It’s the same philosophy as training on hills or a high incline on the tread for a hilly race course, or training on flat surface for a flat, fast race course. “You want to make sure you’re simulating the course that you’re going to race on to the best of your ability,” says Kris Mendoza, an ultramarathoner with Merrell and winner of the World’s Toughest Mudder in 2018. “That’s going to help your body adapt to the different stimulus, like the changes in elevation and the uneven terrain.” Don’t Get Hung Up On Pace

The oldest participant is 89-year-old Koichi Kitabatake from Japan, while Alex Horsley from Bournemouth will celebrate his 18th birthday on marathon day. He is one of 205 birthday runners who will hope to be on the start line on Sunday. With the attention heavily focused on adi's City Series lately, we thought we’d draw your attention away from those geographically-influenced lifestyle silhouettes and introduce you to our size? exclusive iteration of one of the brand’s most celebrated runners, the Marathon TR.

Terrain

For the first time, the Mini Marathon will be a standalone event on Saturday 1 October, the day before the London Marathon. The adidas Marathon Tech trainer draws original archive design inspiration from the adidas Marathon TR trainer, a trainer which saw Mr 3 Stripes himself, Adi Dassler, still involved in the design process. The Marathon TR was also one of Dassler’s final adidas projects before he sadly passed away in 1978. The trail runner design was first introduced in 1979 and started a new wave of retro runners, with its famous grippy outsole becoming an overnight hit with trail runners all over the world. Other styles that took the Marathon name included the Marathon 80, a running style which came a year after the original TR with a similar style mesh and suede upper but with a less trail focused outsole. It is also worth pointing out that the Marathon TR also included the famous Dellinger webbing to the midsole, a sole cushioning system designed specifically for runners needs. There are 28 official Guinness World Record attempts being made at the London Marathon this year, including the fastest marathon dressed as a bottle, wearing riot gear, and on crutches. This year's marathon marks the third and final time it will take place in October - moved because of the Covid-19 pandemic - with the race returning to its traditional spring date in 2023. A 9-minute mile on the trail may feel way tougher than a 6-minute mile on the road, so “you should know what your marathon effort, or a 4 out of 10, feels like and what your 7 out of 10 effort feels like, and you can judge your performance from there,” she adds.

Above: The adidas Marathon Tech & adidas Forest Grove trainers both now available from 80s Casual Classics. Make sure you’re including at least one day of strength training in your training plan, with just 10 minutes of core work. This year, a small section of the marathon route will be turned into Rainbow Row to "celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community, promote inclusivity and create a carnival atmosphere for participants as they pass through the final part of their marathon journey". Keep your eyes peeled for other famous faces too, such as BBC News presenter Sophie Raworth, McFly drummer Harry Judd, radio DJs Chris Stark and Reece Parkinson, and TV star Mark Wright.On a trail, one mile could cover a 2,000 foot elevation gain and the next could be totally flat; you can’t compare how long it takes you do each one. Instead of focusing on your splits, pay attention to your effort level. Thinking about taking your marathoning off the road? Here’s what you need to know before you start racing trails. What Does a Trail Marathon Training Plan Look Like? That could depend on the rail strikes that have been causing headaches for those travelling to London. Don’t be afraid to hike, either. “A lot of people moving from the road to trails have this mindset that you have to run everything, but sometimes running isn't the most efficient thing,” says Mendoza. “I've seen really good hikers hike faster than people trying to run up; they’re conserving energy for when they need it.” How to Cross-Train for a Trail Marathon When it comes to retro runners, re-releases and updated classics, adidas don’t really mess about. The same can be said for some of their latest releases to be introduced to 80s Casual Classics which includes the adidas Marathon Tech and some updated colourways of the adidas Forest Grove or Oregon as it was once known. Throughout the 70s and 80s the German sportswear brand stamped their 3 stripes logo on the running world releasing a range of running styles for joggers, marathon runners and trail blazers. The retro runner was born from this era, with adidas introducing legendary 3 stripes silhouettes like the New York, the Boston Super, the Atlanta, the Los Angeles, the ZX Series, the Marathon TR and the Oregon to name a few. It wasn’t just about making trainers any more, it was about becoming the best running trainer brand on the planet and adidas gave it everything they had!