Holly Archer on her debut marathon in London

An exclusive Q&A with the 2021 European indoor 1500m silver medallist, who is balancing Hyrox ambitions with her 26.2 mile debut in the British capital

For over a decade, Holly Archer was mostly known for being a middle-distance runner on the track, specialising in both the 800m and 1500m.

The pinnacle of her track success came at the 2021 European Indoor Championships in Toruń, with Archer securing a silver medal in the 1500m for Great Britain.

More recently, the 31-year-old has raced on the roads and boasts personal bests of 15:50 and 33:37 over 5km and 10km respectively.

Archer has also competed in six half-marathons and has clocked 72:47 over 13.1 miles, which she set at the Copenhagen Half three years ago.

The Brit, who is a specialist in Hyrox, is now making her marathon debut in London this Sunday (April 27) and, ahead of the event, talks through her challenges, expectations and ambitions.

What’s inspired you to do a marathon?

I think it’s a lot of things. It got to a point where, you know, I’ve done well on the track and I’ve always been pretty driven. I needed a bit more of a challenge. It just felt like the right time and I didn’t really have the love for track anymore. This year I thought, you know what, I’ve always wanted to do a marathon and I’ve got to do it at some point in my life. I guess that’s what got me to here!

I’m not trying to be a hero with this marathon. I’m not trying to do anything crazy. I’m not trying to prove anything to myself or other people. It’s something that I think I can be good at and I’ve trained hard for it. I want to stay 100% true to myself whilst training for this and don’t want to get completely lost in it.

A marathon is a lot of miles on your legs and it’s a lot of hard work on your body, especially these long runs. The recovery side is tough so I think actually having done Hyrox earlier in the year is helpful when it comes to strength and conditioning. The importance for me is getting that mix, trying to find a balance and not overthinking it.

So I’ve never tried to have the perfect week with the perfect mileage and the perfect plan, I think I’ve just tried to be healthy, get in the gym and just run well. It’s not the traditional marathon approach of being at altitude but I think it’s the perfect approach for my first marathon. I did my first 16-mile run in January and have only gone over 20 miles on three occasions during the…