Seville Marathon '25 Race Report
I chose the Seville Marathon because it was local, the timing was good, and a bunch of us from the running club were going. I wanted a race around February time and I’d heard it was flat - which sounded good to me. I hadn’t run it before but people I trust said it was a fast course, so I signed up. My original plan was to go for a PB.
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Training started well. I used the Pete Pfitzinger “Advanced Marathoning” plan - the same one a few friends had done - and although I was a bit daunted by all the speedwork at first, I ended up enjoying it. I’m used to ultra training - lots of long miles, no structure, definitely no speed - so this was out of my comfort zone. But I got into it. Everything was going well.
Then I ran the Gibraltar 10K. I was still doing speedwork at the time and I raced the 10K hard - got a PB - but I think it pushed me over the edge. The following week I was supposed to do a tempo block of 8 to 16K. I cut it down to 5K because I was being cautious, but something still went. I finished the run with a weird feeling in my leg and later that day, I could hardly walk. We didn’t know what it was at first - it turned out later to be a tendon issue, but it took a while to figure that out.
From that point on, I had to ditch all the speedwork. I was still running, but just easy. I tapered as best I could, kept things ticking over, and hoped the injury wouldn’t flare up too much on the day.
Getting to Seville was straightforward. The city’s lovely - I’ve been before - and we had a great little hotel, quirky and fun, even though it wasn’t right near the start or finish. The expo was decent. I travelled with my friend Reda and we had a good routine - early dinner, feet up, early night. Everything felt relaxed.
Race morning was smooth. The start area was busy but well-organised. If you don’t speak Spanish it might feel a bit more chaotic, but I didn’t see any major issues. Bag drop worked, the corrals were fine, and there was a good atmosphere. I was nervous, but without the pressure of chasing a time, I felt oddly calm. I just hoped I’d enjoy it.
The Race
It started well. My legs felt amazing - all the training had obviously done something - and I set off at a decent pace. But at 10K, it all started to unravel. I got this constant pain in my hip - not stabbing, just always there - and it didn’t let up.
I knew I wasn’t going to stop. I’ve never DNF’d a race and I wasn’t about to start now. But I was seriously questioning whether I was making something worse by pushing through. It was a mental battle. I slowed right down - not to “easy” pace exactly, because it was still painful - but enough that I wasn’t forcing it.
By the end I was just hanging on. I knew I could finish a marathon - that wasn’t in doubt - but I wasn’t proving anything to anyone. I crossed the line feeling in three hours and 31 minutes, frustrated more than anything else. Not angry, just annoyed that I’d worked so hard and hadn’t been able to run the race I knew I had in me.
Afterwards, though, things got better. Reda and I met up with friends, went out for food, and had a proper chilled day. Tapas, a few drinks, no rushing. We even bumped into someone else from the club who’d had a rough race too, so we could all commiserate together. Staying the extra night made a huge difference - I don’t always do that, but I would definitely recommend it for Seville.
Since then I’ve had the injury properly diagnosed - it was a hamstring tendon issue all along. I’ve been working on it and it’s improving. Luckily it doesn’t seem like I did any serious long-term damage, but it’s made me question whether the plan I followed was right for me. I don’t run marathons to chase times - they’re part of my training for ultras - so maybe I need to approach them a bit differently in future.
Would I recommend Seville? Yes - especially if you’re after a flat, fast course. It’s not wall-to-wall crowd support, but when it’s there, it’s great. Coming back into the city at the end is a proper lift. The only watch-out is the weather - it’s February, but it still gets warm quickly and that could catch people out.
It wasn’t the race I wanted, but it taught me a lot. And at the end of the day, we still had a brilliant time in a brilliant city. Just maybe don’t race a 10K PB mid-marathon block…
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