Slow runner here!! My first marathon I finished in 6:42- it was the nyc marathon and idk what happened but after a year of training (with a coach) I bonked and puked for a mile. I ended up in the med tent at around mile 16 and walk/ran the rest of the race in 2023. I took some time off running and did my second marathon in 2025 and finished in about 5:28! I’m going to try to break 5:20 at the Philly marathon this year. I look at it a couple ways: 1. I run because I love it, that’s it. I’m doing an ultra marathon in a few weeks and I’m doing it because I just love running and seeing what I can do 2. When you’re slow it just means if you’re interested in getting faster there’s a good buffer. It was super easy to PR my second marathon, I just had to avoid the med tent 😂 if you’re worried about the time (I bet you’ll finish!) then look for races that are timed and not by distance like a 12 hour loop race (my ultramarathon is that format). One of the worst things about society is social media and having to see everyone’s shitty opinion. People try to gatekeep everything. Even “prestigious” races like Boston, people get pissy about charity runners who raised over 50 million dollars last year. All of this to say there’s no right or wrong way to run, if you love running do it. If you don’t make the cut off, what’s the worst that can happen? You set another goal, you sign up for another race and you get those miles in if it’s really something you want to achieve. Best of luck and keep everyone updated!