Dorset: Crafty Fox marathon race recap

When I originally booked this race and the New Forest marathon, I didn't plan on doing them solo and unsupported.  As the weekend got closer, I got more and more concerned about the driving.  It's fair to say that I wasn't really looking forward to it.

Over the course of the weekend I drove around 600 miles over about 15 hours, which is something like twenty times my average weekly mileage.  It varied from "OK" to "Horrific".  My mum said I should get a medal for long distance driving, nevermind the running, and at times it did feel a bit like that!  

Again I broke the trip up by driving down to Milton Keynes after work (absolutely horrific journey, with the M6 closed twice - bloody gin lorry) then drove down to Dorset (which was long but OK as it was in the middle of the day).

I arrived at the site around 5pm, after stopping in a pub to write the previous week's race report (!) It had rained on and off all afternoon but was lovely from the moment I arrived.  I got my tent set up straight away and then wandered over to the 'race village'.

I picked up my race number from the very friendly folks in the tent, laughed at how I'd mistakenly thought this race was by the seaside and brought my swimming costume (I was mixing it up with another of their races, Run Jurassic) and scouted out the scene.  There were a variety of hot food stands, a bar, hot showers, a water point and plenty of clean toilets.  Excellent.

I went back to the car, sorted out all my race stuff ready for the next day and then went and got some food and a beer.  I joined a girl with pink hair sitting at one of the tables and we ended up chatting for a couple of hours.  Her name was Lucy, she'd run lots of White Star races before including the half marathon version of this race last year and enjoyed it so much she was doing the full this time.  By the time I left the tent it was getting dark, but sleeping on site meant I didn't need to get up until 8am which is a 2 hour lie in for me! 

Next morning I paid £20 for breakfast, lunch and dinner from the food stands as there was so much choice and the food was all great.  I got my stuff together and headed down to the start line.  The race was yet another 2 loop course - regular readers will know I love these.

Shortly after setting off, the course very quickly went up a couple of savage hills with overgrown grass and hidden potholes to add to the potential-ankle-breaking fun. 

This hill was called 'Pointless Hill' because it could easily be avoided by running along the road.  However up we went, and down the other side.  I loved the downhill which was steep and technical and I overtook a dozen people on the way down.  One day I'm inevitably going to face plant due to excess bravado, but I get such a kick out of downhills, it's often the most fun bit of the entire race, and this race had loads of them.

The organisers weren't lying about the hills.  There were many.  They also weren't lying about how beautiful the Dorset countryside is.  I think Dorset wins the Prettiest Race So Far award, it was absolutely stunning all the way round:

Around halfway around the first loop, I was running with a small group of runners and one of them was telling another that we were coming up to his old school.  He told us a story of how the schoolmaster used to make them run as a punishment, and that they would be sent out at 7am to do a lap of the school.  The schoolmaster would drive round and then chase them down the hill in his car (!) and if they weren't fast enough, they had to do it again.  This all seemed a bit depraved until we came round the corner and saw the school:

Definitely a bit of a Roald Dah-esque sadistic-schoolmaster private school - apparently it has its own golf course and dovecote etc etc.  The bloke running alongside him, who went to school in a tower block in London, could hardly believe his eyes.  The bit I found hard to believe was that this had somehow helped him developed a love of running!  I look back on cross country with horror, nevermind this torture!

It was also around this time I bumped into this chap, Andy, who was from Southampton.  He'd driven almost the entire way to Dorset (~2 hours) this morning before realising he'd left his running shoes at home.  So what did he do...?  Ran it anyway of course!  Apparently the road sections were quite painful and he didn't think he'd ever forget his trainers again ... but seriously what a good sport he was. Not sure I'd've been so brave!  I did check what size he was as I'd brought 3 pairs but to no avail.

The course was very varied - a mixture of open fields, cornfields, forest and a little bit of road.  Somewhere near these sunflowers I saw a chap who looked injured, being carried along by a couple of volunteers.  I stopped to ask if I could do anything, they said no thank you and I carried on.  I quite often ask people if they want a paracetamol as often they do but for some reason I didn't this time - probably because he was already being helped.  I found out much later that the chap had had a heart attack (he commented on Facebook it was his 214th marathon and the first he'd DNF'd!) but made a full recovery thanks to the excellent medical support and flawless organisation getting him medical help in super-quick time.  Lucky for him he wasn't in the marathon I ran last week who couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery...  I was also glad I hadn't offered him a paracetamol - would've been like offering a thimble of water in a raging inferno.

