Newport marathon 2026

On Sunday, I ran Newport marathon 2026. It was my fifth marathon and my fourth at Newport. I keep going back to Newport because it’s easy to just drive there on the morning and it’s pretty much flat! I was running it with the aim of securing myself a London marathon Good for Age (GFA) time for next year. They haven’t published the qualifying times for next year, at the time of writing, but the time for my age group for this year was 3:53. I thought that if I could run 3:48 this time I should hopefully give myself some breathing space, after missing out on a place for 2025 by just 17 seconds.

This year, I’ve been trained by Fi Barnes of Run Cotswolds. She is a highly qualified endurance coach, with a specialism in menopause. I’d already trained with her on Thursday nights with the running club for two years, so I knew she was the right choice. She came up with a bespoke plan for me, adjusting it as needed. We also chatted every couple of weeks and she helped me with nutrition, fuelling, hydration and confidence/ psychology. We thought I might be able to maintain a pace of 8:25 min/ miles for the marathon, but it was risky. If that went wrong, I could miss out on my qualifying time. The safest option was to go for 8:35 pace.

We set off for Newport at 6:30am. My husband was driving, my daughter came along to support and we were also giving a lift to my eldest’s friend. My husband went to park the car and me and my son’s friend went down to the start line. The queues for the toilets were short. Then we waited a bit and queued again! The queues were longer this time, but moved fairly quickly. Then it was time to take the layers off and put our bags in the bag drop in the car park of the shopping centre, close to the start line.

We met up with some friends from the running club and I slightly needed the toilet again, but there wasn’t time to go!

The marathon and half marathon both started at 9am. There was also a 10k race starting at 9:45. I was in the red pen (third fastest/ second slowest of four). My son’s friend was in the white pen (fastest). I think I should have been in the green (second fastest). It was quite a long walk to the red pen. For some reason, the race was 10 minutes late starting. That didn’t help me with needing the toilet!

And we were off! I’m pretty sure we were running in a different direction initially from when I ran it in 2024. The course does a quick loop around the city – in which I saw my husband and daughter twice. Then we were back by the start line and we’d run a mile. There was a water station at a mile! I didn’t bother with that.

The weather was sunny, but cold. Sunny and cold can sometimes make you too hot when running, but I can honestly say, I was never too hot or too cold.

We ran out of the city and over the big bridge over the River Usk at mile two. This is the most iconic part of the race. It’s also the only part with any sort of climb. At mile three, we ran round the track at Newport Stadium. Last time, we only ran on a tiny bit of it. This time, we ran pretty much a whole lap, which was fun. I think it was after the track that we got to a really narrow bit. I’d actually ended up starting some way behind the four-hour pacer and I got stuck behind the pacer and the large number of people running with them. As soon as we got out of the narrow bit, I got round them and got ahead. I was doing very well at maintaining my 8:35 pace.

At about mile five, the marathon runners and half marathon runners separated. Then we were onto the main part of the course, which is a big loop that we do twice. On the first time, there is also a four-mile out and back. As I entered the out and back, I saw the front runners going in the opposite direction. This whole section is a blur of countryside. It all looked pretty similar, but then I would spot something I’d seen before. This part of the course is very quiet, with very few spectators. There were a couple of groups and they were all shouting my name, which was brilliant. It gives me such a boost. They seemed to shout my name more than anyone else. That’s probably because I’m usually in the minority as a woman at the pace I run.

I was looking at my watch only to keep an eye on my pace and to know when to drink or take gels. I was seeing the distances, but not thinking about them. As I came off the out and back onto the big loop, there were faster runners who were already on their second big loop.

I’d low-level needed the toilet since before the start. At mile 11, I decided I was just going to go! I figured I would more than make up the time lost. It was a good decision, although I must admit the time on my watch slightly stressed me out. I’d been on 8:34 average pace when I stopped and it was showing 8:38 when I came out. I knew I had to be careful to just get the time back gradually and not starting running at seven minute miles to sort it out.

My legs were hurting, understandably, especially some tightness in my right hip flexor, which has been a minor problem for a long time. Other runners had said to carry paracetamol and take it if my legs felt bad. At mile 15, I decided to take it. It was actually really difficult to pop two tablets out and take them. So I had to stop again! That stop ending up being nearly as long as the toilet stop.

I hoped my two stops wouldn’t affect my time too badly. I think if I hadn’t stopped, I could have ended up slower, but the ideal would have been not to need to stop in the first place!

I was wearing my hydration vest/ backpack and carrying 500ml of water with electrolytes, six gels, some salt sticks and one extra electrolyte tablet, cut in half to drop into water. In the pre-event information, the only thing I wanted to know was whether the water was in bottles with lids. But it didn’t give that information! I’m pleased to say it was. I took bottles of water at mile 4 and mile 6 and just sipped them as water. I didn’t want to use up my precious electrolyte too early. After that, all the water I drank contained electrolytes. I used up my own supply then used my tablet in two 330ml bottles later in the race. I had my gels every four miles and had a salt stick at miles 14, 18 and 22.

My music was good and carrying me along. Before I knew it, I was on the second big loop. From about 19 miles, I saw a few men walking. These were all men in their 20s or 30s who looked like they were fit from football or the gym, but their fitness probably hadn’t translated into running 26 miles. I saw a group of friends from the club doing their first loop. It was so good to see them and it gave me a real boost. Apparently I was at 21 miles! How did that happen?!

At 22 miles, I finally came off the big loop and started my run back to the finish line. I’d agreed with my coach that I would start to pick up the pace a bit at this point, if I could. I always tend to speed up in the last mile or two anyway – sometimes because I’m so desperate for it to be over! I saw a sign saying I’d done 35k. That couldn’t be right?! Because that would mean only a parkrun and a bit to go! I did the maths. It was right. That was the first time I’d properly thought about the distance.

My husband and daughter had said they would see me at 23 miles. They weren’t there, but I didn’t worry. I knew I would see them at some point. It was actually at about 24.5 miles, on a long, straight road on the outskirts of the city. My daughter appeared and ran along with me for a bit.

“You’re very fast!” She actually couldn’t keep up with me, but it was lovely to have here there.

My husband was a bit further ahead and he ran with me too – in his jeans!

“You’re nearly at the bridge now!”

At 25 miles, I crossed the bridge. I was going fast. Nearly everyone else was walking. I overtook so many people. I’ve got three songs on my playlist for finishing the race. I wasn’t going to get to them. I considered taking my phone out and skipping to them. But I thought I would just keep running.

I remember last time, crying on the way to the finish line. It felt like such a long way. I was underfuelled and desperate for it to be over. This time, my legs were hurting, but I felt strong and fast. I wasn’t stressing about the finish line or how far I still had to go.

But I could see the finish line, I could hear loads of people shouting my name. I ran with every last bit of energy I had left and crossed the line in 3:46:49. I was 1191st out of 2748, 170th female out of 739 and 13th in my age category out of 85 (I must admit, I was expecting/ hoping for top 10).

Despite my two stops, I’d managed to beat my target time. I was very, very happy! I picked up my medal, Tshirt and water and listened to my last three songs while I picked up my bag from the bag drop and waited for my husband and daughter.

I’d given it everything I had. If I don’t get my London GFA place now, there is no justice in the world!

You can read about my marathon training here – weeks 1 to 4, weeks 5 to 8, weeks 9 to 12 and weeks 13 to 16.