12 Marathons – 12 Months

JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge

Last week I participated in the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge, an annual event in Battersea Park that is now in it’s 34th year! The race is part of a series that takes in all of the major cities of the world culminating in a championship final for all of the best teams. This year Singapore is the championship host. Teams are made up from companies all over the UK (though mainly those which have staff in London) and I have captained the team for my employer for the last 3 years. This is an all-ability and the course is only 5.6km in total so it makes for a pleasant jog in the park if you can negotiate the crowds. This year’s event attracted over 25,000 participants from over 622 companies and has for the last few years been split over two evenings to accommodate the sheer numbers but even so, the 13,000 runners we had on Thursday night were still packed in pretty tight!

This is the first year that they have also introduced a wave start, grouping runners into time pens allowing the faster ones off in advance and gradually letting each group go in intervals. This has no bearing on times since it’s a fully chip-timed race which makes life a lot easier for the team captains who originally had to collate everyone’s times as reported by the runners themselves and since this year one company fielded over 1000 runners that would have been no mean feat!

In the end I managed the course in 26:00 exactly, which is shy of the 21:00 I was hoping for but to be honest I could comfortably do with shedding about half a stone at the moment! Anyways, marathon number 7 is this coming Sunday and is another off-road trail run so hopefully I’ll sweat a few pounds off then… Other than that, training is going ok – although probably a bit lax compared to earlier in the year but the plan is to go for a PB in Berlin in September as I have a six week gap between races so I can get some quality speedwork and distance runs back under my belt. As always, marathon report will be published a day or two after the race so see you next week.

Cheltenham Circular Challenge

Well they call this the “prettiest marathon in Great Britain” and I would certainly agree with that statement because this was definitely a change from the tarmac torture I’ve endured over the last five races. However, to call this a race would be a a bit of a misnomer because you start on your own!! Basically this is a 4-stage trek around the outskirts of Cheltenham, starting and finishing at the racecourse. On arrival you register at the HQ and then when you are ready you get your timecard stamped and off you go. At each of the checkpoints your card is stamped and you get the option to return to the start on the minibus, allowing you to do as many of the sections as you feel able. The whole route is 26.2 miles however which is why it qualifies as an official “marathon” but don’t expect a PB when doing this one! I decided at the start that I would take my Garmin time over the clock time and would stop the watch at each checkpoint for a short break, which proved to be a good strategy in the end as I spent quite a while at one checkpoint with a bad case of the runs (yes ok – too much information). So, while my watch time came in at 4:57:28 as actual time spent on the move I would image the course clock time would be closer to 5:20 or so.

Off into the hills!

Anyway onto the course itself, the first stage starts out on single track roads and you start heading towards what is quite a significant climb up onto the panorama overlooking Cheltenham. It was only after a mile or so that the first waypoint took me off-road and into a field, which wasn’t too bad to start with as the ground was quite even but as the hills approached the gradient really started to take it’s toll and I was soon down to a stride as I was literally climbing up a steep grassy bank. I decided that the best approach to this race was going to be walk up – run down (wherever possible) and only run on surfaces where I wasn’t going to risk going over on an ankle and – and there were certainly plenty of those!! As well as the tracks and open fields there were a lot of  passages through hedgerows and small bridges over streams to negotiate as well as countless stiles and kissing gates – and this was just the first section… The  first checkpoint was a welcome sight, not just for the water but also to reassure me that I was following the map ok. This was not repeated on stage two when I managed to get very lost having missed one of the small waypoint markers on a fencepost and ended up in a small village street that I couldn’t find on the little hand-drawn map I was given. A local passer-by couldn’t really make out where I should be going and just suggested I ran down the main road until a got to a road sign which I duly did and managed to get back on a heading to a village that was on the map. By this point I was worried that I’d completely messed up the route but when I eventually got to checkpoint two, the official half-way stage, my Garmin clocked me in at just over 13.1 miles so despite missing out on some of the scenery I was still ok as far as distance was concerned and decided that was good enough.

Yes, that really is the path!!

After a water refill in my new Camelback belt (really good!) and an energy bar I was off again and this time paying more attention to the map. Section three was called “Fields” and they really were not joking as most of the route was across completely open terrain with only the faintest hint of where the actual path was but thankfully there were plenty of walkers on the route taking time to read their OS maps and GPS’s so I found them to be a reliable indicator of the route. At checkpoint three there was the offer of free squash and biscuits and a request to sign a petition to stop developing on greenbelt land, which was a small price to pay for a couple of fig rolls, and then off onto the last section known as “Villages”. As the name suggested this had far more of the solid surfaces I was used to and I was able to actually run a decent pace for the final few miles but this soon dropped back into the cross-country terrain as I hit mile 23. By this time, negotiating a stile with tired, stiff legs was becoming quite a strenuous exercise and having banged my knee in the same place on about 10 or more of them by now I was starting to hate every one but soon the racecourse came into view and that last mile magic kicked in as I jumped the last stile and ran down the road to the HQ to be stamped out after more than five hours of being attacked by nettles, thorns and just about anything else that the British countryside could throw at me.

