The search for an elusive sub-three-hour marathon continues for Bournemouth AC‘s Paddy McCalister, who tackled the Belfast City Marathon with high hopes after a strong training block but ultimately found the challenging course profile too much to overcome.

Having recorded a personal best of 3:04:55 at the Paris Marathon last year, Paddy arrived in Northern Ireland knowing he was not far away from the magical barrier. His preparation had gone well and there were plenty of signs that he was in excellent shape.

The first encouraging result came back in February when he produced a superb personal best of 1:07:15 at the Lytchett 10, despite the race forming part of a long-run sandwich rather than being a standalone target. He followed that up in March as Bournemouth AC’s sole representative at the Solent Half Marathon, again using the race as part of a longer training run and comfortably running inside marathon pace to finish in 1:28:24. Alongside those performances were a number of quality long runs, including a particularly impressive 22-mile session featuring 18 miles at an average pace of 6:53 per mile – exactly the sort of workout that suggested a breakthrough performance could be on the cards.

The Belfast course offered both opportunity and danger. Paddy opened sensibly with a 6:47 first mile before negotiating the predominantly downhill second and third miles in 6:41 and 6:46 respectively. It would have been easy to get carried away on the early descents, but he showed discipline and kept his effort under control.

A slight rise on mile four saw him record 6:52 before settling into a solid rhythm. Miles five, six and seven were covered in 6:44, 6:49 and 6:53, followed by splits of 6:46 and 6:49 for miles eight and nine. At that stage everything appeared to be progressing nicely.

The race then entered a prolonged uphill section and the challenge began to reveal itself. Paddy battled gamely to maintain his pace, holding around 6:50 per mile through the opening part of the climb before posting 7:11 and 7:08 miles. The effort required to keep moving at that speed on the rising terrain had taken its toll, however, and the wheels gradually began to come off.

His 15th mile was completed in 7:24 before he reached 16 miles in 7:16. The 17th mile took 7:43 and the race’s toughest climbing section followed. Those relentless gradients pushed him beyond eight-minute-mile pace and, although some welcome downhill sections eventually arrived, the damage had already been done.

As Paddy later reflected, by that point his goose was already cooked.

There was still work to do. A final incline during the 25th mile was negotiated in 8:15 before he dug deep to complete the last mile in 8:46 and bring his Belfast challenge to an end.

His finishing time of 3:14:15 was well outside both his sub-three ambition and his personal best, but the result should be viewed in the context of a course containing around 700 feet of elevation gain. It was a demanding marathon that punished anyone who got their pacing wrong or simply lacked the strength for the hills. Paddy came 505th overall out of 5,216.

Importantly, the training block was completed without injury and Paddy emerged from the race unscathed too. He was soon back running and training normally, giving him a solid platform for future marathon attempts. There will undoubtedly be more opportunities to chase that sub-three target and Newport has already been mentioned as a possible destination next year.

For now though, a summer of shorter-distance racing and a chance to enjoy the sport without the demands of marathon preparation may be exactly what is needed before another assault on the three-hour barrier.

At the sharp end of the race, Abay Alemu and Teadese Mamo were both credited with the winning time of 2:16:24, suggesting the pair were inseparable in a thrilling finish. Joshua Griffiths claimed fourth place in 2:18:01, while local favourite Jonathan Cornish, well known on the Dorset racing scene, produced a magnificent run to finish in 2:19:29.

There was also a remarkable achievement from Bournemouth AC junior coach Nick Marshall, who completed his third marathon in as many weeks while dressed as a giant screw to raise money for Prostate Cancer. Having already conquered Newport and London, Nick added Belfast to his growing list with a finishing time of 4:47:18. The challenge is not over yet either, with the Edinburgh Marathon still to come and Dublin now added to the schedule later in the year. Through both his fundraising efforts and the considerable media attention the challenge has generated, Nick has raised an impressive amount for a worthy cause while continuing to inspire the club’s younger athletes.