Tullamore Harriers Half Marathon 2026 | Is Sub-3:15 Berlin Still Realistic?

Is a sub-3:15 Berlin Marathon still realistic? With just 4 weeks to go until the Berlin Marathon 2026, I travelled to Co. Offaly for the Tullamore Harriers Half Marathon — one of my biggest marathon fitness tests of the training block. After running the Boston Scientific Half Marathon the previous weekend, this was another opportunity to find out exactly where my fitness stands before Berlin. Conditions in Tullamore were wet with plenty of drizzle, but for me they were actually close to ideal. After struggling with the heat in previous races, the rain helped keep me cool and allowed me to concentrate on maintaining my pace. The race itself was brilliantly organised. There were five water stations with bottled water around the course, which was fantastic, and the support from Tullamore Harriers, the volunteers and the local community made it a great event. 🎯 The goal: Test my Berlin Marathon pace 🏃 Half Marathon: 21.1 km ⏱️ Finish Time: 1:37:52 ⚡ Average Pace: 4:38/km 🇩🇪 Berlin Marathon: September 27, 2026 I managed to hold almost exactly my original sub-3:15 Berlin Marathon goal pace for the entire half marathon. But there's a problem... Running 4:38/km for 21.1 km is very different from maintaining it for 42.2 km. After this race, I'm starting to accept that a 3:15 marathon may be too much of a stretch this time around. Based on where my fitness is now, I think somewhere around 3:20–3:25 could be a much more realistic target for Berlin. There's still four weeks of training left, though, and some big marathon-specific sessions to come before I make the final decision. Can I improve enough to make 3:15 possible, or should I concentrate on running the smartest race possible and target 3:20–3:25? Follow Ireland Running Adventures as the Road to Berlin continues! If you enjoy marathon training, road racing, trail running, mountain running and running adventures around Ireland and Europe, please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE and let me know your Berlin Marathon prediction in the comments. The Chance by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... #TullamoreHalfMarathon #BerlinMarathon #BerlinMarathon2026 #MarathonTraining #HalfMarathon #TullamoreHarriers #RunningIreland #IrishRunner #RoadToBerlin #Sub320 #IrelandRunningAdventures