Shortly after this came the Love Station™(sadly not pictured) which was a special aid station which had all sorts of extra treats.  There was a chap in a fox costume, cake, crisps, coke, sweets etc plus lots of people clapping and milling around.  It was around this point that I caught up with Lucy and we ran a couple of miles together, conveniently on her favourite point in the whole course.  Just after the aid station you come out on this road, there's some truly stunning views in the distance and then you turn left and run across the most beautiful hills:

Just afterwards, the official photographer managed to get this lovely pic:

 

Lucy had told me about this bit last night so was lovely to run along it with her -  her ankle wasn't giving her any trouble and she was making steady progress. 

 

I think I lost her on this epic downhill, this race really did have it all:

Time for round 2!   We collected a wristband and headed off for the second lap, this time skipping out Pointless Hill.   I spent quite a lot of it with Andy No Trainers, and his friends Lou and Sue who were really friendly.  The weather was consistently pleasant, occasionally a little warm, but never boiling like last week.  There were quite a few gates which I struggled to open and often jumped over or climbed under if there was nobody around to help.

The race was going pretty well - last week had similar elevation and had taken me nearly 6 hours so I'd set out expecting a similar sort of time, however I seemed to be going a bit quicker and was in good spirits:

When I got to the Love Station™ the second time round, I heard one of the volunteers offering beer and schnapps to a runner, who declined.  I asked if she was joking, she said, "Would we joke about something like that?  Do you want one?"  I took her up on a schnapps.  It was AMAZING!  It reminded me of schnapps when skiing to give yourself a kick up the arse and it totally worked.  Whilst I was drinking it, I overheard a guy saying he was running New Forest marathon tomorrow.  Aha!  I told him I was doing it too, he asked me why and we had a quick chat about my counties challenge.  He left the aid station before me so I chased him down and demanded to know why he was running two marathons in two days also.  (The short answer whenever you ask that question is, we're all running obsessed crazies.  But there's always a long answer too). 

His name was Ian and he's decided to try and bag 100 marathons before he's 40.  Impressively, he decided this when he'd only done 2 or 3, which meant he was able to start a blog about it, the fricken awesomely-titled Running Selfie Wanker.  We talked about our blogs, what huge narcissists we are, what a pain in the arse it is trying to take loads of photos for your blog whilst running, the messy politics of running clubs, about how (un)prepared we were for tomorrow and on and on.  A few miles passed easily.  Here we are:

I note he has already written up both his reports, he wins the gold star for promptness!  Thank you also for the kind mention :)

I lost him in the last mile or so as I decided to try and get under 5 hours 30 so had some fun with the last few downhills but didn't quite make it... still 05:32:12 isn't bad!  I'd already heard that you get an amazing pint glass as well as a lovely medal for finishing this race - first race I've ever done that had such a funky 'prize' and I absolutely LOVE it!

 You also get a free drink to go in it - win win!!

I waited around long enough to see Ian and his friend finish, then dashed off for a shower, a massage, some food (carb loading again! note how they are also plastic-free) and eventually that beer.  Yet again I was invited to join other people in the tent and chatted about the race, it was more like a festival than a race, everyone was so lovely.

I went and got all my stuff ready for the following day's race before returning to the tent for more food before retiring at the ridiculously early hour of 8pm as I had a stupidly early start on Sunday.  Just as I headed off there was a second utterly ridiculous sunset - Dorset really is the most beautiful county so far.  This race was an utter joy.  I am already planning to come back and do more White Star Running races as the whole thing was brilliant from beginning to end.  Thank you !

One final pic taken by the official photographer (obviously photos were free - this race literally couldn't be better if it tried).

Surrey: Woldingham marathon race recap

Lately there's been a lot of changes in my life, so running has been somewhat lower of a priority than usual.  I was feeling a bit nervous about the double marathon I've got looming, as I worried I hadn't been doing enough training, but still wasn't feeling motivated to go and run up hills on my own.  Iz was away over the Bank Holiday so I started googling for marathons.  Lo and behold, I found this one in Surrey, conveniently with a day off work either side, so I decided last minute that I would go and do it.  I arranged to stay with my parents either side to break up the journey.

I drove down to Milton Keynes on Saturday morning (3 hours), then on to Surrey Sunday morning (2.5 hours), then back from Surrey to Milton Keynes Sunday afternoon (2 hours) then back to Liverpool on Monday morning (3.5 hours).  The main thing I've found since I started doing my marathons solo is the driving is a killer.  I am not a great driver, I don't enjoy it, and more than 2 hours is a lot, especially on consecutive days and/or after a marathon.  Yuk.

