Heaviest Sub 3:00 Marathon

i tipped the scales at 190. Ran 2:38 in my debut off 40 miles/ week... longest run was 16 miles b4 that.

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FLM:- The first celebrity to finish was Olympic gold medal-winning rower James Cracknell, who completed the course in just over 3 hours

He is listed as 100kg (225).

I forget his name, but back in the Seventies there was a dude who ran 2:30 in the NYC Marathon who smoked a pack a day. I always thought that was pretty amazing.

The Hoyts haven't always had a head start. They were running in the years before there was wheelchair race at Boston.

Hoping to be one of these people.

A little background on myself. I was a skinny kid growing up and had an athletic background: I played little league baseball for 6 years and ran on a track club in 4th grade or so. I was quite fast as a kid as I remember hardly anyone could catch me playing flag football and I'd play this game in my backyard with friends were they'd punt a football and I'd run it back. I was hardly ever caught. I would consistently steal bases successfully and never got caught in a pickle between bases. I was placed in the outfield to run down fly balls and did it quite well. Of course this was all before my growth spurt hit in the summer of 9th grade and I was super light back then, maybe between 100-120 lbs at a height of between 5'3" - 5'6" or so.

After my growth spurt I was around 6'1" and weighed about 160 and that was about my height/weight throughout high school. I didn't play any organized sports then, although I did play a lot of pickup basketball and some golf. By the end of college in my early 20's my height/weight was around 6'3" 182. Somewhere between high school and college, I'd say when I was 19-20 or so I had my cousin clock me a running about a 4.55 40 yard dash. Of course, it was hand timed and not very accurate, but I know I was still pretty fast then.

Fast forward about 25 years after working a desk job. I had at one point reached about 270 lbs and the weight fluctuated up and down probably between 230-270. I tried to keep up with doing some physical activities over the years and did run on a treadmill off and on over the years. I don't think I ever did more than maybe 4 miles at a time with some sprints interspersed with the runs. It was more like a fartlek work out. I don't recall the times.

Anyhow, fast forward to April 2020 when I decided to finally get serious about running and do it consistently for weight loss and health purposes. I weighted 250 lbs at 6'3" and could barely run a mile without gasping for air. I persisted and gradually over a months time went from running between a mile to 3 miles and then up to 5 miles a day outdoors. Between May and August 2020, I ran 5 miles a day every day of the week without missing a day. I lost 50 lbs as I dropped from 250 to 200 lbs and felt great. I didn't do any other type of exercises or types of runs.

Dropped some of the weekly mileage and consistency between September - December 2020 and then didn't run hardly at all and did elliptical training up till about March 2021. I picked up again and starting running consistently since April or so 2021 till now. I didn't do a whole lot of miles, maybe 15-20 along with some jump roping till about September 2020 and the weight fluctuated a bit between 215-230.

In September 2020 I joined a gym and started learning about the different types of training runs such as fartleks, long runs, progressives, sprints etc. and started doing weight training and other cross training: rowing machine, cycling, jump roping, some hiit classes, stair stepper etc. From this point I was consistent with the weekly mileage 25-30 miles a week and started doing long runs.

My longest run was 9 miles in late November 2020. At this point I felt I was ready to take on a half marathon. I signed up and on December 5th, 2020 I ran it and loved the experience - the weather was perfect and the participants and volunteers in the race were very supportive. I believe I weighted in at 220 at race time. One of my knees was sore, so I knew I couldn't push it much as far as running a fast pace. My pace in training hit a wall at about 10 minutes/mile and has been that pretty much from the beginning when I started running consistently. Anyhow, my goal was to just finish the race, and I did a nice easy pace and finished at 2 hours 36 minutes. I knew if I pushed it, I could have probably gone under 2 hours, but I didn't want to risk injury and was happy to finish. I managed to finish with a sprint to the finish line and no soreness.

Just today, Jan 5th, I broke the 30 minute mark for a 5k on a treadmill with a time of 29 minutes. I know I'm far away from even attempting a marathon, let alone trying to run one under 3 hours, but I think I'm on the right track. Hopefully, I will become a 200+ pounder that can do the sub 3 hour marathon. Time will tell and wish me luck. Cheers.

