VERNON SHOWS HIS MARATHON POTENTIAL
THE RIO OLYMPIC 10,000M RUNNER IMPRESSES IN A RARE OUTING OVER 13.1 MILES
REPORT: JASON HENDERSON PICTURES: DAVID TYRRELL
UNTIL RECENTLY, Andy Vernon has always vowed not to run a marathon.
Renowned for his pace and strong finish on the track and country, he has always considered his tall, muscular physique to be unsuitable to racing 26.2 miles.
Now, though, he is warming to the idea, while friends and fans are urging him to have a go. His potential was clear last Sunday, after all, when he coasted to 63:32 in damp, breezy conditions over the half-marathon distance in Birmingham.
“I will do a marathon one day,” he conceded. “Maybe at the next Olympics, I could do one there. I’d like to go to Tokyo in 2020, but four years is a long time to stay healthy and I’m nearly 31 now so I’m no spring chicken anymore.”
He added: “I don’t really train for this kind of 13-mile distance. I find the last two or three miles hard so I have to dig in. I train more for 10-12km races and this is seven miles longer, so it is a lot more.
“But if I moved up to the marathon I would actually train for it, so it could be a different story.”