Why Heel Pain Is Silently Derailing Marathon Training for Thousands of UK Runners
Early mornings. Long runs. Training plans stuck to the fridge. Across the UK, thousands of runners are deep into marathon prep for the year ahead. But a growing number will never make it to the start line. Not because they didn’t train hard enough, but because they didn’t recover properly.
New analysis by fitness brand Enertor shows how the UK is in a hidden epidemic of heel pain.
One of the most common places that stress shows up is in the feet, and plantar fasciitis is the leading cause of heel pain.
Physiotherapist and Enertor ambassador Tom Harrison sees it every day. “Around 10% of people in the UK will develop plantar fasciitis in their lifetime,” he explains. “If we include all heel conditions, that rises to 15% of the population. At any given time, around 8% of people are living with heel pain that affects their daily lives.”
Plantar fasciitis develops when the thick band of tissue running along the bottom of the foot becomes overloaded and inflamed, often due to repetitive impact and sudden increases in training without enough recovery time.
Research shows 70-80% of running injuries are caused by overuse, not accidents. Repetitive impact without adequate rest gradually breaks tissue down, particularly during high-load training periods when mileage and intensity ramp up quickly, and where those small niggles start to spiral into something more serious.
The problem is that the body doesn’t work on motivation alone. It doesn’t recover in a few days. Studies show muscle tissue can take up to 28 days to fully repair after intense endurance exercise, yet most runners return to training within 48-72 hours of a race or heavy session.
Tom says marathon training is a major trigger. “Most heel injuries occur when the stress applied exceeds the heel’s capacity to tolerate it. People rapidly increase their running volume or add speed work, but their recovery doesn’t change. That cumulative stress is what pushes heel pain from a niggle into a chronic condition.”
Still, runners often rely on how they feel to guide their training. “Just because soreness fades doesn’t mean the tissue has recovered,” Tom adds. “People think a few easy days are enough, but the body is repairing microscopic damage long after fatigue seems to ease.”
Ironman athlete and mum Jen Done knows this first-hand.
“My plantar fasciitis and IT band pain massively impacted my training,” she says. “I often had to skip workouts or stop halfway through. As a working mum, time to train is limited, so when an injury stopped me training, it was incredibly frustrating. It felt like I was putting in so much effort but not progressing.”
After returning to running post-pregnancy, Jen says everything felt different. “Throughout pregnancy, I had pelvic girdle pain, which limited my movement. Afterwards, I was left with muscle weakness and reduced fitness. I had to build back incredibly slowly, starting with five minutes walking with the pram, then ten minutes, then short runs alongside physiotherapy. Running helped my mental health, but I had to respect what my body could handle.”
That experience changed how she trains. “Skipping recovery only leads to injury and unproductive sessions. Now I plan rest days and easier runs after harder workouts because otherwise my body just can’t cope.”
For physiotherapists like Tom, that mindset shift is crucial. “Offloading pressure from the heel after activity allows stressed tissue to recover faster and reduces flare-up risk,” he explains. “When cumulative stress exceeds what the tissue can tolerate, that’s when injuries develop.”
It’s why recovery is finally starting to feature in training plans, not just mileage targets. On 1st February, Enertor is launching its new Recovery Slides, designed to offload pressure from the heel after high-impact sessions and support the body through the toughest phases of marathon training.
Image: Enertor’s new Recovery Slides
It’s a purpose-built recovery tool, developed by biomechanics specialists with more than 25 years of injury-prevention expertise. At its core is UltraSole™, Enertor’s new full-foot shock absorption technology that absorbs 50% of impact, dramatically reducing muscle and joint strain.
With runners now entering the most intense stage of their plans, experts warn the UK’s hidden epidemic of heel pain will only continue to grow unless recovery is taken seriously, stopping more runners from ever reaching the start line.
“Training hard is only half the equation,” Tom says. “Recovering properly is what keeps people running.”
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