Race Date Sunday 19th October 2025
By Neil Schofield with Chris Smith.
The Palma Half Marathon had been on the calendar for quite a while, booked as an excuse for some Autumn sun. By May, I realised that my knee was swelling up after every long run but true to form it didn’t get looked at professionally until September. Consequently, when the advice from the physio to have a month off running and do some strength work was received, Palma was in serious jeopardy. Three weeks later and with three weeks to go the weekly gym session was already reaping dividends but would it be possible to get back up to half marathon distance? Having managed a ten miler, doing three more should be fine.
So, what time to aim for? The sensible option would simply be to get round in one piece but a plan was needed with Strava and Garmin asked for advice. Strava, ever the optimist and like the confident mate who eggs you on, reckoned that 1:34 was possible. Garmin, the more sensible, conservative friend calculated that 1:43 should be my aim, so there were the A and B goals. For good measure plan C ‘better than PW’ 1:52 was thrown into the pot.
After a pleasant ride with Nada to collect our numbers, cycling to the start on race day seemed such a good idea at the time. (Editor: Looks a great spot for some reps too).
We thought that riding our bikes for five miles along the beautiful coastal cycle track to the start line would be a good warm up. The 10k starts at 8:00am with the half and marathon at 8:15. With sunrise at 8:00am it would be pitch black when we needed to leave but the hire bikes had no lights. Instead, we booked a taxi only for it not to turn up. Frantically pleading with some runners in the same hotel we managed to make it to the race HQ with minutes to spare although we did still have to negotiate bag drop and the now overflowing Inodoro portátiles. An endearing memory from the day is of Nada rushing down the line of toilets, opening each one in turn and saying ‘nope!’
Get me to the start on time.
Crossing the start line about 10 minutes after the gun, which was a victory of some sort, the task was to get into some sort of rhythm. 8,500 people had entered the race with runners from the 10k, half and marathon all out on the course together. This led to lots of weaving, vaulting of street furniture, and many apologetic shouts of ‘perdón’.
Picking off almost all of the Strider field, with an obligatory photograph with each (#nostopsallselfies) and words of encouragement for any Yorkshire club vests met on the way, the line was crossed in 1:40. Not quite Strava optimism but well within Garmin’s pessimistic prediction and safely faster than a personal worst. That accolade can wait for another time. After the race there was the medal, featuring the cathedral, goodie bag, and free beer token before going back onto the course to cheer on the marathoners, now on their second lap, looking out especially for our own Brian Jenkins and Cara Hanson. After that we all went to the pub.
You haven’t made it until you’ve been in a selfie with Neil.
Have a read too of Cara Hanson’s report on the Marathon One Is Fun: The Tui Palma Marathon
| Pos | Name | Cat | Chip |
| 148 | Robert Dawson | M50 | 01:30:52 |
| 409 | Neil Schofield | M55 | 01:40:15 |
| 635 | Andrew Hinchliffe | M60 | 01:45:26 |
| 1121 | Joel Driver | M40 | 01:53:20 |
| 1207 | David Beech | M65 | 01:54:30 |
| 1492 | Kevin Wong | M45 | 01:57:47 |
| 2400 | Humphrey Fu | M50 | 02:09:04 |
| 2557 | Nada Ross | F55 | 02:11:46 |
| 2619 | William Poynter | SM | 02:12:36 |
| 2618 | Sharon Colyer | F35 | 02:12:36 |
| 2620 | Sally Mooney | F40 | 02:12:37 |
| 3343 | Christopher Smith | M50 | 02:27:59 |
Results Palma Half Marathon 2025 First were William Beattie (Falkirk) 1:11:34 and Nitsche Maike (GER) 1:20:45. With a gun time of 2:35:34 Chris may well have got a close up view of the leading runners in the marathon as they finished.
Tui Palma 10k
If you didn’t fancy the half let alone the marathon but still wanted a holiday then the 10k was the race for you. This was won by Anthony Baumal (Fra) 32:21 and Maiwenn Le Corre (Fra) 38:07.
| Pos | Name | Cat | Chip |
| 1059 | Andrew Woffinden | M60 | 01:05:09 |
| 1564 | Natalie Thomas | F35 | 01:15:15 |
One advantage of the 10k is that you get to the pub first even though it’s not even 9:30am.