After a nigh on perfect training block, Big Ben Collins was feeling optimistic ahead of his London Marathon outing back in April. Clocking a 2:42 in his marathon debut in 2024, it felt like he was nailed on to beat that and quite likely come away with a sub 2:40.

All the signs were there that he’d progressed since the year before. He’d been visibly faster in training and was leaner, fitter and stronger than ever before. His half marathon PB of 1:15:15 at Fleet showed that he was in the right ballpark for a sub 2:40 and he’d done plenty of good marathon interval sessions and long runs, often on trail routes.

On top of all that, he’d been hitting high mileage of 75 to 80 miles per week. One week he even went over 90. He was extremely well prepared. Then when the day of the race came round it turned out to be quite hot. That threw the planned pace out the window for a lot of runners.

Concerned about hydration and still being a little inexperienced in marathon terms, Ben ended up drinking too much water in the early stages of the race and felt nauseous after that. Consequently, he was sick on the 19th mile, but managing to get going again after that to finish in 2:44:18.

It was still a great time in those conditions but wasn’t really what he wanted and it wasn’t what the training he’d put in should have enabled him to deliver.

His response to that setback was to sign up for another marathon in the autumn. Such was his hunger to get that sub 2:40 time, he was prepared to do all that hard training again and give it another go. That says a lot about Ben’s character and attitude to running. He is always willing to put the hard graft in for the chance of achieving something special.

The event he found that he hoped would give him the chance to realise his full potential was the Yorkshire Marathon. It looked a good route; fairly flat throughout, with 481ft of elevation.

Over the summer he ran the Alresford 10k in 35:43 which was a great time on such an undulating course. He also did some track races in the National Athletics League, recording his first ever win in the 3000m steeplechase in a time of 10 minutes 39 seconds.

In terms of training, he was convinced he’d already found the right formula to get him in great shape, so just had to replicate that again. It was hard work but he knew he could do it, as he’d managed it before. This time he was determined to clock an even higher mileage, as it felt like that had worked before.

By the end of June, he was already up to 85 miles a week and he kept that going for the next 10 weeks. There was even a couple of 90 mile weeks in there.

In September he did the Chippenham Half Marathon and in that race, he was able to knock out splits of around 5:40 pace for the first 10 miles. The last 5k was mostly uphill though, making it virtually impossible to keep that tempo going. He did well though, only going over six minutes for one mile and coming away with a time of 1:15:36.

Although it wasn’t quite as quick as his Fleet Half Marathon time, it would have been faster if it was fully flat and the course came up slightly long as well. According to Strava, he had actually gone through half marathon in 1:14:53.

He then went on to clock his fastest time yet in the Southern Six Stage Road Relays, at Rushmore Arena in Aldershot. That was without tapering that week as well. When the day of the Yorkshire Marathon came round, he was confident he’d done enough to get into the best shape he possibly could.

The Championship qualifying time for the London Marathon had changed to sub 2:38, which meant that a sub 2:40 time wasn’t quite worth as much as it had been before. Aiming for a sub 2:38 was a stretch though, as it would mean running 6 minutes per mile the whole way, especially as the course looked like it would come up slightly long.

That would have been extremely difficult, even for a runner of Ben’s calibre and going for that would be a risk that could result in everything falling apart. He wasn’t prepared to take that gamble. A better tactic for him would be to try to stick to as close to 6 minute mile pace as he could, but allow himself a few seconds per mile leeway.

Having set off too quickly last time at London, he’d ended up paying the price later on in the race and he couldn’t afford to let that happen. Hence he started off at his planned pace of 6:03. He then went on to clock a 5:57 for his second mile before getting back into a rhythm at just over six minute mile pace.

That took him to 10k in 37:40, and then saw him reach 20k in 1:15:12. Getting to the half way stage in 1:19, it was going perfectly for Ben up till then.

From the 12th mile to the 14th, there was a slight downhill trajectory which enabled Ben to clock a couple of sub six minute miles. There then was a mile and a half that was slightly uphill. Amazingly, Ben was still able to stick to that pace of just over six minutes.

