A Liverpool runner has turned his focus to a spring marathon after a successful 2024 campaign.
Jonny Mellor, 37, has set his eyes on his next major marathon, despite it being months away.
He said: “Of course I am running next spring but in the meantime my focus is on training”.
The 2025 Marathon Calendar begins with Tokyo on the 2nd March, but it will be likely Mellor will kick off his season on home soil, though the field for London 2025 is yet to be announced.
Mellor, who resumed to structured training this week, said: “At the moment I’m focusing on 10km, and half marathon runs, I am running a marathon next spring, but nothing has been announced yet.
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Mellor, who ran a monumental personal best of 2:09:06 in the Seville Marathon back in February, finished the running calendar on a high as he finished 14th in the New York Marathon, chalking off the last major of the year.
Reflecting on November’s New York Marathon Mellor said: “It was a real mixture to be honest.
“New York is one of those marathons that just completing the distance feels like an achievement. So, there was a sense of pride there, there was also a slight disappointment given the way I finished the race.”
Coming into the race, Mellor had a clear strategy: to be aggressive and enjoy the experience.
He said: “I had no time goals going into New York. It was all about competing and racing people, with the goal of finishing in the top 10. So, it was nice to run without the pressure of checking splits and just focus on running hard.”
New York’s unique and vibrant atmosphere played a key role in pushing Mellor on.
He said: “Without a doubt the atmosphere had an impact on my performance. I’ve never experienced noise or crowds quite like it. Honestly at one point, my ears were ringing with the noise. It was unlike anything I had done before, so it helped me get through the difficult miles.”
The presence of his daughter Evie watching him run for the first time added to his motivation.
He explained: “Having my daughter watching me was also a huge boost. I think the atmosphere easily surpassed what I experienced in New York in 2018 when I last ran there.”
The marathon terrain proved to be a challenge particularly due to the layout of the course.
Mellor said: “I clocked 965ft of climbing over the duration of the marathon, and there’s pretty much no flat sections you are always up or down.
“It is important to be smart on that course and not to go too hard as it will find you out. The changes of pace throughout the race, surging in and out of drink stations especially was also tough.”
In preparation for the marathon, Mellor adjusted his training plan to combat the incline.
He said: “I ran a few more undulating runs than normal to prepare for the hills of New York. I usually run more hilly routes anyway as I now live on the edge of the Peak District.”
Despite a much shorter build-up to this marathon due to an injury over the summer, he maintained a rigorous training regimen, clocking peak mileage weeks of 115 miles consisting of light paced runs, longer runs and interval training sessions.
The Impressive finish at New York draws Mellor towards the end of yet another successful year in long distance running and has hinted that more is yet to come.