This marathon also started with my GPS going haywire so I had to pull off the M25 and call my parents for verbal instructions to my destination.  Cue my mum, saying "You need the A22... oh hang on, it says the A25 here... well one of those anyway, going towards Godstone, then you get on Flower Lane, then Quarry Road" whilst I drove round in circles in the countryside panicking with 23 minutes to go before the race started. 

The last time I had such a panicky start was Worcestershire when I lost track of the time and screeched into the car park with minutes to spare! Oh god.  Unfortunately I see more of this in my future...

ANYWAY.  I got there (thanks Mum!) and it was all so low key I even had time for a pre-race photo.  The race started outside a private school which was Very Surrey:

I also spotted someone I knew from London, Sarah, who'd come down to do the half.  She is one of the organisers of Love Trails festival, which I've already signed up for next year.  We had a quick catch up which was lovely - it's always nice to see a friendly face at far away races.

The first mile or two was along the drive leading out of the school.  The runners were still all clustered together and it was clearly going to be a warm day:

The race was two loops of the half marathon course and I knew it was pretty hilly.  I was initially a bit nervous because there was no GPX but as long as I didn't get lost on my first loop, I would be able to follow the trail on my Garmin.  A man in the car park had said he got lost last year a couple of times because the course wasn't very well marked, which made me even more nervous, but I needn't have worried.  There were enough people around on the first loop and the course was better marked than I expected so I didn't get lost after all. Phew!

Due to the lack of GPX, I also didn't know how much elevation there was but I knew it would be 'hilly' which was what I wanted in order to train for Dorset in a couple of weeks.  Lo and behold, there were very quickly a hill:

Followed by another hill:

Followed by another hill!

The middle one might not look that steep but it was certainly a good climb and the views were stunning.  This section was an out-and-back, presumably included to get the race up to the required distance whilst still being a loop overall.  It was great as you see everyone in the race.  Sarah passed me and I think she was second place female, looking strong, and I wondered if she might manage to overtake the other girl as she still had another 6 miles or so to go. She must've been comfortable as she was able to shout 'well done Alice' as she ran past me, what a star!

There was an aid station at the far end of the out-and-back, with some very cheerful volunteers and some very welcome Coke.  I do love a race that provides real Coke!

This was the view as I returned to the second hill, this time descending it:

And this one was taken at the bottom of that hill by the official photographer:

There was a fair amount of tree cover on this race, which was good as I'd forgotten to put any suncream on (in my defence it wasn't very sunny when I left Milton Keynes!)  but it was definitely sunny now. 

There was a long, boring road section towards the end of the first loop, and I could feel a blister starting so I stopped to sort it out.  I sat down on a grass verge and faffed with tape and Compeed for five minutes, which helped a bit.  I was wearing trail shoes but there was a surprisingly large amount of pavement and on a hot day that can cause rubbing/chafing leading to blisters.  Annoying.

I arrived back at the midpoint and briefly saw Sarah wearing her medal (I didn't find out until later that she was first female in the half, in an amazing time of 1:57).  Well done you legend!!

I had brought along some cold salted new potatoes, cooked by my mum yesterday,  and ate them joyfully here:

I then set off for loop number two: more of the same!  Somehow on two loop marathons, I always feel happier at the start of the second loop because I know what I've got to do and I'm almost counting down from this point - each difficult hill is the last time you are going to do that hill, each mile ticked off is closer and closer to finishing.  Psychologically I really like double loops - I enjoyed Shropshire for the same reason.

More beautiful views (these were taken from the top of the first hill - it was much quieter on the second loop as all the half marathoners had finished):

  Running down the hill to the friendly aid station:

At the aid station, I got chatting to a tall guy about how warm/challenging today was and he mentioned he'd recently been running in Scotland (where it'd been cold) and was going to Croatia for a marathon in a couple of weeks.  When I caught up with him, I asked about this and it turned out he's running the Istrian Wine Marathon (like Medoc).  On further questionning, he was going with David Hellard (of Caffeine Bullet/Bad Boy Running podcast fame) - I knew about this trip as I'm on the mailing list but as I only did Medoc last year it was a bit early for another wine marathon.  I said so and the man - Brent  - told me he'd done Medoc multiple times.  We continued to chat on and off - sometimes getting ahead or behind of each other and then catching up again over the next five miles. 

