Alice Braham on running a 2:39:42 marathon at 48

The mother of four opens up about how she got into running, overcoming adversity and her top tips for others over 26.2 miles

It was in 1985, in Osaka, that Joyce Smith – a little past her 47th birthday – clocked 2:38:09 and became the oldest British female ever to run a marathon in under 2:40.

A double Olympian and two-time winner of the London Marathon, she was no stranger to competing over 26.2 miles. Smith had set the British record of 2:29:57 at the 1982 London Marathon, a mark that lasted until Sarah Rowell clocked 2:28:06 on the same course in 1985.

But while she held on to that national record for three years, the piece of sub-2:40 history remained in Smith’s grasp for considerably longer. In fact it was only recently removed in September when, at the age of 48, Alice Braham ran 2:39:42 at the Berlin Marathon.

“I felt quite emotional running towards the finish line,” Braham tells AW, with a time that was four outside her personal best of 2:35:20, which she secured in Florence 16 years ago.

“I hadn’t had a great summer of training so I was pretty chuffed to get under 2:40, though the time on my watch was 2:40:12 and I was like ‘oh damn’, so it was a big surprise when I got a text afterwards saying that I’d run 2:39:42!”

Braham’s preparation for the race in the German capital was far from ideal. After spending time with her parents last Christmas, she tore her hamstring during a hill session. “On the way up I heard a ping,” she says. “I then made the mistake of putting my foot on a fence to stretch and tore my hamstring even more!”

Alice Braham (right) (Sportograf)

Six weeks of recovery followed and then, at the London Marathon – having done all of that rehab work on her hamstring – Braham’s other knee flared up. She still finished the race in 2:43:43 but her knee, which started hurting at mile seven, swelled up and took four weeks to heal.

By the time Berlin rolled around, however, she had a clean bill of health and that run in the German capital – particularly in light of how her year had gone before then – has made the mother of four wonder what might now be possible.

She believes that beating that personal best from 2008 is achievable and, with that in mind, has already signed up for the notoriously quick Valencia Marathon on December 1 (at the time of writing, the event is due to still go ahead after flooding in the area).

Having worked for Lonely Planet Magazine as a production editor, Braham is now also a personal trainer and running coach, allowing her more flexibility to train, plus she’s on her feet all day.

“I think I’ve got a natural ability for endurance but also the mentality to keep on going,” Braham says. “The mental and the physical are intrinsically linked: if you start to feel a niggle, it’s so easy to slow down or stop. But you need to push aside negative thoughts and distract yourself with positive ones; dangle a carrot for yourself.

“I break things down mathematically. I’ll think: ‘That’s four fifths done’. And then I break that down even more and think: ‘Seven eighths’! Then maybe I’ve got my husband and boys waiting at mile 21, so I’ve got to look strong or I’ll focus on a water station around mile 23.”

Braham, who trains with Ealing Eagles, emphasises the importance of knowing what is right for both mind and body. To mitigate injuries and prepare herself for races, she focuses a lot on strength and conditioning and, on top of pilates once a week, will work on strengthening her glutes, hamstrings, quads and core. Her weekly mileage is generally around 55, but it’s the training on the track with her club that she enjoys the most.

Alice Braham wins Ealing Half (FinisherPix)

“Some of the track sessions can be quite intense,” she tells AW. “An example would be two sets of 1600m, 1200m, 800m and 400m. So it’s 8km, plus a four-mile run to and from the track. It’s tough but you’re with other people, which spurs you on.”

Braham sometimes has to miss the club’s long run at 9.30am on a Sunday – due to her kids playing rugby – but she gets those 20-mile runs done midweek instead.

This dedication shouldn’t be surprising, given she spent a large proportion of her teenage years competing at the highest level and was even earmarked for the Sydney Olympics.

After comfortably winning cross-country events at secondary school, Braham was spotted by her PE. teacher, who recommended she join an athletics club. That led her to Parkside [now Harrow AC], where she worked under legendary coach Bob Parker.

