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- Ever Been 7 Minutes Late? Highlights & Lessons From The Eugene Marathon.
Ever Been 7 Minutes Late? Highlights & Lessons From The Eugene Marathon.
Race recap, Adam's first, & Rory breaking 3.
Bryant Ferate
May 07, 2025
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Ever been 7 minutes late to somewhere? Yeah, me too… me too… this time I was about 7 minutes late to my goal for the marathon!
To close out April, I ran the Eugene Marathon for the 2nd time. I ran a 3:06:37 (7:07 / mile). It was a course personal best since last year, I ran a 3:10:53, and the 2nd best I have ever run in the marathon.
The mind is an interesting thing. Stoked for the experience and most of all to run 19.5 miles with my guy Rory Johnston, who set out to break 3 hours and ran a 2:58:40 (6:49 / mile) HE’S A DOG! My number one goal outside of giving it my absolute best was to put all my energy into getting this guy locked in.
Overall… I felt the most fit and the fastest I have ever been. Race day, I wasn’t the freshest, not an excuse, but I could just tell I wasn’t 100% there, maybe 80-85%. Have some adjustments to make in the next training block for future races. Was on pace for 2:58:00 until mile 19.
My quads went lactic, which means I could tell they were filled with blood (imagine like you get a bicep pump from doing curls in front of a mirror), and they were just gassing out. Everything else felt great: tendons, joints, and fueling.
I blew up a bit, dropping to 7:11 to 8:06 pace for 20 through 25 and sped up for the final 1.2. The hardest challenge was just holding on with my best effort, not absolutely to blow up with 9-minute miles.
One of my incredible friends, an old roommate and head coach for NAZ Elite, dropped this killer quote after the race.
“The most impressive performances are the ones with water in the boat, but you don’t sink. When the goal time is out the window, the body is cashed, and everything is on hard mode… that’s when you find out what you’re made of. Great work dude!”
Holy shit I needed that. I expect a lot from myself. I was insanely stoked for Rory, disappointed in my time, and post-race had blue lips/was white as a ghost (we bounced back). Looking back, that is where the fun starts to kick in. When you thought “ah fuck me, today ain’t my day” - but still ripping it towards the finish line.
Lessons Learned.
Do more long runs & time on feet. - Going into the race, I split up a lot of my long runs into 4 to 8 on Friday, 4 to 8 Saturday, and then 10-ish Sunday because of skiing, women’s basketball travel, & golfing with the fellas. Next time, more 2-hour-long runs.
Chill the 10 days prior. Tough one, still ran fast, racked up some miles, and wanted to live my life. Not the end-all be-all, but a good awareness moment.
Be a little more kind to yourself. HIGHS - Rory did it, and the crew was sick. LOWS - that isn’t my best. A few years ago, I would kill for that time, just didn’t have that day.
Highlights In Photos.
Rory dropped a 2:58:40 & this legend waited for me at the finish line!
SQUAD made it out from the Oregon Coast & Bend!
Adam flew over from England to visit for a week & crush his first marathon!
2025 Splits (Black) vs. 2024 Splits (White) PROUD OF THIS ONE!
Man, proud of those splits. Shout out to the crew that came out to support, and all the texts from people wishing me luck. The mission continues. Discovering more of what I am capable of becoming!
Keep stacking those daily deposits and making every day the best day of the year until tomorrow…
Ferate
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