Six things I learned

Six Star finisher Marcus Brown from the UK is training hard every day to be ready to realize his goal of a sub-three hour finish when racing resumes.

While things are on pause, we asked Marcus to reflect on his Majors experiences so far, and share some of the top things he has learned and gained along the way.


1. TRAVEL SMART: The 2017 Tokyo Marathon taught me to respect the impact of jet lag on my race. If you can, fly to the race location a few days early to allow yourself time to acclimatize to the time zone and conditions.
2. VISUALIZE: The 2018 Boston Marathon taught me the importance of visualization. Before the race I was aware of the biblically bad weather, so I wrote down and visualized multiple scenarios, which helped me deal with the race day weather.
3. BUILD A BASE: The London 2010 Marathon, my first major, I ran my slowest time (4:55). I learned that starting from the bottom gave me a solid base to build up from.
4. YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE: At the Tokyo 2017 Marathon, I also learnt that you don’t get the result you wish for, you get the result you train for.
5. NO REGRETS: I set my marathon PR in New York City in 2019 (3:00) and it taught me that you might not get the result you set out for (sub 3:00), but if you can give your best, on the day you can have no regrets.
6. DON'T JUST EARN MEDALS, MAKE FRIENDS: Across all of the six Majors, I made a lot of friends along the way, too many to mention, but these bonds have made my Six Star experience even richer.

Listen to Marcus and fellow Six Star Finisher Ron Romano on his latest two-part podcast here where they discuss all things Abbott World Marathon Majors.