It may have been his first-ever marathon, but he still finished it quicker than the vast majority of other runners ever will.
Logan Smith, 25 and from Cromer, clocked a stunning time of two hours, 19 minutes and 41 seconds at the Valencia Marathon in Spain earlier this month.
Mr Smith, who manages the Gangway bars in Cromer, Sheringham and the Potting Shed in Overstrand, said he was thrilled with the result.
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He said: “The experience was great, the course was amazing and the crowds on the course were mega.
“Considering it’s not a ‘major marathon’ to still get over 30,000 entries and all the crowds that showed, was crazy. Felt like the whole city was out for it.”
Mr Smith is used to running shorter distances - his achievements include winning Run Norwich in both 2019 and 2023.
“I actually found this a lot easier than when training for the short distances like 3km, 5km, 10km races as the paces you run for them are considerably faster and my body definitely responds better to the longer miles.”
Mr Smith said he wanted to continue with marathons, and hopefully represent England or Great Britain.
He said: “Olympic qualification standard is very very hard but you’ve got to dream.”
"Shorter-term goals, though, are to get the time down. I think realistically I can aim for something like 2.12 after a few more attempts, but I need to condition the body to it first.
“Next time I do a marathon something around 2.16/2.17 is a good next step to take.”
Going the distance
Although Mr Smith’s debut marathon time is hugely impressive, a few other Norfolk runners have managed even quicker times.
Running expert Neil Featherby said the first Norfolk athlete to run a marathon under 2 hours 20 minutes was Mike Tagg, who managed 2:19 in South Africa in the 1970s.
Mr Featherby himself was the second to do it, running 2:19:07 in Berlin in 1985. He said: “I followed this up in 1986, also in Berlin, with a finishing time of 2:17:35.”
Nick Earl, who is formerly from Norfolk but is now based in Melbourne, Australia, finished the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon in Japan in 2019 with a time of 2:14:38.
Craig Hopkins ran 2:16:51 in 2013 whilst based in the USA.
Mr Featherby said he was in no doubt even faster marathon times were yet to come from Mr Smith.
He said: “Logan and his coach James Senior certainly got it spot on with the training plan gearing him up for the race.”
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