40-Year-Old Ex-Liverpool Star Milner Runs New York Marathon In 3:09 After Football Retirement
Former Liverpool and Manchester City midfielder James Milner has continued to demonstrate his remarkable fitness levels after completing the 2026 New York City Marathon in an impressive time of 3 hours, 9 minutes and 4 seconds.
The 40-year-old, who retired from professional football at the end of the 2025/26 season, covered the 26.2-mile (42.2km) course on Sunday, maintaining an average pace of 7 minutes and 13 seconds per mile.
Milner, renowned for his exceptional work ethic and endurance during a 24-year football career, showed that retirement has done little to slow him down.
The former England international began the marathon strongly, completing the first half in 1 hour and 31 minutes before covering the remaining distance in 1 hour and 38 minutes.
Milner represented several Premier League clubs during his career, including Leeds United, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Liverpool and Brighton.
He became particularly popular among supporters for his professionalism, versatility and remarkable fitness, regularly finishing among the top performers in pre-season fitness tests despite advancing in age.
His marathon performance has provided another demonstration of the endurance that made him one of the most durable players in English football.