Still, this was without doubt one of the most enjoyable races so far and the overall event organisation was superb with plenty of water available, a friendly family atmosphere and some spectacular views. I fully intend to come back next year and do this one as a walk so that I can better appreciate it. Full marks to Cleveden Vale Rotary Club for a great event.

See the races page for a link to the route I took and the gallery contains a few more pictures.

Edinburgh Marathon

If I had to describe the Edinburgh marathon in one word it would be HOT!

In complete contrast to the weather forecast, which promised overcast skies and light rain (which would have been perfect) it ended up being one of the hottest days of the year so far. Initially, the predictions were true. Looking out from the hotel room window on the morning I was greeted with a grey sky and the city almost rendered invisible in the mist – this continued through the start but after about 6 or 7 miles the cloud cover just simply vanished and we had the full effect of the midday sun for the remainder of the race.

On to the race itself, Edinburgh is hailed as the fastest marathon in the UK and it’s easy to see why. The first few miles weave their way from the city centre down to Meadowbank through Holyrood Park and the local roads in a gentle downhill gradient. This certainly helps to up the early pace without incurring too much fatigue and of course the crowd support during this stage is fantastic. After Meadowbank, the course levels out and heads down to the coastal road where you are taken past the finish line at Musselburgh stadium before carrying on along a pretty flat out-and-back for approximately 17 miles.  It wasn’t long after mile 10 that I encountered the first of the elites coming the other way and gradually the oncoming “traffic” increased as we headed towards the turning loop. The only soul-destroyer on this route is a short spur road at mile 16 which serves no purpose other than to correct the distance – probably as a result of some other route change – but a water stop on this section would have been most welcome! The 18 mile marker was effectively the point at which we headed back down the coast road towards the finish. As we headed back down the final 8 miles the casualties of the heat became more apparent with a lot of people being treated roadside for clear cases of heat stroke (including some of the front runners!) with wet towels. The water stops seemed to be getting further apart and at one point I resorted to retrieving a half-full bottle that had been discarded by an earlier runner – yes I was that desparate!!

By mile 21 I was seriously going into meltdown myself and seeing a sub 4:00 slowly ebbing away I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and dropped into a run-walk-run pattern for the next few miles. As the 25 mile marker approached the finish boost cut in and I managed to sustain a reasonable pace all the way through to the finish line, crossing in a chip time of 4:17 in front of a Gradstand audience. Obviously, the atmosphere of such a finish is always going to get you over the line and I watched folks in clearly considerable pain conquering the last 285 yards as I filtered through the medals and goody bags queue.

Overall, it was much harder than I expected but defnitely one I would do again. Edinburgh is a fantastic friendly city and only spending a short weekend there does not do it justice.

As always, I’ve uploaded the Garmin data from the race which you can view by clicking here.

Rotary Shakespeare Marathon

Well, Sunday saw marathon number four out of the way so that makes me a third of the way through now. This was without doubt the best organised race so far in my opinion. The management at the starting line, the broadcast of information, facilities and race marshalling were all first-rate. There were around 3,500 runners on the day with approximately 1,300 participating in the full marathon (the rest doing the half) so a feat of organisation in anyone’s book!

However, this was by far the hardest course I have run to date and as a result I only managed a time of 4:07 which is a bit gutting as I was hoping to maintain a run of sub-4:00 times. The first mile or so consisted of a lap of Stratford town centre which was naturally closed to traffic for the start. This provided a great confidence boost as you soaked up the cheering of the quite substantial crowds before heading out onto the local roads. This was a two lap circuit for the marathon with the second lap deviating somewhat from the first. For the road-based element of the course the going was pretty much as you would expect. There were one or two shallow gradients and only one real “hill” for which you were rewarded with a 14% downhill straight after a two-stage climb. However, the final three miles of the first lap and the last six miles of the second lap were along the “Greenway”, a disused railway bed now used as a cycle track. The surface is hard-packed gravel/grit and it is just one long straight line with a very slight incline as you head back towards Stratford. There was also little or no shade for the majority of the Greenway section so when the sun decided to reappear at mile 20 I knew it wasn’t going to be pleasant! For the final six miles I dropped into a run-walk-run cycle that I was unable to get out of until after mile 24 and that burned up all the time I had accrued “in the bank”. I knew I wasn’t going to break 4 hours at around 23 miles and as the twinge I’d started with in my right knee was now really starting to hurt I decided to ease up and save whatever I had left for the last mile.

