A lot of people have completed marathons, how many have collapsed at 40km?
July 22, 2025
Coach James's lessons from the Gold Coast Marathon
A lot of people have completed a marathon but how many people have collapsed at 40km?
Sometimes you do everything right, and shit still doesn’t go to plan.
Last weekend I ran in the Gold Coast Marathon, my first ever marathon. I trained properly, my body felt relatively good (all things considered when preparing to run 42.2km), I carb-loaded, and my race day nutrition was dialled in.
I was ready.
We set off. Jess and the kids met me at different points on the course with signs, the atmosphere was great. I loved seeing the kids with their signs. Pacing felt on point. The first 21km? Easy. I felt great. Maybe I should’ve drunk more water, but I didn’t think too much of it at the time.
At 25km, I felt slower, but pace wise I was still holding well. I’d kept telling myself throughout the day "The race starts at 30km." And let me tell you, it does.
By 30km, the sun was out, and I was starting to struggle. My watch started glitching so I had no real idea of my splits. I thought I was slowing down a lot (turns out I wasn’t), but the effort to keep the same pace suddenly felt 10x harder.
I hadn’t taken on enough water. Usually, I can get away with lower fluids. Not this time. Dehydration crept in. hard.
At 35km I was in survival mode, one foot in front of the other, flicking between moments of pain and little short lived waves of “let’s go.” But by 39km I was delirious. I could see the finish line, I hit the 40km mark (where I thought enjoyment might return to finish), and I collapsed.
I was gone. Scary stuff.
The last few hundred metres were a complete blur. All I remember is the crowd, the medics, and about five paramedics suddenly around me. I was vomiting, shaking, confused, in and out of it. I had this overwhelming, indescribable feeling, and honestly, for a moment, I thought I could die.
My memory went. I couldn’t recall the day, the year, where I lived, or how to spell. I only knew who Jess and the kids were, and that I didn’t want them to see me with wires in me.
My temperature had hit 40°C. Blood pressure crashed. Thankfully, the medics and paramedics were incredible, I had a drip running into me within 10 to 15 minutes.
As I already knew, I’m stubborn. I wanted to run it all. Not walk. Not stop and breathe and In hindsight, I should have.
Seems like my mind was just a bit stronger than my body on the day. I never thought I could push myself there in all honesty.
Am I gutted? Of course, I was only 2km away but I gave it everything I had on that day. Heat stroke, exhaustion, and dehydration got me.
I am always reminded here of the quote ‘The man in the arena’ look it up if you need.
Will I run 42.2km again? Yes, I feel I need to.
Would I do things differently, now I’ve run 40km under race conditions? You bet, lessons learnt. Always lessons.
Never be scared to not succeed. Be scared to never try in the first place.
We go again.
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