Well, sometime around 2pm on Sunday I crossed the finish line of the 2011 Brighton marathon. My race really didn't go to plan at all, and my time was at least 20 minutes slower than I hoped but since the weather was unseasonably hot - 20 degrees is pretty unusual for early April in England - overall, I'm very happy with the outcome, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
We travelled down to Brighton on Saturday afternoon, arriving around 4pm, giving us time to settle into our hotel which was nicely located midway between the start in Preston Park and the finish on the seafront. An early dinner - more pasta - in the Lanes and then back to the hotel for a few final preparations before an early night.
Up at 7am for breakfast in the room - rice krispies, fruit yoghurt, orange juice and tea for me, porridge for Sophie - a last check we had all our stuff and off to the start which was a 20 minute walk away along London Road, the barriers already in place for the race. Into the park at about 8:10 and noting the queues for the toilets we made our way up to the baggage trailers to drop off our bags.
A common complaint about the 2010 race was the lack of toilets and I understand more were provided this time but there were still long queues at 08:45 as we made our way down to the start, so maybe the organisers need to up the numbers again next year.
After a bit of a communications breakdown with phone numbers I bumped into Ben, the other Practical Action fundraiser running at Brighton, and it was nice to have a quick chat and grab a photo before he headed off to run with his friends.
Sophie and I were in a starting corral close to the back (even though I had entered an expected time of 4:30 the 5:00 pacer was some way in front of us, so I guess a lot of people were over-optimistic about their times) so it took us more than 10 minutes to reach the start after Steve Cram had fired the gun to get the race underway. But finally, we were off ! I wished Sophie luck and we headed off into the early Brighton sun.
The course initially took us on a lap of the park, up a hill almost immediately which took many runners by surprise although having done my research I knew it was coming and took it steadily. On the downhill stretch I tried to just let go and gather some speed to gain a few easy early seconds but the route was still a little too crowded and I ended up dodging quite a few people and getting baulked several times so in the end I decided to just slow down and pick my way around people as I could.
The first few miles took us down London Road and around The Levels close to Brighton Pavilion. I had already decided that given the weather forecast I wasn't going to fall victim to dehydration, and drank a full 300ml bottle at the first water station at the 3 mile mark, (and repeated this every 3 miles until around 22 miles). Turning onto St James Street and climbing up through Kemptown towards the clifftop road out of Brighton, I was averaging 10 minute miles and, in spite of the constant gradual incline I felt pretty comfortable.
Having seen the 2010 course profile, I was prepared for the steep hill at around the 8 mile mark climbing up into Ovingdean and, although my left Achilles was twinging a bit, I still felt good and looked on target for a 4:30 finish. From 9 miles I knew the remainder of the course was downhill or level and, although I knew the last 10km would be a struggle, I felt I could probably gain a few minutes on the downhill stretch back into Brighton.
But I don't know if the wind dropped, or if the temperature rose as the time moved towards midday, or I wasn't as prepared for the gentle hills as I should have been but in spite of sticking pretty rigidly to my water and fuel regime, I was starting to find it quite hard going and as I passed the half-way mark on the Brighton seafront in 2h13 I didn't feel nearly as comfortable.
Turning off the seafront onto Grand Avenue and round the corner into Hove, my calves really started to tighten up and as I approached 15 miles I decided to stop and walk through the water station. While this helped me down the water more comfortably, as several marathon runners told me before the race -" whatever you do don't stop running - it's really hard to get going again !", and each time I started running again my legs would be ok for a while but then they would really start to stiffen up - first my calves, then my hamstrings, then the muscles on the inside of the thighs (abductors?) to the point where they felt like they might cramp.
So before too long I realised that I was probably not going to be able to run all of the rest of the race and that if I was going to walk at times I should at least try to do it according to a plan (perhaps I "gave in" too early in retrospect, but that's easy to say in retrospect). So from about 17 miles I aimed to run to the next mile marker or water station, walk for a couple of minutes, then run to the next mile marker etc. And I did that pretty much all the way along the seafront to the port at Shoreham and back towards Hove where, with around 3 miles to go, I decided I should try to run as much of the rest of the finishing straight as I could.
Fortunately the atmosphere on the finishing straight was FANTASTIC. Crowds lining both sides of the road, cheering everyone on and shouting the names on people's charity t-shirts and vests (in retrospect I wish I'd put my name on mine). And the crowds stayed well into the afternoon even as the runners started to thin out. It made for a real grandstand finish as I gritted my teeth and managed to run what I thought was the last couple of miles but my Garmin tells me was the last 0.8 miles to the finish.
I crossed the line just as the clock ticked past 5 hours since the starting gun, although my Garmin gave my time as 4:48:34, later confirmed by the chip timing system as 4:48:32. So, the second half of the race took 2:35, almost 12 minutes per mile, making my average pace almost exactly 11 minutes per mile.
So... my first marathon. What an experience ! My initial reaction was of disappointment, that I'd missed most of my pre-race targets, and regret that I'd perhaps given up running a little too early.
Also puzzlement that in spite of following my training plan pretty closely, and doing all the right things during the race, as far as I could tell, my legs simply couldn't handle the distance.
Frustration that the rest of my body was in good shape. Perhaps I should have pushed myself harder. Perhaps I wanted to run a comfortable marathon and wasn't prepared for a struggle. Perhaps I should have done more hill training.
But on further reflection most of these thoughts have been replaced with quiet satisfaction: I've
run a marathon, in a respectable time for a novice, on a day when many runners, fitter and better-equipped than me, struggled with the heat and either pulled out, didn't start, or under-performed. And, most importantly, thanks to the generosity of my friends, family and colleagues, I've raised a tidy sum for Practical Action and CLIC Sargent.
While I don't plan to do another
marathon this year, I think I will tackle another one in future, hopefully on a cooler day and next time, I'll train better, prepare better, and not give up to "the voices" quite so quickly.
Sophie, once again, showed real determination in her run - she had had a niggling calf injury in the last three weeks and hadn't been able to run, and was seriously considering pulling out. But she decided to give it a go and as I descended the hill at Ovingdean at around 8.5 miles I was delighted to see her running past on the ascent, looking cheerful and running well. And I continued to see her on the other "out and backs" along the course. making slow and steady progress around the course to finish in around 5 hours 20.
Not a personal best for her in time terms but given the heat and her injury, a fantastic performance. And she was the only one of the three of us who ran the whole route.
Sally was also disappointed with her time but without justfication: 4:15 in those conditions was a really great run - better than her faster run at the New Forest last September.
So, now that the marathon's over, a break from running for me until after Easter, when I start training for the BUPA London 10000 coming up at the end of May. And I'll be running that race wearing a CLIC Sargent t-shirt.
Unfortunately as I walked for a fair proportion of the last 9 miles of the marathon, I can't count the whole race towards my 1000 mile target for the year, but the first 17 miles count, and I've added those to the total.