As we reached the bottom of the penultimate hill, we came across some slower runners who were just starting up the hill towards the aid station.  A couple of women and then a man, all struggling with the lack of water available.  The day was boiling hot by this time - I had refilled my water at the aid station and was carrying a litre in my bottles, but less experienced runners perhaps expected more water stations and were struggling.  Later I saw a man being sick in the woods, saying he couldn't keep water onboard even though he was dehydrated - he was resting in the hope of feeling better.  There was a water drop point in the woods, but when I arrived there was very little left - I fear it would have run out before the last runners arrived.  I did notify the next aid station about these things but I am not sure they were rectified - note to race directors - if you run races in summer this is the number one thing you have to get right! 

 

On a lighter note, during one of the middle sections, I saw this sign:

I stopped to take a photo because it really amused me.  How very Surrey!  In Liverpool I feel sure that sign would've just said "NO BIKES".  On closer examination, it even has a Latin phrase on the sign under the crest (!) :

Frangas non electes

I looked it up and it means "Unbowed, Unbroken".  Hahahaha.  You're not in Liverpool any more, Dorothy!  Shortly after this I got talking to a girl who was complaining about the hill, saying it was the hardest hill EVER, an opinion which I absolutely knew to be untrue, and I was backed up by another runner who could also guarantee she'd done worse ones.  I did my usual spiel about how you should try to be grateful for the hills, because at least you can walk them, and they're making you a better runner, and that this hill will make future hills easier, and wouldn't a race with no hills be really boring?  She was unconvinced, I think...

The final Surreyesque part of this race went via a rather lovely golf course:

Before the final long road section back to the school.  By this time I was hot, bored, and fed up, the race had already gone over marathon distance (grrr) and my blisters were hurting:

But it was not much further now, and I triumphantly crossed the finish line in just under six hours:

A lovely volunteer gave me a medal (after telling me they thought they'd run out of medals but luckily found another box - I didn't comment but I definitely would've had something to say if there'd been no medal at the end!!!)

I sat down, drank a ridiculous amount of water - I think I had about 3.5 litres today including a litre of electrolytes.  Garmin said the AVERAGE temp was 30 and the max was 35 - ouch!   Hot races don't bother me as much as they used to but my foot was in a state:

and I was knackered! 

I picked up my goody bag - they had run out of t-shirts in both small AND medium so I didn't bother taking one as it woudn't fit me anyway.  This is also bad as I was nowhere near last - I was 34th out of 64 marathon runners.  

Note to Race directors - PLEASE ask people what size they are when they sign up.  Also please give the option of declining a t-shirt to save on waste - I would've just said no and that would've meant one less t-shirt ending up in landfill.

I walked back to my car (in most scenic race car park ever?) and dumped all my stuff, got changed in a very public place (!) and drove back to Milton Keynes - traffic was thankfully very kind so I got back in record time.

 Stats:

Beastly hills - turned out to be 1000m ascent, definitely decent practice for Dorset!  Legs were sore for a few days after...

Another interesting factoid from the stats was that although my second lap was slower by 26 minutes, I still improved my overall position by 11 places i.e. I overtook 11 marathon runners who had been ahead of me after one lap.  Perhaps obvious, but as I probably do more marathons than most people I think my endurance is slightly above average so I tend to be less tired towards the end.

Lancashire: Scorcher marathon (Day 9) race recap

Today I was meant to be in Somerset running the Mendip Marauder trail ultra (with 4100 feet of ascent).  Unfortunately it was cancelled at the last minute, resulting a desperate search for an alternative race.  Step up the Scorcher 10 in 10, a flat road marathon just outside Preston featuring six 4.37 mile laps of quiet country roads.  Almost the complete opposite of the race I had planned, but on the same day, significantly closer and still had places on Friday.  I was in.

This is the first race I've ever completed solo and unsupported.  I went back and checked...  I have never ever finished a race without someone waiting for me.  Until now.  Go me...

I arrived on time (rare!) and registered.  Whilst I'm filling in my medical form, the volunteer asks the guy behind me for his name... it's Charlie Sharpe!  Charlie is well-known to me via GB Ultras and I hope to go on one of his coached running holidays next year.  We had a nice chat - he was doing the half having done 100k last weekend. 

Here's the start line... this is the entire marathon field! I love these small local races - they're always so friendly.  The vibe reminded me of Worcestershire, West Yorkshire, Shropshire...

 

I got chatting to a nice lady called Glenis as we set off and we ran the first lap together.  Unbelievably she's running 31 marathons in 31 days!  Most of these she's just quietly getting on with by herself, whilst still going to work, how awesome is that.  I found her Justgiving page and have sponsored her as this is super impressive - not sure I could do that. Amazing.  

