Chester marathon - race report
I travelled up by train and walked a mile or two to the station. After a
couple of local ales and an early night i woke quite early on race day. I
headed nervously to the sub four waiting area. All too soon we were off, a
clear blue sky and no breeze made for warm conditions. The four hour pacer
was mobbed so I decided to tuck in the big space just in front of him.
I happened across a quite a few
Ampthill and Flitwick Flyers and had a nice chat, some of them knew me
from my recent 'getting lost' exploits. Infamy! Pushing on I think I hit
halfway at around 1.54 which is about my half time so was happy with that.
Most of the lovely scenery passed me by I'm afraid - focus was on the
running and the social chit chat, although i do remember a brass band at
some point and some fab locals in all the little villages cheering us on.
As I approached 17 miles I fell into line with a chap called Ronnie from
Liverpool, it was his first marathon and we had a nice chat till about 22
when he forged on, amazing, 54 yrs old and a new runner too - some people
really inspire you. Around this time I began to start feeling tired, an
energy drink from one of the plentiful water stations and a couple of
jelly babies helped but the legs were starting to argue back.
Head was good, all the
way my thoughts were mainly positive as I knew this was a good chance to
get a PB. The last four and a half miles were ran alone in my own
headspace and with as much guts as I could muster. As we approached the
racecourse I allowed myself a glimpse of my watch and was totally chuffed
to still see a 3, this gave me the last push I needed to bag a sub four.
Was great to see Marcus Cookham who was unfortunate enough to be the
nearest person that i knew and the poor chap got a sweaty hug from me,
must have wondered what was going on! A few beers with some friends
finished off a pretty perfect race day!
Bumped into Tom
Brassington who was smiling all over his face, a first marathon and a
cracking time. A stunning marathon experience, loads of fab marshals, tons
of water stations with gels and sports drinks, technical top, goody bag
and medal. Garmin time 3.57 Official time 3.57.56 - a huge PB for me
Sarah Wanden |