Markus Romeis

Mastering the sub3

With Stockholm Marathon just around the corner (June 4 is the day) we thought it would be interesting for those of you aiming at a sub3 to hear what our friend Markus Romeis has to say about it following his 2:50 feat at Boston Marathon a few weeks ago. So we took an easy longish run together the other day to catch up. But first things first…

Boston Marathon has an almost mythical aura among long distance runners. It’s been around ever since 1897 and the race has seen a fair share of drama throughout the years. In 1967, Katherine Switzer became the first woman to finish a marathon there (facing some serious adversity on her way to the finish line). In 2013 it also became the tragic scene for the Boston Marathon Bombings where three spectators lost their lives in a senseless act of terror. Fortunately, things have improved since. So where does this leave the hero of our story? Let’s start with the basics.

 

 

 

 

Who is Markus Romeis and how come you started running?

I’m a Stockholmer working as a Senior Operations Manager at Uber. I started running in 2019 because some of my friends talked me into it. At the time we set a goal to run a sub40 10K but as we got better and met new friends sharing the same interest it kind of became harder and harder to quit.

Why Boston Marathon?

At the beginning I told myself never to run races that were longer than 10K. However, at the end of 2020 I managed to score a reserve spot for a race called the MLM Marathon in Uppsala, not far from Stockholm and despite the rain and November gloom it was a surprisingly fun race and I managed to finish in 2:48. When I realized that this was a time that should get me to Boston I guess curiosity made me apply.

How do you get a spot at Boston?

To register you need to have a Marathon under your belt within a specific time limit. In my age group the time limit is 3 hours. Then the fastest runners of all of those who have registered in your age group get a spot. However, there’s also the option of donating a certain sum of money to a few select charities as a way to get a spot.

How does Boston differ from your previous race experiences?

In terms of Marathons the MLM Marathon in Uppsala is actually my only prior experience [although at Running Is Dead we can confirm that Markus also ran solid a sub3 in our unofficial Stockholm Marathon in back in June 2020]. Other than that it’s mainly been 10K races in Stockholm where most of them have been pretty flat. Meanwhile Boston Marathon is considered to be one of the slowest and toughest city marathon races because of the hills which are long and winding throughout the entire race course. The first 25K are basically all downhill which wears you down and makes it all too easy to overdo it in terms of pace. After that you’ve got 10K uphill in the form of four hills. And then the remaining 7.2K are downhill again but it actually feels like you*re running uphill.

Markus Romeis

Mastering the sub3

With Stockholm Marathon just around the corner (June 4 is the day) we thought it would be interesting for those of you aiming at a sub3 to hear what our friend Markus Romeis has to say about it following his 2:50 feat at Boston Marathon a few weeks ago. So we took an easy longish run together the other day to catch up. But first things first…

Boston Marathon has an almost mythical aura among long distance runners. It’s been around ever since 1897 and the race has seen a fair share of drama throughout the years. In 1967, Katherine Switzer became the first woman to finish a marathon there (facing some serious adversity on her way to the finish line). In 2013 it also became the tragic scene for the Boston Marathon Bombings where three spectators lost their lives in a senseless act of terror. Fortunately, things have improved since. So where does this leave the hero of our story? Let’s start with the basics.

Who is Markus Romeis and how come you started running?

I’m a Stockholmer working as a Senior Operations Manager at Uber. I started running in 2019 because some of my friends talked me into it. At the time we set a goal to run a sub40 10K but as we got better and met new friends sharing the same interest it kind of became harder and harder to quit.

Why Boston Marathon?

At the beginning I told myself never to run races that were longer than 10K. However, at the end of 2020 I managed to score a reserve spot for a race called the MLM Marathon in Uppsala, not far from Stockholm and despite the rain and November gloom it was a surprisingly fun race and I managed to finish in 2:48. When I realized that this was a time that should get me to Boston I guess curiosity made me apply.

