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.
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.
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For those who don't know, Thunder Run, or TR24, is a 24 off road, hilly, relay race which takes place at Catton Park near Derby. Teams run from 12pm Saturday through to 12pm Sunday, including night time runs through twisting trails. Each lap is approximately 10km and chip timed with a baton handover in a large start / finish area. This was the second time for me at this event. Previously I'd been part of a team of 8 called "Eat, Sleep, Run, Repeat". I'd run 3 laps that time, one of which in the middle of the night. This year was to be different. My team "Lactic Aceeed!!!" comprised 5 members: myself, Jaqueline, Paul, Steve and Darren. We had perused the previous year's results and went with delusions of being able to get close to the previous winning teams 31 laps. This would mean that we would have to run at least 6 laps each and one of us 7! We would need to average just under 50min per 10k. Had there have been 31 members of the team this would have been easy, everyone was able to complete their first laps comfortably within target. However it soon became apparent that this was more of a challenge than we appreciated. I had the honour of starting the race for my team. The only time it would feel like a regular race with runners lining up in "pace order". I lined up at the side of the front. Not because I'm fast but to try and get on the photo / video! The countdown ended and the group thundered off down the course for the first time of many that day. The early flat and wide part of the route quickly narrows and becomes a steep climb to punish those who didn't think it necessary to do any kind of warm up. The overnight rain had left slippery up hills and some of the descents were treacherous as the ground surface consisted of a layer of mud which gave way with any kind of impact. A fellow runner had racing flats on and while she was lightening fast over the flat and grassy surfaces, she struggled to get any kind of purchase going up a hill. The run loops back through the campsite at about 2k, at this point every runner gets the Wrekin Road Runner experience! Team Chardonnay and the rest of the crew shouting, cheering, clapping, singing, giving helpful comments and generally being entertaining. Most runners are able to get on a bit of a burst past this bit before slowing down when safely round the corner. A series of ups and downs leads us to the bottom of the Continental Hill. Between 6-7 the challenge is to run this as fast as you can, the winners receive a pair a trainers each for their team members. In to the twisting trails after this, treacherous at night, illuminated only by head torches dancing along the winding strips of white tape. It's not long until you emerge on top of a ridge before descending and turning back on yourself towards the arena including a final what I call "unnecessary hill". You cross the line and have to pick out your team mate waiting in the pen to slap the fluorescent wristband baton on to their wrist. In between laps it's back to the gang for small pasta based meals and camp site banter. Wrekin Road Runners had entered 37 runners and had a support crew of 10 plus to complement them, so spirits remained high even during the quieter night time legs. The final lap was rather leisurely, stopping to admire the view, take in the surroundings and even get overtaken by some of the solo zombie runners. I don't know what motivates these guys to do this. Wearily they trudge along throughout the day and night, the only smiles seemed to break on that final circuit. In total our team mustered up 27 laps of the Thunder Run course, good enough to take home 17th place out of 113 teams. Not a bad effort at all. 7 of those laps were mine, have to say I enjoyed the experience, definitely suffering from sleep deprivation in the latter stages and afterwards in the race village with celebratory beer. Thanks to all the WRR team and everyone else who supported along the way, fantastic weekend had by all. Video: Thunder Run in Selfies https://youtu.be/jO8UAtW6CZE Well at a snip of £11 for an entry, chip timed and a nice medal to boot, I sent off my entry. With a previous 10k PB of 40:50 earlier in the year thanks in part to a snarling club chairman in hot pursuit and with 5k times dropping towards the tail end of the year, I was hoping for a good runout. Starting at the front of the masses race (runners with a previous best of sub 42 minute should start near the front), I set off with the plan of running at just under 40 min pace. Employing the parkrun tactic of flying off from the start, I steadied into my race pace, comfortable enough to sustain but uncomfortable enough to know that you would feel this after a few miles. Hitting the first turnaround on the Silkin way and still on target, it was great to see club members coming back the other way, calling either words of encouragement or must mustering up a nod or a wave due to the breathlessness brought about by push yourself to the limit. Maintain a conversation in a marathon by all means but a 10k race keeps you near that anaerobic limit.
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