We headed out to the Boston Marathon to experience what has to be probably the worst marathon conditions we’ve ever seen. Running into a 30mph headwind, 2degrees, raining non-stop, what felt like hills for days and hanging around waiting to start you just get colder and colder. But what this did show us that the body is capable of far more than you can ever possibly imagine. The majority of our DASH Athletes were in wave 3, they were all 50+ and looking for a 3hr 30min mark time. With most pulling out, even the elite athletes, what it did show was immense courage and determination for not pulling out, coming this far and running around 10mins off their PB. Spending the week before the marathon tapering, running a few miles but also working on our DASH drills to make sure our guys are using the right muscles, being as efficient as possible and most importantly staying injury free – particularly in this weather.

The result, although we started incredibly cold and took a while to warm up, we had our athletes all run within 10 – 15mins of their personal bests. The few drills they did at the start line helped massively, they helped keep them warm & engaged ready to race. The most impressive part of all, everybody thinks you’re getting slower as you age, our first athlete in this age group is 55years old and had a PR of 3hr 27min, that’s pretty damn impressive. Age is not a barrier to achieving what ever you want to, you just have to be willing to get on that start line despite the rain, all you need is a little self belief and you’re there.