No Ollie-dinary Run
Report by Armen Kanikanian
London Marathon mornings start long before sunrise. Nervous energy, kit bags and thousands of runners trying to convince themselves that 26.2 miles is somehow a sensible idea.
There’s the early alarm after a restless night’s sleep. The familiar pre-race breakfast — usually porridge, banana, maybe a coffee. A chilly London morning that never quite feels like spring. Then comes the waiting. The checking of shoelaces, the last-minute weather checks, and at least three nervous trips to the toilet before leaving the house.
And somewhere in the middle of all that, Ollie quietly went and rewrote the ESM record books.
Running an astonishing 2:17:28 at the London Marathon, Oliver Way — better known around ESM as Ollie — not only achieved a huge personal best but also broke the long-standing ESM marathon record by more than a minute, finishing sixth in the mass participation race in one of the world’s most competitive marathons.
Yet despite the scale of the performance, Ollie’s reaction afterwards was surprisingly measured.
“Bittersweet,” he admitted. “I was chuffed to take down the club record by another minute and come sixth in the mass race, but I honestly felt like I had a lot more potential on the day.”
That honesty probably says a lot about the standards he now sets for himself. Ollie believes he was capable of even more, describing himself as being in “2:14 high shape” before race day, although things did not go entirely to plan with sleep and pacing.
Even reaching the start line had been far from straightforward. Earlier in the year, injuries threatened to derail preparations altogether.
“I suffered bad glute and shin injuries in Jan/Feb,” he explained. “I was fortunate enough to get it fixed with rehab exercises every day for a couple weeks.”
After losing fitness through injury in February, Ollie rebuilt quickly, committing himself to eight weeks of high mileage training despite what he described as “not an ideal marathon block at all.”
On race day itself, London presented challenges beyond just the distance. While many runners feed off the huge crowds lining the capital’s streets, Ollie found the experience mentally overwhelming at times.
“Compared to other courses, I found it physically tough not to panic on the harder parts of the course with hills and Canary Wharf for example,” he said. “Mentally it was quite overwhelming, the support from the crowds, and I found it hard to channel it in the right way.”
Even so, by the closing stages of the race, he knew something special was still possible.
“Towards the last 5km I knew I could still run a PB.”
That final push secured a time of 2:17:28 — a performance built not just on talent, but consistency and patience over years of training.
“The pursuit of constantly improving and trying to compete with the best runners in the country motivates me a lot,” said Ollie. “I want to see how far I can get in the sport.”
Part of that progress has come from changing his approach to training and learning not to chase perfection every single session.
“I’ve tried to increase my mileage and not get too obsessed about executing every workout or hitting goal marathon pace,” he explained. “The fitness will come in time and it’s important not to overtrain or force fitness.”
Having been part of ESM since the age of 16, Ollie also spoke warmly about the club that helped shape his running journey.
“ESM has been my home club since I was 16 and I feel very grateful for the club introducing me to the sport.”
And for younger runners hoping to improve, his advice is refreshingly simple:
“Consistency is the most important thing rather than a flashy workout or single great race. Keep turning up every week and you’ll surprise yourself at the long term improvements.”
As for what comes next, there is no dramatic victory lap or talk of taking it easy. The focus already seems to be shifting forward.
“The plan is try to hit some speedwork over summer with track races before picking a marathon in the fall and a big PB.”
If you’ve ever run the London Marathon, you’ll probably recognise the feeling: standing shivering at Blackheath at 8am, clutching a banana, wondering why on earth you signed up for this in the first place.
For Ollie, that familiar marathon morning ended with a new ESM record and a remarkable 2:17:28.
