Leicester Marathon – 11 October 2009 – race report by Simon Merwood
Just to let you know completed the Leicester marathon in 3:13:00 yesterday. I was quite pleased as I had a poor run at the Great North and have only been running once or twice a week over the last month. Hopefully this will be the start of better things to come. I plan to run BDL X-C 1 in a fortnight although maybe only as a 'loosener'.
http://www.leicestermarathon.org.uk/2009_Full_result.pdf
Mark Riches also ran and finished in 3:04 - he said he wasn't very happy with it!!!
I would fully recommend this event to any of our members who want to run a marathon that is close to home and on a relatively flat course. I say 'relatively' as the last two miles are uphill back through the city centre which makes for a challenging finish to say the least. The course is mainly on roads but these are either closed, or relatively quiet. From 20-24 miles you run through a park alongside the river which is a really nice section. The race very well marshalled with drinks every three miles and it was easy to park close to the start with plenty of toilet facilities and also a baggage tent.
Loch Ness Marathon – 04 October 2009 – race report by Krish M
Four runners (Ron, Steph and I) were royally chauffeured by the tireless Alan Coxon Limousine Service. Ron was to run the 10k, Alan Steph and myself doing the marathon. We were all very apprehensive as a depression was forecast to sweep in over Scotland, with greater that 50mph winds for the Saturday. The forecast did go on to a quieter Sunday, but we know how inaccurate they have been of late. The concern here is: as it's a consistent NNE marathon course, any northerly wind would be a persistent nightmare.
Alan was staying with Barry and Margaret. They live in Drumnadrochit on the Western shore of Loch Ness and are Clay Cross refugees. Steph had booked the rest of us into a self catering caravan with a double and a twin, kitchen and the rest for the duration (Friday - Sunday nights inclusive). A lovely quiet place in the country with a cosy gas heater to keep us warm, as the weather outside deteriorated. Sure enough, after some concerning stormy weather on the Saturday, Sunday dawned cold and clear with light winds -Scotland at its best! Distant Ben Wyvis loomed behind Inverness with a fresh coating of powder snow, and we made our way into Inverness with differing degrees of nervousness. The Marathon race is a point to point, with buses picking most of the runners up at the Leisure Centre, where the races all finish, and dropping runners off towards the Southern end of Loch Ness. The marathon course follows the Military Road, built by General Wade (1725), as a requirement for transporting English troops quickly through Scotland to counter the Jacobite Rebellion. Traffic free, and interestingly undulating, and with beautiful enough views to satisfy even critical Derbyshire eyes - I couldn't think of anywhere better.
An early morning start, and a surprisingly easy trip into Inverness, courtesy of Ron, whose 10k race was at 11.00 am. We were greeted by a long long line of coaches to take the Marathon runners to the start point. A forty minute delay was the only hiccup in the arrangements, with a few coaches being late to collect the runners (2,500 of them) which meant a fraught journey to the start. Many runners who had arrived and boarded their coaches early, were literally 'caught short' - ample hydration does have its drawbacks! The coach drivers were human after all, or were perhaps more worried about the potential soiling to their coaches. Anyway, we were allowed to stop en route to relieve the pressure. The start time of the race was sensibly put back 45 minutes - some runners would have made their own way to the start and had an even more miserable time of it. One runner wryly commented that due to the coach delay, the start line would initially have consisted of four elites and a man dressed up as a strawberry...
Finally the start: rather uniquely, a pipe band marched through the field of runners, which parted respectfully like the Red Sea. The pipers were children bursting with so much pride as they marched past - lots of little reminders that this was a special location and occasion. I wanted to get as close to sub - 3 hours as possible, so my targets were well defined. After an extremely ill-judged first mile (6:26, pillock!), 10 in 1:08:22, HM in 1:30:15, things were looking good. At 16 miles, I was ambushed by a gorilla, riding a bike, wearing bright pink socks (to keep his fur from being trapped in the bicycle chain, apparently) and tooting a horn. Had this apparition been due to hypoglycaemia, I would have been quite relieved, but no, it was Barry the guerrilla gorilla! Cue the broadest smile, and a resurgence of life from the legs. The run through the little village of Dores (17m) was quite inspirational - seemingly the whole village turned out with pipe bands, cheers and the works - tears choked back, and lump in throat replaced, onwards towards the long drawn out Dores hill. (Alan reports that he was having quite a serious race until he was serially molested by a gorilla, wearing pink socks etc. The excuses some people come up with)
20 miles in 2:20:49 was outwardly not bad, but I knew that was it from me. Too much, too early - how many marathon runners have been through this? The legs had gone, and the last six miles were very slow and hard work with quite a few runners going past me on the run in through Inverness. A PB of 3:08:33 was smaller consolation and yet another lump choked back on coming into the stadium. Brilliant support, a big marathon feel, with very little of the attendant claustrophobia. Oh, and a gorilla.
Total potential costs with four sharing (best case):
Travel: Fuel £30.00
Accommodation per night per person: £8.50
Marathon Entry: £34.00 (approx)
Food £10.00 per day
Worth putting in your diary next year?
All the best.
Krish
For photographic evidence go to http://www.lochnessmarathon.com/photos/ and enter race number 1981 (Alan and friend)
Steph ran a PB (3.21.22) and Ron a near PB on his 10K. Alan and the gorilla are living happily together somewhere near C'ape Wrath.