Malaga Marathon ’24 Race Report

Race date/time: 15 December 2024, 8.30am.
Race result: 3:11.06

This one was a belter in the end but right to the start line, it felt like it could go either way for me, spectacularly. What follows is my race report, and lots of info about the marathon and the city for those considering doing this one.

So what was the issue? Well, having trained really well for 18 weeks, I turned my ankle quite badly 5 days before the run. I only decided to actually even travel to Malaga the day before, having completed a short test jog, but was not even sure I’d finish.

But in perfect conditions, I negotiated the start line congestion, hit my pace, then locked in with no dramas for the whole race. No wall, first ever negative split, strong to the end, and 16 minutes knocked off my personal best. I think water at every station helped, got my fuelling right (banana, apple and dates for breakfast, and in-race, 3 Gu gels, one every 45 minutes). Honestly it felt like my easiest marathon since Barcelona back in 2010, which at the time was also a PB (3:31).

Malaga is a great city and this is a laid-back, friendly and well-organised marathon, big enough to feel like a real event but smaller than, say, Seville, which while a magnificent city and a great marathon I do find busier and thus less enjoyable year by year. The course is pretty much flat for the first three-quarters, with some gentle uphills before a drift downhill at the end.

The half marathon is on the same day at the same time as the full, both sets of runners heading to the shipping port, east along the coast to the suburb of El Palo (always a nostalgia fest for us as we lived there, new to Spain, in 2006), and back again to the centre. Then, at the 21K mark, there is a split where the halfers peel off to the right and to their finish, and the full marathoners turn left for their second section - a real mental test! Then it’s out west, where the route enters the athletics stadium for a lap of the track before a slightly hilly section, finally ending coming through the historical centre.

Malaga has its famous Christmas lights up at marathon time, visible in the photo above but truly spectacular at night. However the crowds are biblical so if you’re planning combining the rave and sightseeing, maybe spend the night after the marathon rather than the night before it enjoying them. The expo is at cruise terminal, an easy walk from the centre and the start/finish lines, which are in the same place.

This one is well worth doing I'd say, and for me clearly it was a success. I think worrying about my ankle stopped me worrying about anything else, and the brand-new (and new to me) Vaporfly shoes probably won me a couple of minutes too but overall, it just all went right and I couldn’t be happier. Next stop, 2:59…