Good luck, but you'll have a much better shot at 170 pounds than at 200. Give yourself some time (like a few years) to get there, and go easy on your knees while you do. You'll have to figure out your diet/weight if your running is going to go anywhere. A lot of us have been where you are now, though, and there's a big payoff in terms of health and quality of life.

Thanks for the words of encouragement and advice. I'm much more knowledgeable about the sport of running now having watched a ton of YouTube videos on the subject related to different types of training runs, strength workouts for runners, injury prevention, vo2max and heart rates, etc. I know that body weight is a huge factor to result in better race times. It's a constant battle with watching diet, while trying to increase the running mileage per week in order to burn more calories and lose more weight so you can increase your pace. It all works hand in hand.

I purchased a cardio watch over the holidays, so I can better track my heart rate and calories burned and know if I can push it a bit more in training sessions. My longest training run now is 12 miles and I run that pretty consistently in about 2 hours flat. I'll slowly ramp up the weekly mileage from where it is now (around 35 to hopefully 50 or more prior to attempting a marathon) and try to increase the long runs to 16-20 miles.

It's really a daily grind, but I love doing it so I know I'll stick with it. It's been a real life style changer for me and a way to discipline the body and the mind. I'm always focusing on the next run and training session and next goals to achieve. Little by little I'll get there.

As far as diet goes, it's been a pretty healthy one. It's just a matter of restricting eating to close to bed time and trying to consume the bulk of the calories before 7 pm or so.

Overall, I think I'm on the right track and be fine as long as I continue strength training on especially the legs, back and core and gradually ramp up the mileage. I'd like to incorporate some hill runs at some point as well.

I don't think a sub 3:00 at 200 pounds is super common but I don't think it is that rare either. It is hard to know exactly what a person weights but I've raced with several dudes at CIM who were definitely over 190 and were under 3:00 by a comfortable margin. I would imagine theres a handful of folks at each of the major marathons each year who pull off the feet. The question is how fast can someone over 200 pounds go, 2:25, 2:30, is there even a recorded record for that weight. To me a Clydesdale is someone over 200 or at least 190, to be under 190 and claim the Clydesdale record seems off to me.

Back in the day there was a beast of a guy who ran the Litchfield Hills Road Race every year sometimes in a costume who was well over 6' and definitely over 200 and he'd finish just a minute above or below 40 minutes which isn't bad for a 7 mile course with hills. He was built like a decathlete a la Dave Johnson back in the day. Not sure if that would translate for 26 miles but I think there are heavier runners who are deceptively fit and have a lot of endurance.

It's amazing to watch these world record times being set in the distance races and be wowed by the paces these runners put up such as Eliud Kipchoge's 1:59:40 marathon. I tried running his pace once (about 4.5 min/mile or just over 13 mph) and could hold it for about a minute. Of course, I'm double his body weight (220 vs 110), so its much more difficult. I could to 4 min/mile or 15 mph for about 30 seconds and that's it. My heart would probably explode if I did more than that. I didn't have a heart monitor on, but I would say it was around 175 beats/minute at that pace.

Lighter runners have a much greater physical and physiological advantage - they don't need to expend near the amount of energy to run the same distance. Hats off to all pro runners though, no matter what weight class they are in. They have the grit and determination to make these fast times happen. I know that pro marathoners are putting in upwards of 85 miles and even up to 150 miles or more a week and do a lot of other types of training as well.

I know I'm capable of achieving faster times physically as I can hit those high speeds in fartlek workouts as mentioned (I usually shoot for between 7-10 mph and occasionally go for between 10-15 mph). It's just a matter of building up the cardiovascular endurance through the long runs and increasing the weekly mileage to improve my base running pace.

I know I'll get there, but if I do, it's likely I'll drop a bit below 200 or maybe quite a bit. It's hard to say. In my college years, after my growth spurt ended and I grew to 6'3" in height I weight 182 lbs, so perhaps that's the lowest weight my body frame would support unless I become anorexic or something.

