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You can’t control the uncontrollables– this was the motto that I had to keep in mind for this race. There was National Rail train works over the bank holiday which meant I had to get up at 5.30am for the marathon which didn’t start until 10. I also was slightly concerned about the weather forecast, as I’ve suffered really badly in races before when the sun is out and the temps are up! Those things were out of my hands so I had to put them to the back of my mind. I just knew I wanted to have a better race than I did in Manchester, and most of all I wanted to enjoy it.
After multiple changes of transport, and meeting up with fellow runner Gina to share a taxi across some of the missing train route, we arrived around 9.20am at the MK Stadium. Being a stadium there were ample amounts of toilets and changing facilities- the mens toilet queue was massive, but we didn’t have to queue at all for the ladies- result!
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After lashing on some sun cream we headed over to the start, and just after 10am we were on our way. The first 8 miles of the course (pictured above) were fairly bizarre, as we headed along several out and back sections which were mostly up/down a hill, the sun was beating down on the tarmac, and there was no relief from the heat.
I deliberately started out slower than I have done in previous marathons, as I wanted to conserve energy, so I kept trying to get myself to run slower than I felt I could. At around the 10 mile point the half marathoners split off one way, and us marathoners went another. This started what was quite an enjoyable, but tough part of the course, we wound up and down through lots of park/wood/lake areas, and there were some really beautiful spots along the way- not just roads and roundabouts!
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The course was much more undulating than I thought it would be, and I felt like it was constantly up and down the whole way which in the heat was draining. I actually ran the whole thing, other than 2 hills near the end at mile 22 and 24 which I had to walk up as my legs physically couldn’t get up them by that point!
I didn’t have anyone supporting at the race, so it was nice to spot Mary at mile 7-8? and she later spotted me around mile 16- pretty heroic effort considering she ran 44 miles the day before!! The support was decent around the course, and the marshal’s were absolutely fantastic. Big thumbs up to the guy handing out oranges too, that went down super well. There were ample water stations, and toilets along the route at every 3 mile point. It was a busy day for St Johns Ambulance with the heat, and there were a lot of people in need of help around the course, big props to them for the awesome work they do.
At Manchester I hit the wall mentally at around mile 18, I was concious of that, and knew this time I just wanted to push through however slowly. I felt pretty good for the majority of the route, but I started to feel it big time in the last 6 miles, my stomach also started to feel really dodgy which was a bit unpleasant for the last few miles.
As we neared mile 26 the stadium came into sight and I knew there wasn’t long to go, there was a nice downhill/flat section and the support was great coming into the stadium and pitch-side as you ran round the pitch to finish. I actually felt quite emotional on that lap, felt like I had put Manchester to rest, and had gone out there to do what I wanted to- bloody enjoy it.
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I ended up unintentionally knocking a few minutes off my PB to finish in 4.31.05. On an extremely hot day, and a tough undulating course I was more than happy with that! I ran comfortably without pushing myself which is key to enjoyment in my book! I didn’t even listen to any music until the last 7 miles when I needed a bit of a boost.
I ran pretty even splits throughout the race, after blowing up and running 20 min positive splits in my last two marathons. The stats on the results page were pretty interesting too, at the 10k point I was 444/583 women, but by the end I finished 258th, that shows how much better my pacing was for this race, and I did feel like I spent a lot of time in the second half of the race overtaking people- I felt pretty strong which considering the conditions was a good sign!
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I can see why it was voted one of the best marathons in the UK, it’s very well organised, not over crowded, the course although tough is a good one, and much more scenic than I thought it would be. The only issue I had was that the closest train station was 30 minutes walk away from the start/finish, which took me absolutely forever to walk back to as I could barely move! I finally got home about 5.30pm, absolutely starving, so we ordered in from our favourite local Thai restaurant Isarn and I capped the day off with a cherry beer.
I’m pleased that my last long training run for the ultra is out of the way, and I feel much more confident going into it with that marathon in the bag. I am going to start tapering down for race day now as it’s less than 3 weeks to go!