As we approached the end of the first lap, we were overtaken by Charlie (who started 10 minutes later than us) and went on to win the half marathon in 1 hour 26 minutes (and that's doing it as a recovery race)!  As he disappeared up the road, I commented that his pace was significantly faster than my 5k pace.  

Next on the amazing list was a young lady called Hils who is running the 10 marathons in 10 days.  She'd started early this morning to avoid the worst of the afternoon heat.  I realised when I saw her that I'd met her before - at Hubble Bubble marathon in Leeds last year - and when I re-read through my race report I discovered she was 77 and had run 64 marathons and was hoping to get to 100 before she was 80.  Well she's run at least 73 now - probably more - and it's her 78th birthday tomorrow.  Totally inspiring.  

The majority of the race looked like this:

 

 and each section you saw six times.  I actually quite like looped races, as it feels like you're ticking off the miles each time you pass HQ.  Here I am, still looking quite fresh (this must have been early on!) as it later got really very warm.  Garmin says the high was 31 degrees which is entirely believable.  Yet again I didn't wear suncream so have probably topped up my vitamin D levels a bit!

 More views from the race.  There were quite a few stinky cow fields en route.  I kept seeing those little floaty white plant seed pods (I googled - they're called cypselae) and trying to grab them so I could make a wish.  Easier said than done whilst running!

There were a few people doing the 9th of the 10 in 10 marathons today, and the race director announced them all at the start.  This dude was one of them, noticeable due to his "52 in 52 finisher" t-shirt meaning he has already done some epic stuff.  Here he is, disappearing into the distance after LAPPING me on a hill despite having run 8 marathons already this week. Christ on a bike.

Towards the end of this lap, I spotted a clump of wispy cypselae floating in front of me and managed to grab them.  Realising I'd captured the motherload, I quickly made five wishes.  It was interesting to notice what my brain came up with given five seconds to make that decision...

The route today was essentially a square and one of the corners was at this pub.  Initially this wasn't a problem as it was closed, but on laps 5 and 6 it was open.  I promised myself on lap 5 that I'd stop for a Coke on lap 6 as it was getting really warm by that point.  I powered through lap 5 on Kendal mint cake, a paracetamol and a caffeine bullet, but by lap 6 this was a welcome sight:

I ran in, to the surprise of the bar staff and locals, ordered a pint of Coke with lots of ice, then downed it.  I pressed the cold glass against my cheeks (heavenly!) and tipped the ice into my hat.  I felt a huge burst of energy that saw me through the rest of the race.

As you cross the motorway,  you can see the festival site on the other side of the road in the distance (click on the photo to make it bigger) - it looks closer than it is!  Just after this on my last loop I caught up with another runner called Natalie.  She was struggling a bit so I scooped her up and we ran the last kilometre or so together. 

As we approached the finish line, to my delight we passed Hils again.  I shouted that we would wait to clap her in at the finish.  A few minutes later we crossed the line together.  Natalie's husband was waiting along with their gorgeous dog, who licked the salt off my legs whilst we posed for a photo!

One of the utterly brilliant things about this race is that there was free ice cream or ice lollies at the end, I have never seen this before at any race ever and it was so so welcome.  The race director said it had been very popular - I got the impression he'd bought an ice cream van for the benefit of his race entrants.  Honestly the whole day was full of lovely people.

Within a minute, Hils came across the finish line and I got this lovely photo of her with one of the volunteers.  I sincerely hope I'm still running marathons at her age.  I meet a lot of older people through my work and I can honestly say I've never met any like her!

Lots of the finished racers were sitting around chilling at the end and one of them kindly took this picture of me before I hopped back in my car and drove myself home.  

Not a bad day's work!  The day certainly lived up to its Scorcher name.  Another county ticked off and kept my legs ticking over - I can't imagine I would have run a marathon if I'd stayed at home so definitely a good call.  I can definitely recommend this company (called Time2Run events) - really friendly and well-organised. 

Shropshire: Piece of Cake trail marathon race recap

I'd originally planned to run the February version of this race (called Icing on the Cake) but it was cancelled due to snow.  When I discovered there was a summer version, also with an utterly fabulous medal, I couldn't resist.  The company, How Hard Can It Be Events do a selection of brilliantly themed runs, all with fantastic medals, and I'd definitely go back - they were friendly, organised and had plenty of cake.  What's not to love? 

