There's not much point going into a great deal of detail as to what happened on Thursday and Friday. Thursday was a very busy work day, although I was actually done for the day by 5.30pm, which was a rare treat. I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself in the evening. I thought about joining some friends for a run, but decided I'd be better off resting. I settled for putting my feet up and reading a book. I'm reading Map Of A Nation, a biography of the Ordnance Survey written by Rachel Hewitt, who happens to be one of my clients, and she deserves a bit of a plug. I much prefer to read non-fiction and I'm finding her book to be a very enjoyable read. Being an outdoorsy sort of bloke I really admire Ordnance Survey maps, which are surely the best maps in the world and a British institute that we should all be proud of. Although I own a large number of OS Landranger maps, I'd never really given much thought to the history of the Ordnance Survey. But when I first met Rachel, and she described her book to me, I knew that it would be a subject of great interest to me, and no doubt to a great many other admirers of the OS. It turns out we have those pesky Scots to thank. If it wasn't for the Jacobites eluding the English Redcoats in the vastness of the Scottish Highlands, the Military Survey of Scotland wouldn't have been commissioned which then led to the founding of the Ordnance Survey.
On Friday I had a busy morning followed by my usual lunchtime Pilates session with Holly. We spent quite a bit of time giving my legs a much needed stretch. Once I'd got some admin done in the afternoon I then had more time to put my feet up. Of course, a lot of the day was spent carbo loading, which must surely be the best part of preparing for a marathon. Providing you like pasta.
I was looking forward to getting to Gloucester on Saturday and having a look around the city. It's not somewhere I've ever been, and I'm not aware of any friends who have ever visited. So I had no preconceptions as to what I'd find. To me the name Gloucester conjures up images of a fairly historic city. Without offending anyone who might be from Gloucester, I found the place to be a little disappointing. It does have a very nice, small Medieval centre around it's fine Cathedral. Most of the buildings in the Cathedral Square where once associated with a monastery. Many are now privately owned. Unfortunately, less than a stones throw away is one of the most unimaginative 70s city centre developments that I have witnessed. Many of the shops seemed quite run down, and the area felt quite poor. It's possible that my impression was affected by the greyness of the sky and the general dreariness of the weather on Saturday.
In looking for somewhere to get my pre-marathon pasta meal, we only found one likely candidate. A Prezzo Restaurant, which turned out to be fully booked. I suddenly had an image of us buying pasta salads from the nearby Tesco and eating in our hotel room. Fortunately, there was a very good hotel nearby with a very nice restaurant. We'd opted to stay at an Ibis Hotel on the grounds that you know exactly what you're going to get and it's not to pricey. It was more than adequate for my needs, but I didn't really want to eat there. So, after filling up on a much nicer meal than I had envisaged we'd have, we returned to our hotel for an earlyish night.
By most race day standards, Sunday morning was reasonably leisurely. We were only 4 miles from the start. We had to register any time after 9am for a 10.30am start. Registration took place in a school sports hall, which was already fairly packed by 9.15. On receiving my race number I was also handed one of the worst race mementos I've ever received. A blue fleece hat that is way to big for me. However, it was very useful at keeping my head warm at the start.
There was a good buzz going on in the sports hall. I looked around at the other entrants, who all looked like the fairly serious breed of runners. A category in which I have to acknowledge includes me to a tee. I spotted a group of runners kitted out with backpacks and desert gaiters. Clearly on a training run for the Marathon de Sables and wanting everyone else to know it. There were also plenty of 100 Marathon Club vests on show. I'd never seen so many at one event before. During the briefest of race briefings the announcer mentioned that one of the participants was running in his 200th marathon today. Who knows, maybe one day I'll reach such heights. On second thoughts, I think I'll settle for 12 in one year for know. I would also like to maintain my relationship!
Once the race was underway, I found myself running with a small group, which included Paul, a chap in his 50s who I'd met at my only foray into ultra marathons to date. He was running in his 95th marathon today, and aiming to get in to the 100 marathon club in the near future. The race proved to be a very sociable event. Many runners were quite happy to pair up and chat as they progressed around the course. There does seem to be an inverse correlation between size of event and friendliness of competitors. It also seemed that because this marathon was one of the first of the year it had attracted a high number of people with very similar goals to mine. We clearly had much to discuss. Sharing our plans and listing future events we aim to be at. As a result, there should be familiar faces at at least the next two events I do, which will both be very low key.
The course itself was not one that I was particularly looking forward to in advance. After doing a 4 mile figure of 8 around the residential streets surrounding the school that was the race HQ, we headed for greener pastures. Most of the race would be on a 7 mile loop through the villages of Elmore, Farleys End and Longney. This loop would be covered 3 times, before heading off on the final one mile stretch to the finish, back on the edge of the residential area. I normally don't like running events that involve multiple lap courses. Being able to strike up a conversation with any runner I happened to be next to certainly helped. However, I did find the second lap hard work. This probably wasn't helped by the fact that the steepest hill on the course was at the start of each loop. The course wasn't drastically hilly, but it was certainly undulating. There seemed to be a general feeling of climbing on the first part of the loop, and then gradually descending on the second half.
By the start of the third loop I realised that I was starting to leave many people behind. I was feeling pretty strong, and the fact that I knew the terrain so well by now actually played to my advantage. I decided to just get my head down, count off the miles and get to the finish. I also started to lap slower runners who were only on their second loop. I felt quite sorry for them, as it must be demoralising to be lapped, but it gave me lots of confidence.
It wasn't all plain sailing, though. With five miles to go I started to feel a peculiar sloshing sensation in my stomach. It's not something I've ever experienced before, so it did cause a degree of concern. My stomach started feeling really uncomfortable, and I could have sworn that the sloshing was starting to become audible. My biggest fear was that it might cause a sudden bout of diarrhoea, and there was no possibility of stopping to use a toilet. If there was a pub on the course I would have been knocking on their door. I dealt with the situation by continuing to keep my head down and hoping I could make it to the finish without embarrassing myself. I also decided to cover the last five miles without drinking anything else. Fortunately, I started to feel better over the last couple of miles, and once I'd seen Ruth waiting for me at the finish, I'd practically forgotten all about it.
I should wrap up by saying a big thank you to Ruth for being a star supporter today. I saw her at miles 4, 11, 18 and then the finish line. The weather was great for running, but very cold for spectating. The banner that she made from a kit bought by her niece as a Christmas present had its first outing, and apparently got a few comments by passing runners. I think our niece thought it would cause embarrassment, but Ruth seemed to rather enjoy waving it about.
I almost forgot to mention the small matter of the race result. Amazingly, the results are up on the race website. I finished 54th out of 344 in a time of 3 hours 19 minutes. Not bad considering I was taking it easy. Think I'll probably have to take the next a little easier still.
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