From back spasms and 'maranoia' to finding peace at the Valencia marathon

John Coleman travelled to the beautiful Spanish city to take on the race. 

VAMOS: Athletes competing with the Valencian regional flag is displayed at the starting line during the Valencia Marathon Trinidad Alfonso 2024 last Sunday. Pic: Angel Martinez/Getty Images

The Valencia marathon is one of the fastest growing races in the world. It’s a stunningly beautiful city, the course is meant to be as flat as the proverbial pancake and what better way to escape the bleak midwinter than to take on the 42.2 kilometres at roughly 42.2 years of age?

Two years ago, I ran the Cork Marathon for the third time. The first time I had crawled around like the naïve novice that I was and the second time the course bested me after 14 torturous miles. Preparations for the third attempt were perfect, and then came that rarest of things in Ireland; a heat wave. It scuppered all my best laid plans and dreams of running a time I could be at peace with, as just getting around became the priority.