Chester Marathon

Eighteen weeks of training, countless early starts and a worn out pair of trainers culminated in my first marathon last Sunday.

I told people that I wanted to do it in 3 hours 20 but secretly I wanted to do it in 3:15. Based on a half marathon PB of 1:33 and a successful training period it should be possible.

Chester dawned sunny and still; perfect for spectators, possibly getting a bit hot for the runners.

After failing to get in the main car park before it closed I found another one nearby, got changed, dropped off my bag and got in the queue for the portaloos. Then after some jogging and light stretching I got into the start queue. I was starting to feel hungry at this point and wondered if I should have had more breakfast but then decided to dismiss such pointless thoughts.

The horn went and I started off behind the 3:30 pacers as my plan was to do the first 6 miles at 8 minute mile pace and then do the rest at 7:30 pace. After winding our way through Chester for a few miles we then headed out South into the countryside. Plodding along behind the pacers felt comfortable and even if I had wanted to get past them it would have been a struggle as there was a big crowd of people behind them.

At the 6 mile point I picked up a bottle of Lucozade and overtook the pacers. Time to start working!

The next 9 miles were fun. Keeping to a pace of about 7.30 minutes per mile I overtook hundreds of people. My race position went from about 900 to about 500. I felt a slight energy dip at mile 13 and felt great again at mile 15. In retrospect this was probably due to the gradient of the road.

By mile 16 things were starting to feel hard. My Mum and sister had come out to cheer me at this point and this gave me a lift. However by mile 18 my pace had almost dropped to 8 minute miles again.

Just after mile 20 I had to take a comfort break. This wasted about a minute and afterwards I realised I was on the death march. I had no energy! My pace was a pathetic 8:30 min/mile and the whole course felt like it was uphill.

At the 24 mile point there was a real hill and this sapped all my remaining energy. At the top of the hill the 3:30 pacers sailed past me. If only I had stayed with them all along! It was now just a question of whether I would get under 3:30 myself.

The support on the last 2 miles was great but I was lost in my own world. Finally the route turned onto the racecourse and the crowd here was fantastic but I had nothing to offer. Picking up the pace slightly towards the finish line my calves started cramping and I had to run like a robot, trying not to bend my knees.

Finally I crossed the line and collapsed on the grass. The clock had gone past 3:30 but my chip time was 3:29:48! Phew!

One of the best things about a marathon is the feeling of being able to stop running and rest! This I did, lying on the grass until a steward encouraged me to move on.

After a massage from my physio sister we had a pleasant lunch in Chester and then I managed to drive myself home.

I am not sure why I didn't get the time I was expecting. It could have been a lack of endurance in my legs, a lack of carbo-loading or the heat or most likely a combination of a number of factors.

In any case I have the marathon bug and I will be back!