Mark Armstrong spoke to Norwich Road Runner John Hudson about his running journey so far and how he plans to break 2:30 at the Newport Marathon this year.
How did you get started running?
My dad was always a runner, running for Duke Street, and then, when they folded, he went over to CoNAC. He’s always been my inspiration.
I remember watching him every year when he would do the London Marathon. I think he did something like 12 years in a row, and that was a big thing for us. We’d get up early and watch it on TV at my grandma’s house, trying to spot him on the screen.
He was my inspiration for getting into marathons, and I think I probably always knew at that stage that I wanted to do marathons and follow in his footsteps. But I wasn’t really very good, and I didn’t take it seriously through my teens and 20s.
I would run, but I wasn’t much of a runner. I just didn’t commit to it. My first marathon was Reykjavik, which, again, was just a bit of fun. I did it with my friend Daniel Middleton, and it took about three and a half hours. I didn’t train super hard for it, and it took me six or seven marathons before I broke three hours, which I think is seen by many as the gold standard for a good club runner.
I remember doing the Edinburgh Marathon, really trying to break that three-hour barrier. Around mile 18 or 19, I was looking at my watch, doing sums in my head, and realising I’d just miss it. I came in at around 3:01. I remember running a sub-three marathon and a sub-18-minute parkrun being my main goals, and not a lot has changed apart from now I’d like a 2:30 marathon and a sub-16-minute 5K.
You eventually went well under three hours at Manchester in 2017. What did you change and develop over the years to get down to that goal?
Around 2017 or 2018, I just started to take it a bit more seriously, I think. I began to see myself as a runner rather than someone who just occasionally ran. I also took up the habit of running every day, which was quite a big thing for me.
It wasn’t in a Neil Featherby way where it’s religious, and I have to run every day. But looking at my Strava from last year, I think I missed only 11 days out of the whole year, so it’s pretty close to daily running.
I might take one day off a month, and I don’t beat myself up about it. If I’ve got a bad cold, need a rest, or life just gets in the way, I’ll skip a day. So I’m not super strict about it, but I started to think of myself as someone who runs every day and eats healthily, someone who doesn’t have the chips and burgers because I’m a runner. Everything began to get funnelled through the thought process of, ‘What would a runner do?’
Did your body cope quite well with stepping up to that?
Yeah, I think, touch wood, that seems to be one of my superpowers, if I have any. I seem to be lucky that I don’t really get injuries. I’m careful, and I try to listen to my body, rest when I need to, and increase things steadily.
I’ve been able to cope well with big mileage, and I feel okay the next day. I recover quickly. Around 70 miles is a normal week for me, and I’ll go a little higher in the latter stages of a marathon training block.
When I trained for Chester last year, the timing worked out perfectly because it’s an autumn marathon, and as a teacher, I had the whole summer to train. That allowed me to do 100 miles a week for eight consecutive weeks. I don’t think I’ve gone much over 100 miles, maybe 110.
Last week, I did 100 miles, but it’s much harder at this time of year with the cold and balancing work. I also have my son, Henry, who is two-and-a-half. I like to keep my evenings free to help with bedtime, so it means a lot of early mornings or sneaking out whenever I can!
Do you cross-train much or have your own strength and conditioning plan?
I have a 30-40 minute home workout routine with a few simple exercises like planks, lunges, and squats. I try to do that most days, and I think it’s probably one of the reasons I’ve had so few injuries.
I’ll just fit it in while I’m cooking, keeping an eye on football, or something like that. It’s nothing too structured, but it works for me.
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What does a normal training week look like?
I’m lucky with my work because I’m a maths teacher, but I also coach cross country – I’m head of cross country.
On Tuesday afternoons and Thursday mornings, I get to run with some of the kids, taking them around Mousehold or other routes. I’ll usually add a few more miles afterwards or sneak out during a lunch break or a free period.
The one constant I have is my Sunday long run, usually with my dad on the bike, he loves it. Even in the recent cold weather, he’s insisted on coming along, wearing three pairs of gloves!
I often use the long run as a bit of a session. Personally, I think too many people treat the Sunday long run as just time on their feet. But if you can incorporate something like 5×2 miles at marathon pace or 3x5K of effort, it becomes a really good session. That’s when I started to notice my times coming down.
I also run with the ‘Casio Club’ which includes runners like Michael Eccles, Dom Blake, and James Johnson. We usually do sessions on Marriotts Way or meet at the Henderson Track.