It will be interesting to see how things progress for me in the next couple of years or so with regards to distance running. I'm also amazed at how fast some of the times these older masters runners post. In the half marathon I was in, the winning time was around 1 hour 25 minutes posted by a 16 year old. A 17 year old came in second just behind the 16 year old by a few seconds. Coming in third was a 62 year old man with a time of 1 hour 31 minutes. Also, there's a guy locally who's 53 and wins just about every local half and full marathon in town year in and year out for the past few years or so. He last ran about a 2 hour 45 min marathon and 1 hour 19 minute half marathon at 53. I think all these participants were well under 200 lbs though. The 53 year old was a bit taller, maybe 6'1" and I'm guessing 170 - 175 lbs.

Peter Maher - Canada 6'5" 190

2:12:50. 1994

Christopher Claude 220lbs

2:32:23 Marine Corps marathon 2008 (split 35:35 @ 10k).

Mark Lafeir 270 3:12:20 Marine corps Marathon 2005

10k -might be Christian Hesch 190. 29:17 run to feed the hungry 2003.

Just an update here. It's been a while since my last post - I think January 2022 or so - about 7 months have gone by and I've made a lot of progress. Still have a long way to go before I can think about a sub 3 hour marathon at over 200 lbs, but anyhow, here is an update:

I'm currently 49 and still weight around 220 lbs - that hasn't changed, but here is a comparison of where I was back in January, 2022 to now: August, 2022:

January 2022:

5K PR: 29 min

half marathon: 2 hours 36 min

longest long distance run: 13.1 miles

August 2022:

5K PR: 26 min 15 sec (haven't tried breaking this of late as I have been focusing more on long distance runs, but I can probably get this down to 25 min 40 sec or so.

half marathon: 2 hours 19 mins (back in April 2022)

half marathon training run: 1 hour 55 mins (8/6/22). My previous best 13.1 mile training run was 2 hours 15 min

I've also improved my baseline pace from 10 min/mile for distance runs to 9 min/mile.

longest distance run: 20 miles (started at 9 miles and added a mile a week until I reached 20 and that worked well).

I have another half marathon coming up early November 2022 and my first full marathon coming up in the middle of November 2022. I'm most likely not going to crack 3 hours this time around - I'll be glad to finish it :), but I'm setting a goal to do so in the near future. I'll keep you posted on the progress. Wish me luck!

A few more things to add:

I don't do a whole lot of mileage a week - maybe 25-30 miles, but do a lot of cross training and strength training as well. Usually I alternate running days with strength training days and do lower body strength training day and one upper body. I'll get in maybe two 6-7 mile runs during the week usually where I start off with a baseline speed and progressively go faster and then a 4 miler or so towards the end of the week and cap it off with the long distance run on the weekend which is now at least 13.1 miles if not more as I'm prepping for the full marathon.

On the lower body workout day I focus on squats: normal/hack (would like to add different types later such as bulgarian and other split squats), lunges, stair climbing, leg curls/extensions and seated and standing calf raises. On the calf raises, I usually max out the weights on the machine.

I have quite a bit of springiness in the legs, as I was able to sprint towards the finish line in both my half marathons and pass up quite a few people in the last half mile or so. I feel I just need to keep up with the long distance runs to build up the cardiovascular endurance which just takes time. I've experimented a bit with doing fasted cardio vs. doing a pre workout meal. I find that eating a little something along with some green tea prior to one of the longer runs especially, gives me a little extra juice in my runs.

I keep experimenting with new techniques and nutrition all the time with regards to running. It's all good fun and I enjoy the challenges and competition along the way.

Cheers!

I’m 195 and working towards a sub 3.. I’ve run 1:29 in the half however that was over 4 years ago. Lots of setbacks have happened since and I haven’t touched my 2018 PRs but im finally healthy and progressing again.

I do think I can get under 3:10 in Berlin next month. Ultimately sub 3 and BQ although I will be 35 in April 2024 and then I’d only need sub 3:05.

see how well this ages…

I run with a former D1 athlete who was is about 6'2" and 220-225. Dude ran a 2:40 on limited training and obliterated my ass (2:52 @ 150lbs). Absolute unit.

I bet it has been done but that it is quite rare

I don't believ that

Bump from 16 years ago. Not a record, but still impressive.

I've been holding steady at 235lbs but doubt I could get under 215 without looking anorexic.

It would be interesting to find out who the oldest and heaviest person was to do a sub 3 hour marathon.

For instance, has anyone 50+ years old weighing 220+ lbs or so ever cracked 3 hours in a full marathon? I'm sure that list will be a pretty short one.