As with any marathon the finish line was a welcome sight and a managed to squeeze out a sprint for the last 100 yards (yeah I know – crowd pleaser)! The announcer was making every effort to get everyone’s name read out as they crossed the line and like many of the larger races now they had employed chip timing for an accurate result.

All the finish line facilities were more than equipped to cope with the numbers and the weather remained bright and sunny for everyone sprawled out on the grass wondering what possessed them to sign up for such torture! As I’d arrived so early I’d managed to park virtually opposite the finishing area and thanks to a secure bag store run by the local Sea Cadets I didn’t have to run with my car keys jangling in my back pocket this time either. So, whilst I cannot fault the Stratford Rotary Club for such a well-organised event I doubt very much I will be signing up for next year as it’s such an unforgiving route. Unfortunately for me now I’m nursing two very sore knees – most likely tendonitis – so I’m strapped up with supports and hoping Voltarol will ease the inflammation so that I can get back out on the roads to be ready for Edinburgh next month.

As always, thank you for your continued support.

Duchy Marathon, Cornwall – a new PB!

Well that’s the Duchy Marathon ticked off the list and a new PB of 3:52:17 despite a route that had some pretty mean gradients and an unwelcome headwind so I’m very pleased with that.

This was a two lap race around the local roads of Redruth and across the downs along the Cornish coastline. Aside from the wind (around 17-20 knots) the weather was very pleasant – chilly but very sunny throughout so none of the hailstorms and rain that apparently plagued the event last year. However, during the first lap you could be fooled into wondering where the hell the wind had gone because after the initial 1 mile run down to the first turn into the loop the wind just disappeared and throughout the next 7 miles the route was very encouraging with a good pace and easily manageable gradients. However, the bogey man was waiting around the corner after that when you turned a sharp left and suddenly there was a mean looking hill with a headwind that just appeared out of nowhere! It became apparent that the hedgerows and rolling hills were sheilding us from that wind and now it was payback time. Just to add insult to injury as this was all piling on we passed the 20-mile marker (for the second lap) and at that point you realise that this is what would be waiting for you with 6 miles to go! From this point on the winds and gradients were relentless. There were a couple of lulls as we disappeared into a small stream valley but then we started to head back into town onto a very undulating road. I was relieved to see the sign directing you to hang a left if you were doing another lap or going straight on to finish as I now had a landmark for the second lap. After turning left we were back into the windless wonderland which helped regain some of the pace but as expected, at 20 miles the conditions were not what you wanted!

As the last three miles approached the “finish fever” took over and I was constantly watching the pace/time on my Garmin as I was fully confident by then that a sub-4:00 was within reach and the route had a nice suprise up it’s sleeve with a long easy downhill section to the finish

This is one I would do again but weather is definitely a limiting factor and being coastal you have to expect the sea breezes. Having said that, the organisation was first rate with helpful friendly marshallers and a good degree of support from spectators. Having the start and finish in the hotel car park was fantastic as all the facilities were there and as you might expect, traditional Cornish pasties were waiting for all finishers.

So, onto the next one and this time I have a bit longer to recover as the Stratford Marathon is much later in the month which will be very welcome after the first three were so close together.

Eve of the race

Just thought I’d make a quick post as I’m sat in the hotel watching The Matrix (again) before tomorrow’s race. This will be the third one in the series so that’ll be a quarter of the way through the challenge – which sounds a lot better!
Anyways, better get some sleep – I’ll post my race report tomorrow evening and let you know how I got on.

Second Marathon Complete, Soooo Glad it’s Over Though

This was the marathon I really did not want to do. As I’ve said before, there wasn’t a race that fitted in for Feb so my only option was to do a solo run which also meant no support. Hence this time I had to carry everything I thought I was going to need in the absence of marshals, feed stations and medical services. Added to that, I needed a run that was going to be quiet and traffic free for the same reasons and so I chose a recent half-marathon course I did along the Grand Union canal and ran it as an out & back which made motivation as much of a challenge as the distance.

I completed the run but fell a little short of the sub-4:00 I was aiming for, coming in at 4:07:13 which considering the circumstances wasn’t as bad as I thought it might have been. A couple of bad cramps in my calf dropped me to a walk in a couple of places after I’d completed around 18 miles so that cost me some time while I stretched it out. Also, one of the things I underestimated was despite the canal being nice and flat (apart from the locks) the surface is quite punishing on the ankles and knees being a mix of gravel, mud, tarmac and grass and is pretty rutted in places so there’s quite a bit of skipping and jumping along some of the sections. Doing the 13.1 mile route in one direction is ok but doing it all again on the way back felt twice as bad. Still, minimal blisters as a result but I’m sure my ankles will be complaining in the morning.

