The challenge has started, and the 1st hurdle has been cleared, but it was not a perfect performance.
Before i comment on my running and overall performance I need to comment on the people that I had the pleasure of running with.
A massive thank you to the people that made me laugh, generally by shouting at Dingle, those that offered advice, or were just happy to chat about where they had run and where they were going next. Apologies for not knowing all the names but i have no doubt that i will be running with them again this year.
There was one member of the race (Michael Curry) that i have to mention and i have included a link to his own web page as his story and acheivment is remarkable.
MicknPhil (http://www.micknphil-marathonlads.com) finished the race in 5 hours and 1 minute, and you have to bear in mind that the wheelchair weighs between 10 and 11 stone and is pushed for 26.2 miles (up and down hills). They have completed over 188 races which includes several marathons. Simply superb.
Back to my running and i was very happy with my pacing and the course that we were running. There was an initial out lap before we completed 3 laps of a 7 mile loop that did contain some tough uphill sections, the finish branched off in a similar fashion to the start.
Unfortunately I failed to run the complete course, I admit that I found the course very tough and by the end was walking and running during the later stages. Despite this i finished the race in 4 hours and 18 minutes. This is 15 minutes faster than the Ramsgate marathon in September. However, the splits during the race were 1 hour 55 for 13 miles and 3 hours 2 minutes at 20 miles. As you can tell hte last 6 miles took 1 hour and 15 minutes. This will be improved as i move through the year.
One other point that i have to make was the participation and attendance of the Royton running club. There were two groups the 1st aiming at 4 hours and the 2nd at 5 hours. They were running in groups to show respect for Ian Casey, a member of their running club who died during this race last year.
A sincere thank you to the organisors, police, marshalls, drinks station staff and the other runners who made this such an enjoyable day. Next stop – Cambridge.
I also have my first sponsor who donated £20 for the challenge, I have been promised £5 for each i complete by a colleague which will double if i better 3 hours :30.
