Jordan Donnelly 2:36 in NY Mara

Globetrotting 800m man Jordan Donnelly clocked 2:36.54 in the New York Marathon on Sunday. Currently employed by Puma in Boston, USA, after previously working for the company in Vietnam and their head office in Germany, Jordan had a best over 800m of 1:50.39 during the summer just gone.

But a few weeks ago he got hold of an entry for the NY race, and his coach was encouraging him to improve his aerobic capacity, so he did a few 16 mile runs in training "with a lot of good pace in the middle, 6 to 8 miles at 5.30 per mile in the middle of a bunch of 7 minute miles". Last week he ran 5 x 1 mile in 4.45 and he knew he was in good shape.

On the day of the race, he reports, he felt very relaxed running around 6 mins per mile and "just enjoyed it". The run puts him 5th on the club's 2015 marathon ranking (Martyn Cryer 2:25.15, Daniel Steel 2:30.06, Harold Wyber 2:30.47, Simon Beedell 2:34.22).

After this good block of training his focus now switches to indoor racing.