How do you get a spot at Boston?

To register you need to have a Marathon under your belt within a specific time limit. In my age group the time limit is 3 hours. Then the fastest runners of all of those who have registered in your age group get a spot. However, there’s also the option of donating a certain sum of money to a few select charities as a way to get a spot.

How does Boston differ from your previous race experiences?

In terms of Marathons the MLM Marathon in Uppsala is actually my only prior experience [although at Running Is Dead we can confirm that Markus also ran solid a sub3 in our unofficial Stockholm Marathon in back in June 2020]. Other than that it’s mainly been 10K races in Stockholm where most of them have been pretty flat. Meanwhile Boston Marathon is considered to be one of the slowest and toughest city marathon races because of the hills which are long and winding throughout the entire race course. The first 25K are basically all downhill which wears you down and makes it all too easy to overdo it in terms of pace. After that you’ve got 10K uphill in the form of four hills. And then the remaining 7.2K are downhill again but it actually feels like you*re running uphill.

 

 

 

 

How do you make a training plan for a sub3 marathon?

Personally I enjoy long sessions but I struggle with finding the motivation to push through tough interval sessions, especially during the winter. I did have three specific goals with my preparations for Boston though:
1. Consistently run 100K per week without getting injured
2. Each easy session should last for at least 1 hour (12-17K)
3. Quality sessions (in my case intervals, threshold runs and long runs i.e. 28-35K with varying pace increases) should equate to 20% of my weekly training volume.

How confident were you in your ability to deliver on your goal during the race?

Honestly not very confident. I really wasn’t sure of how my stomach would cope with the jet lag and a change of diet. At the very beginning of the race things felt pretty good but after that 25K downhill I started struggling with pain and my legs just felt really tired. I was actually close to calling it quits at that point but instead decided to stop looking at my watch and just tried to keep going until the next light post. And the next…

When do you love/hate running marathons?

After the finish I definitely hated it for a while. Perhaps it was a combination of missing my real goal [we’ll get to that] and feeling physically drained, but the experience as a whole is hard to match and with a bit of perspective I’m actually quite satisfied with my 2:50 run.

What goals have you set for yourself going forward?

The (perhaps overly ambitious) goal that I had set for myself at Boston was a 2:40 marathon and it still stands. But until my next attempt I’m actually mostly looking forward to a few weeks of ”vacation” filled with easy sessions.

Thanks for the chat and the run Markus. Best of luck with your future adventures, running wise as well as in life in general!

How do you make a training plan for a sub3 marathon?

Personally I enjoy long sessions but I struggle with finding the motivation to push through tough interval sessions, especially during the winter. I did have three specific goals with my preparations for Boston though:
1. Consistently run 100K per week without getting injured
2. Each easy session should last for at least 1 hour (12-17K)
3. Quality sessions (in my case intervals, threshold runs and long runs i.e. 28-35K with varying pace increases) should equate to 20% of my weekly training volume.

How confident were you in your ability to deliver on your goal during the race?

Honestly not very confident. I really wasn’t sure of how my stomach would cope with the jet lag and a change of diet. At the very beginning of the race things felt pretty good but after that 25K downhill I started struggling with pain and my legs just felt really tired. I was actually close to calling it quits at that point but instead decided to stop looking at my watch and just tried to keep going until the next light post. And the next…

When do you love/hate running marathons?

After the finish I definitely hated it for a while. Perhaps it was a combination of missing my real goal [we’ll get to that] and feeling physically drained, but the experience as a whole is hard to match and with a bit of perspective I’m actually quite satisfied with my 2:50 run.

What goals have you set for yourself going forward?

The (perhaps overly ambitious) goal that I had set for myself at Boston was a 2:40 marathon and it still stands. But until my next attempt I’m actually mostly looking forward to a few weeks of ”vacation” filled with easy sessions.

Thanks for the chat and the run Markus. Best of luck with your future adventures, running wise as well as in life in general!