Last week, British pop singer Harry Styles took the world by surprise when he was spotted running the 2025 Tokyo Marathon, completing his 42.2 km debut in a time of 3:24:07—well above the average for men in their 30s. The running nerd in us instantly wanted to know how he managed training for it despite his (probably) hectic schedule.
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Styles’s secret? He was trained by former British special forces member and professional fighter David Thibo, who whipped him into shape to prepare for Tokyo. “When I first started training Harry, I wasn’t thinking ‘marathon finisher’—but peak performance was always the goal,” Thibo said on social media. “Whether (training) for a world tour, a film role, or a marathon, the same principles apply: structure, smart recovery, and long-term resilience.”
So, what did Styles’ training look like? According to Thibo, there was one key weekly hard session:
“A 10- to 20-minute slow jog to ease into the workout, followed by a fast one-mile run to test his speed. The mile was followed by a bodyweight challenge of 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups and 100 air squats—all to be completed within eight minutes.”
After the series of bodyweight exercises, Thibo would have Styles do some hill sprints to build speed and power, followed by a cool-down run and stretching.
Thibo indicated Styles’ fastest one-mile rep during his training build was five minutes and 13 seconds (an average pace of 3:14/km). Not to undermine his recent marathon effort, but his mile personal best suggests, with the right adjustments, that he has a lot more in the tank and possesses the potential speed to push for a sub-three-hour marathon.
However, not every day in Styles’ training plan was done at a hard effort. Thibo carefully structured the former One Direction star’s training to include recovery sessions mixed in with the hard sessions. Those runs featured 10 to 20 km runs around London, along with core work and mobility training.
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Thibo said he broke down his training program into specific phases or cycles to ensure Styles made continuous progress while minimizing his risk of overtraining or injury. “Every workout was thoughtfully placed within the overall training plan,” Thibo explains. “ I find proper periodization to be crucial for sustained progress.”
