironman. It is that an ambitious entry and serious preparation are separate decisions. Read the original accounts, notice the limitations as well as the finish lines, and choose a challenge you can prepare for rather than a title you want to claim.

Read the original stories in order

Start with Chicago, continue with the four-marathon experiment, then my first ultra, Madeira and the Ironman entry. For the broader thread, explore my adventures and the discipline essays.