Lucy Jones: “Running 2:30 was something I dreamed about”

An exclusive Q&A with the runner after she took 22 minutes and 31 seconds off her 26.2 mile best at the TCS London Marathon

There’s no doubt that this year’s TCS London Marathon produced a myriad of unique and sensational stories. From Sabastian Sawe and Tigist Assefa dominating on the streets of the capital to the likes of Alex Yee and Eilish McColgan making their 26.2 mile debuts, the 45th edition of the event will be remembered for years.

In tough hot conditions, those in the elite field starred. However, there were also some pretty remarkable tales in the mass participation element of the race, with one in particular standing out.

Lucy Jones, in just her second ever marathon – she ran 2:52:54 in London last year – took an incredible 22 minutes and 31 seconds off her personal best this year. Not only did she clock 2:30:23 but it was the third quickest mark by a British female athlete in the event, with only Eilish McColgan (2:24:25) and Rose Harvey (2:25:01) going faster [Phily Bowden ran 2:30:28].

The Brit ran in the PUMA Fast-R NITRO Elite 3 shoes and took home $9000 as the fastest PUMA Project3 female athlete in London.

Now, a few weeks on from her run, Jones talks through that magical day in London, what it was like to balance a full-time job with training and her dream of becoming a professional athlete in the future.

How did it feel to run 2:30:23 at this year’s London Marathon? 

I honestly couldn’t believe it. I knew that I was maybe in shape for a 2:34 or 2:35 run – maybe slightly quicker on a good day – but to go out and run 2:30 was unbelievable. It’s something that I’d dreamt about since I was very little.

I had a broad idea of what I thought I could manage pace wise and I set off quite steadily. After around two to three miles it was what I expected and I felt really good. So I sort of trusted myself from thereon in and I actually went through 10 miles a little bit quicker than what I had anticipated. I just kind of told myself ‘okay let’s get to 20 miles and we’ll reevaluate the situation’. Around the 17/18 mile mark, I was really confident and started to get a lot of love from the crowd. I started to see people that I knew and I was just really enjoying it. I was confident the wheels wouldn’t fall off!

I didn’t look at my watch in the last five or six miles as I just wanted to send it as hard as I could. I’d only trained for up to 22 miles, and also never ran it at race pace, so that was a bit of an…