Sebastian Vettel is best known for his speed behind the wheel of a Formula One car. But having retired from competitive racing, having won four Drivers’ Championship titles, the 38-year-old proved he’s pretty fast on two legs too.
On his marathon running debut, Vettel broke the magical three-hour mark in London, crossing the line in a time of 2:59:08. Speaking the BBC, he said: ‘It was my first time so I didn’t know what to expect. It was amazing how many people were there next to the course. It was a really great experience and I’m really happy that I finished.
‘I always wanted to do a marathon. I’ve always kept fit and done a lot of running and cycling. So I thought it was about time, and I set myself an ambitious goal which I managed to achieve. I wanted to be just below three hours, which I did, so I’m very happy with that. Having lived the [London Marathon] experience, I can only recommend other people to sign up and try to do it.’
Vettel’s splits on the day show textbook pacing. The German went through the halfway mark at 1:29:18 and maintained that until the finish. His finishing time of 2:59:08 works out at an average of 6mins 50secs per mile or 4mins 15secs per kilometre. To put into perspective, that’s like running a 21mins 15secs parkrun eight and a bit times.
Lewis Hamilton, your turn next?
Rick Pearson is the senior editor at Runner’s World UK. He’s been with the brand since 2017 and loves testing PB-friendly shoes for on and off road. Rick is a sub-three marathoner, 4-something miler and once completed 100 miles in less than 24 hours. He occasionally likes to remind people of these feats on the Runner’s World podcast, which he co-hosts.
Rick’s running CV also includes racing a steam train over 14 miles (he won, narrowly) and a horse over a marathon (he lost, comfortably).
