2015 Review

2015 will go down as a year of surprising destinations, unexpectedly good results from marathon experimentation and a brief glimpse into the usually unseen world of post race drugs testing....

Although the year ended up with both myself and Hannah running a sequence of 10 successive sub 3 hour marathons (both of us averaging 2:54) there was no intention at the start of the year to attempt anything like that sort of number.

So what happened?

Well, it kind of just became fun experimenting - 

1. Experimenting with the time interval between successive marathons.

2. Experimenting with the build ups, ie race a lot, race sparsely, race short, race long?

3. Experimenting with diet and fuelling.

What was a two person experiment for the first half of the year became more of a three person experiment as we became aware that a certain Ian J Berry was on a very similar mission of experimentation.

In the picture below at the Kent Roadrunner Marathon (Ian in the middle as race director that day) on 30th May a total of 17 sub 3 hour marathons had been completed (Hannah 5, Ian 7, Steve 5).

By the end of the year a further 20 had been added to give a final tally of 37 sub 3:00 marathons (Hannah 10, Ian 17, Steve 10).

The following summaries for each individual were artistically produced by Ian:

Steve Darby - Average 2:54:19

Hannah Oldroyd - Average 2:54:55 (New British Record for female sub 3s in a calendar year *)

And just in case 10 seems lazy:

Ian J Berry - Average 2:50:05 (New British Record for male sub 3s in a calendar year *)

(* as advised by Tim Grose based on the Power of 10 database of performances)

The year in pictures and stats:

March - Wrexham Marathon 

Time since previous marathon - 18 weeks

Mileage since previous marathon - 1066 (weekly avg. 59)

Longest training run - 13 miles

Races since last marathon - 5k, 10k, 5k, 5k, 10 miles, 5k, HM, 5k, 10 miles, 5k, 10 miles, 5k, 1 mile, 5k, 7.5 mileXC, 10 miles, 5k, 5k, 6 miles, 5k, 5k, 10k, 5k, 5k, 5k, 5k, HM, 5k, 10k, 5k, 5k, 10k, 5k, 10k, 5k, 5k, 30k, 5k, 10 miles, 5k, HM, 5k

The year of marathons started in Wrexham in March.

This was the first marathon for over 4 months. In terms of the build up the main thing of note was that were no training runs longer than 10 miles but there was plentiful racing at a wide range of distances from 1 mile to 30k.

In the blog at the time I rated this as the best marathon performance to date at 2:48:12, so coupled with Hannah's 2:52:41 there were plenty positives from this one.

April - Canberra Marathon

Time since previous marathon - 5 weeks

Mileage since previous marathon - 298 (weekly avg. 60)

Longest training run - 10 miles

Races since last marathon - 5k, 5k, 20 miles, 5k, 15.5k, 5k, HM, 5k, 5k

One week after Wrexham we disappeared to have a superb 5 week jaunt to Australia.

Besides taking in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Perth on the trip we also went to Canberra and had the opportunity to compete in the marathon during our brief stay.

Canberra was 5 weeks after Wrexham. In the intervening period there had been no training runs in double figures and just two races longer than 10 miles, Locke Park 20 miles at Redcar and an 11.2 miles abbreviated half marathon at Murray Bridge near Adelaide.

It is also worth noting that there had been lots of walking in the lead up to this one as we explored some amazing places and some of the terrain had been quite challenging.

The outcome, again, was pretty positive with a 2:52:10 for myself and a gradual climb through the field for Hannah to go from 7th at 10k to earn a podium position by the finish.

April - London Marathon

Time since previous marathon - 2 weeks

Mileage since previous marathon - 112 (weekly avg. 56)

Longest training run - 12 miles

Races since last marathon - 5k, 10k, 5k

Just two weeks after Canberra it was time for the 2015 London Marathon. The main memory of this race was how incredibly cold it was. Nonetheless, for the most part it went pretty smoothly to record 2:50:55. Hannah had to go one better though and is seen in the picture below just about to overtake me with a mile to go and then go on to record a sparkling new PB of 2:50:07 just two weeks after the previous marathon.

