Rob Watson set to make marathon return in New York City this fall

I didn't get the result I wanted in London. But the all around experience was friggen rad. Rolling over the Tower Bridge around 20km was pretty neat. Marathons are friggen stupid sometimes- but I already can't wait for the next one. #onward #londonmarathon2016 photocred; not sure, stole this off Facebook- sorry!

A photo posted by Rob Watson (@rwatson26point2) on Apr 28, 2016 at 9:12am PDT

In his last attempt at the distance–the 2016 London Marathon–Vancouver’s Rob Watson finished in a disappointing 2:18 and fell well short of the 2:12 he hoped to run in order to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

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Now, some six months later, Watson has announced he will return to the marathon and is set to run the TCS New York City Marathon–the world’s largest with 50,000 participants–on Sunday November 6th.

RELATED: Lanni Marchant targets New York City as her next marathon challenge

#tbt last time I raced in New York City in 2013. I am super excited to be heading back there in a few weeks for the 2016 #nycmarathon. One of the biggest, most iconic races in the world. The fine folks @nyrr always put in a hell of a show. Oh man, I am so damn excited to roll through all 5 boroughs on Nov 6th! #nyrr #adidasrunning #adidascanada #mile2marathon

A photo posted by Rob Watson (@rwatson26point2) on Sep 29, 2016 at 10:48am PDT

We reached out to Watson to comment on his decision to run the famous five boroughs race this fall:

Canadian Running: Why New York City? Why now? What led you to make this decision?

Rob Watson: A career goal of mine is to race in all the World Marathon Majors and NYC is next on the list [Rob has already run Boston, Chicago and London. After New York, he’ll only have Berlin–a race he has paced but never raced–and Toyko]. I’m also a massive running nerd and so when it comes to marathons, NYC is one of the biggest and best around. There’s so much history on those streets. I’m friggen excited.

CR: How has training been going? How will it change from now until Nov. 6?

RW: Training is coming around. I really shut it down after London last year and took some time to figure out what I was gonna do with my life. I am working a lot more now and don’t have nearly as much time or flexibility to get the training done. But I just love to run, and I still wanna be fast. It took some time to get my legs back under me, but I’ve managed to find a rhythm and a schedule that works for me. I reckon I’ll be ready come Nov. 6.

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CR: Any specific goals you’d like to share?

RW: Running twenty sub-2:20’s is a lifetime goal of mine. I’m already halfway there and hope to get number 11 in New York City.