Stability Through Motion

Time: 1h 27m 38s

I’m still in shock! I really thought I’d struggle to achieve the sub 1:30 time that a 3:15 marathon target suggests. But conditions were perfect, as you can see in the crystal blue skies in the photos, but with enough chill in the air to cool off perspiration. Started running hard, but it never felt too hard, and kept it up non stop for 13 miles. That’s the whole story – it’s funny how there’s so much else going on in your head over that hour and a half, but there’s little to describe, or little to make it sound any more interesting than “I ran hard for an hour and a half”. No chats with anybody, no time to take in the odd characters along the Brighton sea front. I did get spat upon by one of the runner-spitters you always encounter, the dirty rats. But wow, you can’t beat that feeling of finishing and knowing you’ve achieved your target and then some. Then collapsing into a chair and drinking hot tea in the sunshine waiting for your buddies to finish so you can bounce off and eat and drink. I hardly dare mention that a 1:27 half marathon time predicts a 3:05 marathon time! I’m sticking with the 3:15 plan this year.

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3 hours 31 minutes 31 seconds.

That’s it – all over. I can drink, stop running, eat what I like, sleep more. All I can say is WOW! What a race – I’m still buzzing from it two days later.

Oooh, latest: check it out the S4C highlights on the web.

Mile splits: 8:19; 8:30; 8:48; 9:11; 7:09; 7:20; 7:12; 7:45; 7:13; 7:37; 7:58; 7:12; 8:14; 8:34; 7:59; 7:39; 7:20; 7:50; 7:53; 7:51; 7:32; 10:09; 10:12; 8:59; 7:51; 7:34; 1:20

You can easily tell where the hills were by that. On the flatter bits, I was as regular as clockwork – 7:50 ish.

Nervous nervous nervous, dropped off at Llanberis Electric Mountain cafe/centre and started to walk up to the Start Line at Nant Peris (300ft). Got chatting to a lovely guy who’d run it before which was very calming, and arrived at the start line in time for the obligatory pee in the bushes. The start was just a grassy area off the A4086 from Llanberis to Pen y Pass (1100ft). It was a less tense start than I’ve experienced before, in the shadow of Snowdon. We didn’t catch a glimpse of the summit all day as it was so misty and rainy, but the views, especially from Pen y Pass onwards, were fantastic.

I soon joined up with another runner who’d been visiting the Runners World forums, and we ran most of the race together. So for the second time in a marathon I had the benefit of a really experienced pacer. I think that’s why my time was quicker than I’d hoped for. She had run faster marathons than me on the flat and was 5th in her category (Female 40-45), but seemed happy to keep my pace, and definitely took me down the hills faster than I would have gone on my own. The uphills weren’t a problem at all, I even ran the last hill at 21 miles all the way, so all that hard slogging over the South Downs, Black Mountains and the Ridgeway paid off. I hate to gloat but even the next day my legs weren’t stiff – a far cry from how they felt after my first marathon.

Up to about 15 miles I was smiling all the time. It got a bit tough for me then, with a long slog uphill after wet Bedgellert in heavier rain and the prospect of the much-talked-about killer hill at Waunfawr still to come. But a couple of slices of mars bar later (yes, that was on offer) and I was much more cheerful. Waunfawr hill was just a steady plod up for two miles, passing lots of people walking it, up, up and up into the mist with no idea of how long it would last. As predicted though, for me it was the downhill that was hard – I just cannot get the hang of flying down the way some of the people I’d overtaken on the way up managed on the way down. I really need to learn that knack, but I couldn’t trust my legs to hold me up on the steep slopes.

There was such great public support given the bad weather, I was really impressed, and it was the friendliest bunch of runners I’ve ever encountered.