“He was a Grandad figure,” Braham says. “On a Thursday night he had everyone doing road reps around his house and then we’d go back to his for cups of tea and biscuits.

“He also held a warm weather training camp in Portugal. It was like a running holiday with friends. Bob was a volunteer and he gave absolutely everything to it.”

Dave Bedford and Bob Parker (Mark Shearman)

Braham also thanks Andrea Whitcombe and Alison Wyeth, who both won Commonwealth distance medals and represented Great Britain at the Olympics, for advice on and off the track.

Braham quickly rose through the ranks, becoming English Schools 3000m champion in 1994. The following year, she represented Great Britain at the European Junior Championships, finishing seventh over 3000m in Nyíregyháza, Hungary.

“The opportunities we were given were amazing,” she adds. “I remember receiving a letter that I had potential to go to the Sydney Olympics and the kind of training attached that would give me the best shot towards that.”

The Olympic dream was never realised, but this is no story of sporting heartbreak. Braham subsequently studied languages at the University of Edinburgh and ended up focusing on other interests outside of running. Looking back now, she has no regrets about the change in lifestyle choice.

Alice Braham in Verona (GetPica.com)

“Students now keep really fit and running is a big thing,” she says.

“But, back then, I felt I had to justify my love of running. Friends would say: ‘Running is so boring’, and ‘You don’t need to lose weight’ but I didn’t find it boring and didn’t run to stay thin.

“However, I did come across British female distance runners for whom the motivation to run was to do with weight. I went on trips with girls who were suffering with anorexia and bulimia, and they would go out for secret runs at 4am on the morning of an international race. It was hard to witness.

“There is a massive cultural difference between that era and now. I do wonder whether I might have gone to Sydney had there been a much more positive attitude towards running, like you have today.”

After leaving the elite running scene and finishing university, Braham, decided to run the 2000 London Marathon, raising money for Whizz-Kidz. Despite putting down a predicted time of 4:30, she clocked 3:08 and qualified for a Championship place the following year.

Alice Braham at London Marathon (Sportograf)

She returned to London in 2005 and finished as the 27th fastest woman overall, running 2:45:06. The following year, even after having stopped for treatment around her pelvis, she still clocked 2:40:38 and just missed out on the top 10.

Just a few months later, however, her life changed forever. In a horrifying attack, Braham’s sister, Lucy, was found stabbed to death at her parents’ house in Harrow-on-the-Hill and the incident became national news.

“There were times where I couldn’t go out for runs as there were journalists outside our house, given it was such a big case,” Braham tells AW. “I just wanted to get away. Running is always something I need to do for my mental health. It’s always been my sanctuary and the place I’ve gone to when there’s been adversity in my life.”

When she returned to marathon running in 2007, pain in her left leg and pelvis forced Braham to drop out of London at the 20-mile mark, before being the first British female finisher in Toronto with 2:41:07 later that year, even after having broken down at the 24 mile mark, in part due to everything that happened away from running.

It didn’t take long, though, for Braham to smash the 2:40 barrier, running that 2:35:20 PB. So can she beat it?

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“I don’t feel my age,” she says. “As soon as you start thinking: ‘Ooh I’m coming up to 50’, it can hold you back. I’m definitely young at heart.

“You know, I’ve actually only recently started running parkrun. It’s on everyone’s doorstep! I’ve been using it as a secret tempo session.

“I do the parkrun once, have a brief chat with people and then 10 minutes later I’ll do the course again. So I’ve done two 5km runs at a decent tempo.”

One variable that has made a huge difference is the shoes.

“The biggest difference is in recovery,” Braham adds. “It gives your legs more of a break. They don’t feel hammered after a marathon with these shoes and I’m actually ready to go for another run a few days later.

“I’m waiting for bits of my body to start falling off, but until then I’m going to go for it! I’ve got this slight pressure on myself now as I want to leave a legacy and I’ve got a year-and-a-half left in this age category.

“Others are saying to me that I should look forward to being at the bottom of the next age category and flying! It’s exciting and I don’t quite know what’s going to happen.”