The race began in the valley and all around were massive hills.  I was having a rough morning and spent the walk up to the start moaning about everything.  "There's loads of stupid HILLS - I hate hills".  "I'm not a very good runner, this is going to be horrific". "I should just RETIRE and sit on the sofa and eat cake".  "I haven't run for AGES and I'm out of breath just walking up this tiny incline".  Etc, etc, etc.  Honestly, I'm a joy to be around.

The race started with about 3 miles of more or less continuous hill, varying between pretty steep and even steeper.  I huffed and puffed my way up the first couple of miles, mostly walking, utilising the 'grinding it out' mentality that all marathoners cultivate sooner or later.

On the last long steep hill, I got chatting to the guy next to me.  At first I thought it would be a short conversation because he was a bit quicker than me, but I managed to hang in there.  His name was Mark and he was from Manchester.  He offered to take a photo of me when we got to the top:

Mark was doing the half marathon (the marathon was two laps of the same course) and it quickly became apparent that we would just hang out the whole way round.  He told me about his camper van, his wife, his two dogs (Border Terriers), his usual running partner and all the races he'd been doing and the time just flew by.  The landscape was very pretty - this is the view from the Trig point:

And here's Mark and I.  At one point Mark shouted "CAR" because there was a car coming and the runner in front completely ignored him and kept running in the road.  We realised he'd got headphones in so Mark tapped him on the arm with his stick (pictured).  The man turned round properly angry and was about to have a massive shouty rant when Mark cheerfully said "Car!" and pointed at the car.  The man let it go and we ran off.  Blimey! Not sure what I would've done if punches had been thrown!!

It wasn't long before we got to the descent down into the valley.  The descent was quite technical but had my beloved Peregrines on and we hopped and skipped over the rocks, mountain goat style - this was taken just before the big descent:

 

Mark and the others I was with were all finishing but I felt like I'd hardly started and was quite happy to do another lap.  In fact I'd headed past the start line without checking in when someone called me back to say I had to tell them I was going out again!  I went back and told them. There was watermelon and cake, both of which were fabulous.  I said goodbye to Mark and set off for 3 miles of climbing.  This time round I took a picture:

 ...which reminds me I really must examine myself for ticks :)
I also had a nice chat with a guy from London who's training for the Barkley Fall Classic (respect due for even attempting that) during this section but eventually got ahead of him and caught up with the girl in front.  Her name was Angela from Warrington and she was a proper hardcore ultra runner.  It soon became apparent that she's done loads of massive races : 55, 80, 110 miles.  Wow.  She was also lovely!

Over the next 10 miles we had a long conversation about races, cut offs and how important it is that race directors are consistent.  She told me she often vomits during races, after my experience at M2L I can safely say that would really put me off running forever but Angela just has a bit of a sit down and then cracks on!  Told you she was badass!!  I also had a comedy moment where I tried to jump over a bog and left my trainer behind.  Saw Ian at the checkpoint next to a pub and he'd kindly fetched me a shandy which made a nice treat at about 20 miles in, though I only managed a few sips.

Before long we came to the last checkpoint, the last turn and then we sailed down the hill, not caring in the slightest about running through a ford and getting wet feet (mine were wet already). 

 We crossed the finish line together, Mark was there waiting to clap us in and immediately told me I'd done the second half slower (!) but I didn't mind.  There was a lady running today who was doing her 100th marathon and she'd bought all the marathon runners a bottle of 'Shropshire Lass' to celebrate which we were given with our medals.  Such a lovely thought and an epic achievement ... it has definitely given me ideas for my 100.

I counted up today and I'm at 22 official marathons - 36 if you include all the unofficial ones!  I refuse to just churn them out and I only run races once so it's going to take until approximately 2030. Whatever!  Something to look forward to.

Here's today's bastard hills - over 4000 feet of ascent.  It's weird but I can hardly even remember the second and fourth hills - it's the first and third that stick in my mind.  I definitely remember the downhills though!

One of the main reasons I chose this race was the epic medal and it definitely did not disappoint!  What a beautiful beast!  Although the next one is going to give it a run for its money....

Overall this race was totally great.  Good checkpoints, nice friendly organisers, lovely running companions who made the time just fly by, absolutely stunning route, plenty of cake and a fabulous medal.  Really loved it, I think it was my favourite marathon this year.  

In other news, I have added a Donate tab to my website as occasionally people ask to sponsor me.  Absolutely no obligation but if you enjoy reading my reports and want to chuck a couple of quid towards the new hospital in Liverpool it would be much appreciated.  Ta xx