I’d like to do more sessions with my club, Norwich Road Runners. They run great sessions under Mick Powell on Thursday nights, featuring hills or efforts, but it’s hard to fit everything in. Doing 70-odd miles a week, that’s about 10 or 11 hours of running and balancing family time can be a challenge.
Have you ever thought about why you place these demands on yourself? Why you’ve set 2:30 as a target?
I don’t know – the 2:30 goal is fairly arbitrary. If I achieved it, I’d probably just start chasing another time.
There’ss just something about that 2:30 mark that makes me think, rightly or wrongly, and probably wrongly that it’s the time of a really quality runner. There aren’t many people in Norfolk who consistently run under 2:30.
Obviously, you’ve got your Logan Smiths, and I’m nowhere near his league. But I look at other runners in the 2:20s and think, ‘Maybe I could get there’.
I think everyone has that next little goal. You imagine that if you achieve it, you’ll feel satisfied. But running has become part of who I am. It’s part of my identity. I’m a husband, a dad, a son, and a runner.
I’ve invested so much into it that it feels like a core part of who I am.
And if you’re a runner, you want to be the best runner you can be, just like you want to be the best father or husband. But it’s important to remember that it’s a process, a hobby.
What running race performance has given you the most pride when you look back on it?
I’d have to say the Norfolk Marathon last year. It was one week after London, and I wasn’t expecting anything.
I’m fortunate that if I turn up to most Norfolk races, I have a good chance of finishing in the top 10, but I don’t usually win. So, I wasn’t expecting to win, especially after the London Marathon, which was a PB (2:32).
But I’d entered Norfolk as well, so I thought, ‘Oh, okay, I’ve got a free shot at this’. No one would think less of me if I dropped out halfway. I ran within myself, fairly controlled, and I could see the lead group ahead of me. I wasn’t too bothered about them at first.
Then, around mile 13 or 14, I realised I was closing the gap. I caught up to them around mile 15 or 16, went past, and still felt good.
It was the comeback of the Norfolk Marathon, so it felt quite special.
How do you fuel your marathons, and what’s your approach to nutrition in general?
I’ve been vegetarian my whole life. I tried veganism for a while but didn’t quite stick with it. I don’t eat many animal products, I occasionally have eggs but I try to eat clean and avoid doughnuts and biscuits!
For marathon fuelling, I’m not someone who takes loads of gels. I usually take about three during a marathon, and I practice this during my Sunday long runs. It’s probably something I could improve on.
What’s your approach for the Newport Marathon going to be? What’s the plan?
I need to run 5:42 miles, so I suppose I’ll aim to sit at 5:40s for as long as I can and try to leave something in the tank for later on.
I must admit that 5:40 marathon pace sometimes feels like my 5K race pace in training! But thankfully, different rules seem to apply on race day.
I’ve learned to trust the process and believe that, come race day, your body will remember how to do it, especially when you’ve tapered and your legs feel fresher.
Can I ask about your trainers and what you like to use?
I’ve always liked Brooks Launch, so I usually have a pair of those on the go. I also like the Saucony Endorphin line.
For race day, I switch to Nike Vaporflys. I can usually get a couple of marathons out of a pair, plus a few other races. I keep the carbon shoes just for race day as I want to get a psychological boost as much as a physical one.
Who are your inspirations when it comes to running, apart from your dad?
Definitely people like Michael Eccles, Neil Adams, and Kevin Holland. I love seeing runners in their 40s still improving.
From running history, Emil Zatopek is a bit of a hero. If you watch old footage of him, you can see he’s working so hard. He doesn’t look like a natural runner, he looks like he’s in pain, but he trained so hard and wanted it so much. It’s really inspiring.
I’d also mention Dom Blake. I hope he doesn’t mind me saying this, but he doesn’t necessarily look like he’s going to be such a fast runner. I remember sharing a car with Dom to the Wymondham 20 last year. He’d had a few pints the night before and then went off and ran a great time.
You’ve got natural runners like Logan Smith, who just seem to have brilliant running genes and form. He deserved that sub-50 at Reedham. But then there are runners like Dom, who work really hard to get where they are.
I’d place myself in the latter camp. I don’t think I’m naturally a runner, but I’ve worked and trained hard. There are so many inspiring runners out there, it’s hard to name them all!