James Milner runs New York City Marathon in 3hr 9min 4sec after early months of retirement

James Milner ran the New York City Marathon after spending the early months of his retirement training for it, finishing in 3hr 9min 4sec with an average of 7min 13sec per mile; the 40-year-old, whose physique was described as more like that of a wrestler than a whippet, said: “A few years ago, I feel like I could have definitely done sub-3:00,” lamenting late-career injuries for hindering him.

The Knowledge revisited a 2012 column that catalogued footballers’ fastest marathon times, which then had the former Leicester playmaker Muzzy Izzet top the list with 3hr 22min 36sec at the 2011 London Marathon; more recent results have since pushed Izzet down to 12th, just behind André Schürrle, who ran 3hr 21min 25sec in Berlin last year and this year completed the 167.7-mile six-stage Marathon des Sables in 51hr 41min 16sec, placing 675th overall, having also climbed Mont Blanc.

The quickest marathon recorded for a female footballer in the Knowledge’s research is 3hr 40min 30sec by former USA midfielder Lauren Holiday, followed by Leslie Osborne on 3hr 41min 33sec and Abby Wambach on 3hr 44min 25sec.

Milner’s 3hr 9min 4sec places him eighth on the updated list of footballers’ marathon times, with the Fulham manager Álvaro Arbeloa recorded at 3hr 15min 21sec (Valencia 2019) in 11th, Kevin Kilbane at 3hr 14min 44sec (London, 2013) in 10th and Danny Mills running 3hr 12min 18sec in the 2023 London Marathon at the age of 45.

The former Dundee United and West Ham defender Christian Dailly posted 3hr 6min 26sec at the 2013 London Marathon and reflected on his early training: “In 1990, I went from boys’ football in May to my Dundee United debut in August,” said Dailly after the race. “We’d be down at the beach, and all of a sudden, I’d be running through the sea at St Andrews or up and down the sand dunes. When I got to pre-season at Dundee United, I was flying, running away from everyone.” The former Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Lee Grant ran 3hr 0min 33sec in London this year.

A small group have broken three hours: Raúl González ran 2hr 59min 22sec in 2019 and said, “It was only the second marathon of my life. I wanted to break three hours, and I’m very happy with what I’ve accomplished.” Aaron Ramsey recorded exactly 2hr 59min in the Stockholm Marathon this summer, Arjen Robben ran 2hr 58min 33sec in Rotterdam in 2023, and Luis Enrique completed Florence in 2hr 58min 8sec before competing in the Frankfurt Ironman event and the Marathon des Sables.

The fastest former footballer on the Knowledge list is Alexei Smertin, who ran 2hr 48min 17sec at the Kazan Marathon in 2020 aged 45; Smertin, a former Chelsea and Russia utility man, has since tried switching to longer distances as he has aged but said he believes he may still have one or two quick marathons left in him. “I’ve been leaning toward ultras. One reason is that speed declines with age,” he said recently. “I thought I’d never be able to improve my personal best [2:48:17] … [but] I have a few more years to improve my speed.”

Examples readers supplied for managers sacked soon after signing extensions include Leam Richardson, who signed a three-year contract extension on 25 October 2022 and was sacked 16 days later on 10 November 2022 (Wigan then recruited Kolo Touré on a three-and-a-half year contract, who subsequently lasted just nine games); Glenn Roeder was sacked 10 days after signing a new one-year contract extension in February 1996 and said, “I am sure I have learned from this experience.” Other short tenures cited were Kevin Cullis’s seven-day spell at Swansea City in 1996, Dave Bassett’s less-than-four-day stint at Crystal Palace in 1984, Marcelo Bielsa’s two-day tenure at Lazio in 2016 and Leroy Rosenior’s 10-minute spell at Torquay United.

Readers also sent new material on the history and commemorative kit subjects raised in earlier archives — including a dispute over an Ipswich fan site said to date from 1990 (challenged by Alan Terlep, who noted the first known website went online in August 1991), Luton Town’s ‘WHOSH’ site from 1994, Millwall’s ‘You’ll Never Make The Station’ from around the same time, Portsmouth’s new kit carrying names of fallen soldiers, Raith Rovers’ 2014-15 away strip honouring the 16th Royal Scots with Turnbull Hutton quoted on that tribute, and Aberystwyth Town’s kit listing players’ names, ranks and regiments for those who died in the Great War — and the Knowledge invites further contributions. Mail us with all of your questions and answers.