This wasn't the first time that she had run an unexpected PB within a week or two of a previous marathon - an interesting point of note!

May - Belfast City Marathon

Time since previous marathon - 1 week

Mileage since previous marathon - 30 (weekly avg. 30)

Longest training run - 6 miles

Races since last marathon - 5k

One week later, and therefore the 3rd marathon in a 3 week period, it was time for Belfast. 

This was a tough event with a continual eight mile climb from miles 6-14. If any course could be expected to find out tired legs it would be this one but it felt strong throughout, especially during the climbing. The final times of 2:54:54 and 2:57:08 were more than pleasing.

May - Kent Roadrunner Marathon

Time since previous marathon - 4 weeks

Mileage since previous marathon - 255 (weekly avg. 64)

Longest training run - 10 miles

Races since last marathon - 5k, 5k, HM, 5k, 5k, HM, 5k, 5k, 1 mile

On 30th May it was time for Ian J Berry's own creation, the 17 lap Kent Roadrunner marathon at Gravesend Cyclopark.

It isn't a flat course by any means but as it is exactly the same course that gave rise to Steve Way's 100k British Record it isn't as slow as it first appears.

Despite Hannah running in full cow regalia and stopping mid race to perform a cartwheel in the showboating competition it couldn't have been closer as we crossed the line in 2:53:34 and 2:53:44.

Hannah and our good friend Simon Newton displaying their very shiny winners' trophies:

July - Potteries Marathon

Time since previous marathon - 5 weeks

Mileage since previous marathon - 305 (weekly avg. 61)

Longest training run - 6 miles

Races since last marathon - 5k, HM, 10 miles, 5k, HM, 5k, 5k, 10k, 10 miles, HM, 5k, 10k, 10k, 1 mile

Into July and the born again Potteries Marathon proved an irresistable draw as I had taken part in the previous incarnation of this event 22 years earlier.

Despite the previous version being tough it was nothing compared to the relentless hills of the 2015 course.

The build up to this one was about as anti-text book as it is possible to get. In the last 10 days leading up to the Potteries Marathon we raced hard no less than 6 times - 10 miles, HM, 5k, 10k, 10k, 1 mile

No coach would ever advise a runner to do that kind of thing in the immediate lead up to a marathon if they wanted to perform half decently but, to confound all notions of logic and common sense, it became the best marathon performance I've ever experienced.

The time of 2:52:40 doesn't look overly fast but when the severity of the course is taken into account this easily surpassed the 2:47:34 at Yorkshire in 2014.

To prove this was no fluke, Hannah also did reasonably well off the same silly build up :)

September - Carrickmore Marathon

Time since previous marathon - 10 weeks

Mileage since previous marathon - 643 (weekly avg. 64)

Longest training run - 8 miles

Races since last marathon - 5k, 5k, 5k, 5k, 10k, HM, 2.75 mile trail, 100k, 5k, 5k, 10k, HM, 5k, 5k, 5 miles, 5k, 10 miles, 5k, 10 miles, HM, 1 mile, 10k, 48 miles

A sizeable break of 10 weeks then passed before the next marathon, the inaugural Carrickmore Marathon in County Tyrone.

There were 23 races of various kinds in that 10 weeks including, for the first time, two events venturing beyond marathon distance:

Thunder Run - A 24 hour event completing 62.1 miles each.

St Albans Stampede - A 12 hour event completing 48 miles each.

I suffered towards the end of this one due to expectations of the course profile being a little kinder than it turned out to be. The final few miles were all about managing remaining resources against the time left to squeeze under 3 hours.

