Edge of the Line asked Sam Messer, a marathoner, a few questions about his passion.

What inspired you to start running?

It was a bit of a means to an end, really. I’d moved home and didn’t have any local friends, worked from home a lot and so was a bit lonely and getting more overweight. Somewhat ironically, I saw a poster for a “Couch to 5K” style course in a bakery window. This course was being hosted by a local running club for free, where whoever wanted to turn up could all run together once a week and build up to a 5K.

Once the 10 weeks were over, I signed up to a local timed 5K race with a handful of the club runners and other beginners; completing that race was where the realisation kicked in that this was an activity I really enjoyed. I try and come back to this same race every year as a bit of a pilgrimage and a line in the sand for how I’ve progressed over the past year.

What helps you keep going during a long race?

Quite a tricky question to answer, as it has a lot to do with how you’re feeling on that particular day. I’ve had races that I can't wait to be over, and I’ve had races where it’s more of “Well, you've come this far – don't throw it away now” type mindset. Depending on how close to the limit you are, even just looking around and internally commenting on things you’re seeing can be enough to make the miles tick over. Once you start getting to marathon distances, then I think it becomes a different ball game entirely in terms of what techniques work and how you use them.

Have you ever “hit the wall” or “bonked” and how did you manage it?

I think there’s a little bit of overlap with this question and the last, in that it’s very much influenced by your mindset. During a marathon for example, you will hit the wall at some point; what you don’t know is how hard and at what point of the race it’ll arrive. I’ve raced five timed marathons at this point, all of which really had their own story of how it went. My most recent, Manchester 2026, was probably my most difficult. I knew it was going wrong from around mile 18, but due to an unexpected calf injury. I’d not had it in training, but maybe due to heat or not taking in enough salt mid-race... it just decided to fail on me.

Those situations are really difficult because you’ve still got so much of the race to go. I’d travelled up to Manchester on my own about 12-13 hours before the race and was planning to leave again straight afterwards; my wife was at home with our little boy so I wanted to be away for as little time as possible. In that instance, you’re carrying on almost out of guilt, really. It’s not just the race day that you’re away from your family potentially – it’s the three to four months of Sundays before that where you need to get your long runs done. You don’t want all that to be for nothing. I ran, or walked, to the finish line, but I had a good hour to really stew on the situation and become quite negative. Marathons are a very public display of private struggle.

What’s the biggest mental health benefit of running?

Probably a general sense of letting off some steam. Whether that’s at a track with friends or just going on a two-hour solo run. I’m lucky in that I live on the edge of the New Forest, so I do have the privilege of walking 400m and then being able to hit “go” on my watch and vanishing into the trees for as long as I can get away with. Even if I have a bad workout, it’s very rare that I come home in a worse mood than when I left.

How has running changed since becoming a dad?

A mixture of time and priorities. You have considerably less time to run, but I’ve also found I’ve not always wanted to, whether this be because I’d rather spent time with my son or I don't really feel like it’s justifiable enough to leave my wife to solo parent for a while. My wife is amazing in that she will push me out of the door if it’s been too long, because she knows of the mental health benefits we touched on.

The unexpected downside of this, which I’ve learnt as I’ve been a dad for longer, is that you end up comparing yourself to the runner you were. The first time I revisited a course and went slower, I found super difficult to come to terms with. It’s only when you sit down and consider that you’re not running those high mileage weeks like before, you’re getting less sleep etc., that you start to be a little kinder on yourself about it.