All I can say is that I’m glad to have that one ticked off the list now and hope it’s not going to be a bad one to recover from as I’m really looking forward to the Cornish Dutchy Marathon in March which I’m hoping will bring me back into the sub-4:00 bracket.

Thanks to all who have been supporting me on Facebook etc and if you’ve not made a donation to one of my good causes yet please consider doing so as they really need the help in this current economic climate!

Now, time for some (more) food and possibly a beer

Gloucester Marathon Official Result

Just picked up the official results for yesterday, which you can download here. My official time was 3:54:53 in the end, which probably equates to the fact that I didn’t hear the start call so my watch began when I saw the front row move off! Still, it’s only 3 seconds out!

Gloucester Marathon Complete

Well that’s the first one out of the way and I managed to do it in 3:54:50 so I achieved the sub-4:00 time I was hoping for. The race overall was good, quite well organised and we certainly had good weather for most of it aside from about half an hour when a bank of fog rolled in out of nowhere dropping the temperature considerably. The rules were very strictly imposed too as the local police had demanded this was a “no iPod” event for safety reasons and this was quite evident when one guy in front of me who’d decided to ignore the ruling did not hear the police van slowly driving behind him for a while which subsequently overtook, parked up and then pulled him over and issued a threat of disqualification!! Aside from that there were no more incidents that I was aware of but the police were making regular runs on the route, as were St John’s Ambulance (on bikes) so it felt like everything had been well thought out. I later heard from someone that a runner had died on the route last year so that probably explained it.

As for the route, it began with a 4-mile figure-of-8 around the local roads of Quedgeley before branching off onto a large loop for three laps. Lap counting was by means of coloured wristbands that you handed over on each lap and then when you had no more you branched off again for the last mile to the finish. For the Garmin Forerunner data for the race click this link to see the route as I did it and on there you may well notice that the distance is showing up as 26.49 miles. I noticed on each lap that my Forerunner was bleeping out the miles earlier and earlier before the roadside markers, which was unusual because it was spot on during my last half-marathon and generally within a few yards of Google maps when I plot a route beforehand. I asked several of the other runners at the end with a mixture of Garmins & Polars whether they’d noticed the same and we all agreed that give or take a few yards we’d all recorded a longer distance! I’m not that bothered however as if it was too long then it makes the time I crossed the line seem even better

T-Shirt and Memento

As for my experience of the race, it all seemed to fall into place with the training. I probably went off a little too quick at the start but soon settled into an 8:30~ish pace that I maintained for quite a while before starting to slow down about half way on the second lap. As the third lap began my mental arithmetic still showed me on-course for a sub-4:00 time so I picked it up a little bit just to make sure. As I passed 22 miles I necked the last of my SiS Go-Gels as the fatigue was making it’s presence felt and then at 23 miles I wished I’d packed more of them as I hit the wall. Suddenly putting one foot in front of the other became immensely hard and I almost dropped to a walk when something inside said “in your dreams pal!” and I pushed on towards a red letterbox at the next corner I’d set as my next goal. When I passed that I was feeling a bit lighter on my feet and within about another mile I was through the barrier and feeling more energised, which was boosted when I saw the 25 mile mark and the turn off towards the finish. The last mile did feel longer than a mile I have to say but as I saw the end in the distance and looked at my watch I knew I was going to come in under 4 hours and that was the final urge to the finish.

Instead of medals the race mementos were those little glass blocks with the 3-D images (of runners) inside so more of a trophy to put on display than a medal you shove in a drawer so I was quite pleased with that.

Overall, it was an enjoyable race but not one I would really recommend as a first marathon purely because there isn’t the crowd atmosphere of one of the big races to urge you on through the difficult bits. As a club run or a race for the seasoned marathoner looking for something to do in Jan (well there’s not a lot) I couldn’t really find fault and it’s one I would certainly consider doing again.

Anyway, that’s it, only 11 more to do now… I’ll do another post with the official results and photos (if any) when they are published. I really appreciated all the messages of support I got via text, Facebook, email etc before the race and the congratulations afterwards, it makes it all the more worthwhile so thanks again.

Grand Union Canal Half-Marathon

I think this will be the last competitive race of 2009 I’ll be doing as I need to focus on the training plan I’ve mapped out. Fortunately, I was down to do a 12 mile run this weekend anyway so this made it a bit more interesting. Managed to average an 8m12s pace over the course of the race and came in with a time of between 1:47 and 1:48 so that will do as a reasonable benchmark for next year. I can’t be more accurate than that because I didn’t stop my own timer properly (need to read the manual at some point) and was far too caught up in the sprint finish with another person to look up at the race clock at the end – doh! Oh well, the official times will be published sometime tomorrow so I’ll know for sure then.