There was another slightly downhill mile for the eighteenth in which he clocked a 5:57. The biggest hill of the race came on the 20th mile and that put Ben down to 6:11. It was still really strong from Ben though and he wasn’t letting anything prevent him staying on target to achieve his goal.

Reaching 30k in 1:53, he now had 12k left and was in a great position. Of course, it often can be in the last 5k of the race that things go wrong in a marathon, so he had to be mindful of that.

Getting back to 6 minute mile pace for the 21st and 22nd miles, he only had four miles left. His pace started to drop a bit after that and he was down to a 6:20 for his 23rd mile, followed by a 6:17 for his 24th.

Managing to pull it back to 6:09 for his 25th mile, he’d given himself a real chance of making it. Going through 40k in 2:31, he was there or thereabouts.

There was a hill to contend with on the 20th mile though and that was going to make it extra tough to get through it quickly. His energy levels would have been running low at that point as well, so he had to dig deep.

Getting through the mile in 6:21, he then just had a third of a mile remaining. Finding the strength to finish with a flurry, Ben got back to 5:49 pace for the downhill run in to the line.

Going over the finish line in 2 hours 39 minutes and 45 seconds, it couldn’t have been much closer but Ben had done it. He’d managed to nail that sub 2:40 time that he was craving so badly and it was a truly unforgettable moment.

Finishing in 26th place out of around 13,000 participants, Ben’s performance probably represented his best run ever. On a course with 466ft of elevation, he’d come away with an average pace of 6:04 per mile.

Right at the front of field, Rob Corney had been leading the whole way. Going through his first 10k in 32:44, then then went on to reach 20k in 1:05:45. At that stage he had a lead of one and a half minutes over the chasing pack.

Over the next 10k, he started to get reeled in by Edward Buck of Newark AC and by 30k, the gap had been reduced to 49 seconds. Over the next 10k, Edward took the lead and by 40k, he was 1 minute 22 seconds ahead.

Finishing in a time of 2:18:15, Edward won the race by exactly two minutes in the end, with Rob Corney ultimately having to settle for second. Thomas Cornthwaite of Salford Harriers was third in 2:23:46 and George Ravenhall was fourth in 2:25:17.

Only seven runners got round in under 2 hours 30 minutes. 18 men finished in under 2:38, which would have got them Championship qualification. Ben was the last runner to get over the line for a sub 2:40.

Jonathan Walton of Leeds City was first MV55 in a time of 2:36:59 which put him 17th. Heather Townsend, also of Leeds City, was first female in 2:38:58, which put her in 21st place overall.

Melissah Gibson of Ealing Eagles was second lady in 2:43:36, which put her 41st overall. Alice Lambert of Bedford & County was third female in 2:44:38, putting her 59th overall.

After that race Ben was really buzzing about how well it had gone. There were times near the end, like when his pace dropped on the 23rd mile, that he thought it was over. But he stuck at it, dug in and never gave up on his end goal. That kind of endeavour is often needed in the latter stages of a marathon.

It was great to see Ben get the result he deserved for all the hard work and commitment he’d shown in training. The drive he has to get the best out of himself is one that isn’t matched by too many others in the club.

Unfortunately, he didn’t realise the deadline for a Good For Age application for London was the end of October so he won’t be competing in that next year. Instead, he has signed up for the Boston Marathon in Lincolnshire, which is purported to be the flattest in the country.

There are some plus points to running a slightly smaller event than London and one of them is that you don’t have to keep weaving in and out of people all the time. That can use up valuable energy and disrupt a runners rhythm when trying to churn out consistent splits in the early stages of the race.

Ben didn’t have that so much at Yorkshire and that may well have helped on to achieve the result he got. Perhaps at the Boston, UK, one next year, he’ll be going for that sub 2:38 time which will put him in the Championship zone for London. That will probably be enough of a carrot to lure him back.