Bristol holds a lot of sentimental value for me. I went to uni there, met a load of brilliant people, got my first "proper job" and most importantly, met and married my lovely wife there before heading on up to settle here in Telford. So it was a real pleasure to revisit some of the old haunts the day before the race and we even ate in the restaurant in which we shared our first date: Casa Mexicana in Zetland Road near the famous Gloucester Road. I know what you're thinking...Mexican the day before a marathon...that's crazy talk! It's OK, I went for steak!
I absolutely picked the right hotel for the race, The Bristol Hotel in Princes Street. You literally walked out of the door and in to the start pen. I went for the 3:00 - 3:30 pen aiming for a time somewhere between those, I would have been over the moon with 3:15 so coming in at 3:16 plus change was a really satisfying result given the elevation of the race. The Garmin 920t was set to virtually pace to 3:15 but I can't say I used that feature too much until the end when I realised it was slipping away a bit.
The first part of the route is pretty fast and flat, in fact it follows the route of the Bristol Half Marathon, a race which I did in the Autumn of 2013. About a mile in I tagged along with a guy, Chris, who I ended up running most of the race with, it's always a lot easier to run a long race like this with someone as you can gas the whole way round and the miles just slip by. This works best with a stranger as 3 plus hours with someone you know can mean that you run out of things to talk about. Anyway Chris seemed to have similar targets to me (he infact upgraded his 3:30 target to a sub 3:15 when I told him he would be good for age for the London Marathon if he were to achieve this.)
So on we ploughed at about 7:20 pace (a bit quicker than needed for 3:15), occasionally 7:10...(far too quick...) and this speed was OK, it would be for half a marathon on a flat course. However at 14.5 miles the course starts to get interesting, a few hills start to appear. Not allowing this to slow us down we continued on the journey, hoards of supporters shouting my name, one person shouted Chris, someone he knew. He was confused as to how everyone knew my name, took him a while to figure out it was printed in large letters across my chest...I think with hindsight I should have eased off a bit on the hills, especially the beastly one mile long one from about 20 miles which really finished me off. Even the downhills after that felt like I was still climbing. Chris dropped me just after this hill, we had made a gentleman's agreement earlier, spurred on by the fact that he could qualify for London he pushed on and actually completed the course a good 5 mins ahead of me.
As you enter Bath right near the end of the run there are a series of twists and turns, little decents and punishing little climbs, it has to be said that this was a dark place. Despite the passage through Royal Crescent being truly breathtaking, it took a lot of self motivation to get myself to the end. I was saved by the water station at around the 24.5 mile mark. Instead of drinking the water, I emptied the whole freezing lot over my head, Brownlee style in a bid to kick start my weary (here comes the science bit) nervous and cardiovascular systems. This had the desired effect, in fact it made me a bit delirious, the pace picked up a bit and with a fair bit of shouting and missing the wife cheering me on (oops!) I managed to scrape myself along the finish chute (saw her this time) to receive my medal from 4 x Ironman Champ Chrissie Wellington. That was pretty cool!
Reunited with Kathryn, it was off to the train back to Bristol, the journey taking all of 10 minutes, the ticket seller unamused by the request for a discount with a marathon medal. On the way, a chap noticed my Wrekin Road Runners Hoodie and asked me to mention him to the club so if anyone remembers Elvis Parsley (!) then he says hello!
The Bristol and Bath Marathon was an enjoyable race, one which I may do again in the future. It probably wouldn't be described as a PB course although it was for me that day, but then again I have a short marathon history so it's not fair to compare it in that way. The Stava race analysis looks great until the end where the pace drops off. Was it the hill? The training not being as thorough as planned? Too quick a pace at the start? Probably a combination of all of those things, Experience counts for a lot and this was a great experience back in the place which already held so many great memories for me.
The Bristol and Bath Marathon was an enjoyable race, one which I may do again in the future. It probably wouldn't be described as a PB course although it was for me that day, but then again I have a short marathon history so it's not fair to compare it in that way. The Stava race analysis looks great until the end where the pace drops off. Was it the hill? The training not being as thorough as planned? Too quick a pace at the start? Probably a combination of all of those things, Experience counts for a lot and this was a great experience back in the place which already held so many great memories for me.