Vikki Robertshaw’s first marathon took 3:17:20. Her second, run after more deliberate preparation, took 3:13:08. The improvement came after she began running in her 40s, joined a club and built a training routine around a full-time job and family life.
For Robertshaw, 47, of Barrowford, Lancashire, the point isn’t that every new runner should chase a faster time. It’s that she began without a running background or a detailed plan, then found that steady structure could make ambitious goals feel attainable. Her progress also gave her a way to show her teenage daughters that taking on something difficult can matter even when winning isn’t the aim.
A late start, with a personal reason
Robertshaw had competed in swimming as a teenager, but running was new to her. For years, much of her contact with sport came from supporting her daughters, who ran cross country and track. She watched them compete nearly every weekend and admired their willingness to keep showing up at the starting line.
She also noticed how hard they could be on themselves when results didn’t go their way. Robertshaw wanted them to see another measure of success: making the effort, regardless of the result. “It doesn’t matter how you do; it’s just about giving it a go,” she says. She hoped her own example would show that people can start taking on challenges at different stages of life.
As a full-time working mother, she had prioritized getting her daughters to athletic clubs and races, while her own fitness took a back seat. She started running about four years ago, when her daughters were old enough to be left at home. At first, there was no marathon plan behind it. She ran a little at a time because she wanted to do something for herself.
From unplanned runs to a training rhythm
As the distance grew, Robertshaw entered a few half marathons and discovered that she enjoyed racing. Until then, she’d been running without much routine, adjusting as she went. Joining a running club and signing up for a marathon changed the shape of her training.
She recalls arriving with little technical knowledge: one pair of trainers for every run, no experience with track sessions and no clear idea what a tempo run involved. Through the club, she began working with coach George Woodburn. His guidance helped her build toward a goal without treating running as her only priority.
That distinction mattered. Robertshaw wanted coaching that accounted for work and family responsibilities, rather than pushing her to compare her schedule or performance with other runners. Woodburn set a straightforward structure: a weekend long run, easy running, and one weekly track workout to develop speed.
She followed that two-session framework for the four months before her first marathon. The plan was modest enough to fit her life, but specific enough to give her a target and a way to prepare for it. “Because I started to get more of a structure, that goal became achievable.”
First marathon: a fast start and a useful assist
At the 2024 MBNA Chester Marathon, Robertshaw set a goal of finishing in 3:30. She had received some support in working out what pace to target, but the excitement of her first marathon carried her out faster than planned. By the closing miles, she was running short on energy.
Then she came across her friend Katie, who was taking part in the metric marathon, a 26.2-kilometer race covering 16.28 miles. The courses joined, and Katie helped pull Robertshaw toward the finish. “She kind of almost dragged me to the end,” Robertshaw says, laughing. The encounter gave her a lift when she needed one; she says she might not otherwise have picked up the pace in those final miles.
She crossed the line delighted with the accomplishment, before finding out her time: 3:17:20, more than 12 minutes inside her initial goal. The result also qualified her for the 2026 London Marathon.
A more deliberate approach for marathon two
For London, Robertshaw prepared with more attention to the details around running. She researched nutrition and added strength work to support her strength and recovery. She also wrote her planned splits on her arm before the race, giving herself a pacing reference in case her GPS stopped working.
The approach paid off in a more even run and a finish time of 3:13:08. That’s a four-minute improvement over her first marathon, achieved after she had already beaten her original 3:30 target by a wide margin. The progression suggests how much can change when a new runner moves from informal mileage to consistent, goal-oriented training.
Robertshaw still has faster times in mind, though she sometimes wonders whether she has reached her ceiling. Messages about women slowing down in their 40s can make that question harder to ignore. But she has only been running since 2022, and seeing the performances of other women her age and older gives her reason to keep testing what’s possible. “Whether it’s realistic for me, I don’t know, but I’m enjoying trying,” she says. “And I feel like I’ve got a bit more left.”
What Robertshaw has learned
Her advice starts with building a habit before setting a dramatic goal. Someone new to running needn’t begin with a marathon or even a race. Robertshaw suggests starting with 30 minutes, three times a week, and developing consistency from there. The early goal is simply to make running part of the week; distance and race ambitions can follow.
She now also makes space for strength training. It wasn’t on her mind when she began, but she aims for a couple of sessions each week, with injury prevention among her reasons. That work became part of a broader shift toward supporting her running beyond the miles themselves.
Nutrition, sleep and recovery have joined that routine, too. Robertshaw doesn’t point to one trick that explains her times. She stresses getting enough sleep and fueling properly, alongside the work of training.
And she resists the idea that a runner needs perfect equipment or ideal conditions before starting. Her early experience was far from polished: she began slowly, with no major ambition and no elaborate setup. “You literally just go out there and put one foot in front of the other,” she says.
Kristine Thomason is a writer and editor with over a decade of experience creating content for print and digital publications. Previously, she was the health and fitness director at mindbodygreen, and the fitness and wellness editor at Women’s Health. Kristine's work has appeared in Men's Health, Travel + Leisure, Health, and Refinery29, among others. She holds a journalism degree from New York University, and is certified in personal training by the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).
