James Milner, recently retired from professional football at 40, successfully completed his first New York Marathon on Sunday with a time of three hours, nine minutes, and four seconds.
Milner ran for the James Milner Foundation, an organization that has previously raised over £1.3 million for charities including the NSPCC and Help for Heroes. He announced that he had used an AI training program as his primary tool in preparation for the marathon.
"I know a few other people and stuff, but yeah, just bounced things off that really and went from there," Milner told Let's Run regarding his AI-assisted training. His longest training run prior to the event was just over 32 kilometers (approximately 20 miles).
The former England international, who holds the record for the most Premier League appearances with 658 games, will turn 41 in January. He expressed that training for the marathon has aided his transition into retirement.
"I think it's one of them, after I've finished - hopefully - on Sunday, I'll either love it and have the bug and want to tick off loads of marathons, or maybe I'll hate it, never want to do another and maybe go to some triathlons or something else," Milner said. "But fitness has always been a big part of my life, and I feel I've always been goal-orientated. I think I'd find it hard to not have a goal to train for."
During his extensive football career, Milner won 11 major honors, including two Premier League titles with Manchester City and a Champions League title with Liverpool. He also earned 61 caps for England.