A new beginning and a journey filled with ups and downs are among the many stories leading up to Sunday’s London Marathon. One of those stories belongs to Luke Caldwell. James Rhodes interviewed Luke about his goals for the race and his life before and after it.
Luke Caldwell is no stranger to the streets of London. He has run in his hometown multiple times, from participating in the Mini London Marathon as a youngster to achieving a podium position in the London 10,000. However, this Sunday will bring a different kind of challenge as he participates in his first London Marathon.
New Beginnings
The COVID pandemic brought about life-changing experiences for many people, including Luke. In the midst of the lockdown in 2020, he and his wife moved to Colorado. While Colorado is favored by many runners due to its altitude, Luke’s move was primarily motivated by work rather than running. Nevertheless, he did not want to miss out on the running opportunities the region offers. After nearly a year, he joined the Roots Running Project and began training under coach Richey Hansen in early 2021.
“I knew I was going to continue running, but I was unsure how committed I would be. Colorado is a great place for running, and there are so many other runners there that it seemed like a shame to not join a group. So, I joined the Roots Running Club. I’ve been coached by Richey for about two years now, and things are going well,” Luke explained.
In addition to changing his country of residence, Luke also changed his running focus. By the time he moved to Colorado, it had been quite some time since he had achieved a personal best over shorter distances. His bests for 5k on the roads and 10k on the track dated back to 2015 and 2013 respectively. Transitioning to the marathon distance felt like a natural progression.
“When I joined Roots, I felt like if I wanted to take running seriously again, I needed a new challenge,” Luke said. “I had spent many years struggling in the 5k and 10k distances without much progress. I wanted a fresh start and to try something new. The Roots group includes some talented marathon runners, so it was a good fit for me,” he added.
First Marathon Experience – Houston
Luke’s first test at the marathon distance came at the Houston Marathon in January of this year. It turned out to be a remarkable success as he finished in seventh place with a time of 2:11:33. This time ranks him among the top forty on the UK all-time list and makes him the third fastest British runner in 2022.
His performance in Houston exceeded his initial expectations. “Initially, I had set more conservative goals for the race. Last year, many championship standards were around 2:14, and the qualifying standard for the Commonwealth Games for Scotland was slightly slower than that. So, I thought those times were achievable for me. However, as the marathon approached, I had been keeping up with my training partner, Frank, in our sessions. Everyone was talking about him going for a 2:10 or 2:09 time,” Luke revealed.
As the race unfolded, Luke felt good and decided to push himself. “I think I reached the halfway point in around 66 minutes. I still felt strong, so I continued to push the pace. It was a pleasant surprise, and I felt proud of my performance for the first time in four years. It was a great moment,” he recalled.
Surrey Cross Country Championships 2019. Photo: Nigel Bramley
A Bumpy Journey
Unfortunately, Luke faced unexpected challenges during the European Championships in Munich, where he was forced to stop after 15 miles. The exact cause of his inability to continue remains a mystery. “My training had gone very well, but I didn’t feel great right from the beginning of the race. By 15 miles, I couldn’t run in a straight line anymore. I was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and received two IV drips. It turns out I was severely dehydrated. I had been drinking sensibly before the race, so I’m not sure what went wrong. It could have been related to travel or the humidity. It was August in Europe, and I had done all my training in Colorado,” Luke shared.
Despite this setback, Luke learned valuable lessons from the experience, which he is applying to Sunday’s race. For this race, he arrived in the UK ten days in advance, taking a different approach compared to his previous travels.
Ambitious Goals
Although Luke is relatively new to the marathon distance, he enters Sunday’s race with the fourth best personal best time among the seventeen British runners. An Achilles injury following the European Championships limited his training until the start of this year. However, with a solid training block behind him, he aims to further improve. Luke is not shy about sharing his goals for the race, as he sets his sights on qualifying for the World Championships in August with a time of 2:09:40.
“I would like to aim for the World Championships standard. I will gauge the pace of the race and the groups I’m running with, and then decide whether to start slightly faster or slower and push on from there. I have no excuses; my training has gone as well as I could have hoped for in the last six to eight weeks,” Luke explained confidently.
Not only does Luke have the support of friends and family cheering him on during the race, but he will also have a familiar face alongside him. His training partner, Frank Lara, is also making his London Marathon debut. The pair finished within a second of each other in Houston, which adds excitement to see how they will perform in Luke’s hometown.
“Houston is Frank’s hometown, and he showed me around when I was there. London feels like my hometown, so it’s nice to have him here as a friendly face. We have done almost all of our training runs together, so it will be a lot of fun,” Luke shared.
“It’s Exciting to Be Back”
The final miles of the London Marathon will feel familiar to Luke, as he previously participated in the Mini London Marathon as a junior. The three-mile route from Old Billingsgate to The Mall has seen the likes of Emile Cairess, Ben Connor, Phil Sesemann, and Alice Wright, all of whom will also be running on Sunday. Luke fondly remembers those races as being “super exciting” and never imagined that he would one day return to London as an elite marathon runner.
Looking at the Mini London Marathon now, Luke acknowledges the excitement of being back. And this statement holds a twofold meaning, as he will soon be returning to the UK to live after his research job concludes this summer.
During his time in Colorado, Luke missed certain aspects of running in the UK, such as the abundance of races that are easily accessible. He looks forward to having those opportunities once again. In fact, after winning three consecutive fixtures in the 2019/20 season, there may be a speedy athlete returning to Division 3/4 of the Surrey League. Luke jokingly mentioned, “I do miss cross-country running a bit. Maybe I’ll do more of it next year!” This time, however, he will do it as one of the fastest marathon runners in recent years.