Meanwhile Hannah was using the stunning scenery to motivate herself to a perfectly paced victory over the challenging course:

October - Yorkshire Marathon

Time since previous marathon - 4 weeks

Mileage since previous marathon - 230 (weekly avg. 58)

Longest training run - 6 miles

Races since last marathon - 5k, HM, 5k, 5k, 10k, 5k, 10 miles, 5k

Four weeks later it was time to return to the PB course at York. 

There was nothing unusual in the build up except a couple of races where calf issues had been experienced, probably due to dehydration. There was probably some residual damage from those experiences as this marathon fell apart when strange cramping started around 19 miles. I actually dropped out to all intents and purposes after walking for the best part of 2 miles but gradually got going again and managed to just dip under 3 hours.

This was a bemusing pre-race incident as, somehow, I was mistaken for a minor celebrity :p

A 2:53:37 for 4th place was a good result for Hannah before the day took an unexpected turn as the glass in the pic below exploded just as the picture was being taken resulting in a slashed wrist and lots of blood.

October - Leicester Marathon

Time since previous marathon - 2 weeks

Mileage since previous marathon - 106 (weekly avg. 53)

Longest training run - 4 miles

Races since last marathon - 5k, 5 miles, 5k

Two weeks on and, from my point of view, it was good to get another chance at a marathon so quickly to try to establish that the calf cramping at Yorkshire was a one-off.

Sure enough by the end it was great to have finished with no recurrence and to have actually felt strong enough to push over the final few miles for a 2:55:11 clocking.

A very well paced effort resulted in a victory for Hannah in Victoria Park:

November - San Sebastian Marathon

Time since previous marathon - 5 weeks

Mileage since previous marathon - 243 (weekly avg. 48)

Longest training run - 8 miles

Races since last marathon - 5k, 10 miles, 5k, 10k, 5k, HM

With 9 out of 9 sub 3 marathons each so far in 2015 we now quite fancied extending that to a nice round 10.

Unlike the rest of the year, where courses of all sorts of severities had been tackled, San Sebastian in the Basque Country was specifically chosen because it looked like a decent event to load the dice a bit in our favour for an attempt to notch up the 10th.

Despite being a very hilly region the 2 lap course around San Sebastian was as good as you could hope for. 

Again I had the pleasure of being overtaken by the young Oldroyd, this time at the 34k point, as she went on to clinch 2nd place by a mere 5 seconds after a final 400m head to head battle on the track within the stadium of Real Sociedad.

The times of 2:54:20 and 2:57:03 nicely rounded off the 10/10 sequence that had become a bit of a target part way through the year.

What followed after the finish at San Sebastian was certainly a first though as Hannah was allocated a chaperone and escorted off to be drugs tested. I'm sure this procedure is very straightforward if you're used to being involved in this sort of thing but for Hannah this became over an hour of confusion with the language barrier making the whole thing a bit unfathomable. Her utternces of "I'm just a pleb not an elite" didn't seem to have much effect!

So what was learned from all the experimentation?

This is not an easy question to answer.

If one overall lesson can be taken from this year it would be that there really is many different ways to prepare for a marathon and, as is usually the case at shorter distances, the best results often come at the most unexpected times off the most unusual preparations.

a) Optimal time between marathons? - No idea! With the fastest times of the year being 18 weeks and 2 weeks after the previous marathons and the best feeling performance being 5 weeks after the previous marathon it is difficult to draw any conclusions on that one.

b) Optimal racing build up? Again, more confused than ever. After starting the year thinking that anything faster than marathon pace in the final 10 days leads to a struggle in the closing stages of a marathon that thinking went up in smoke at Potteries after having a great run off 6 hard races in 10 days.

c) Diet and fuelling - At least this was one area where definitive answers were found for marathon performance. Without question, eating lots more protein and much less in the way of carbs is a major step forward, as is limiting carb intake pre-race to ordinarly levels.

With his larger sample size of 17 sub 3 marathons in the last 50 weeks or so you would expect that Ian Berry would have some more profound and useful conclusions from all the experimentation......but I think he is just as confused as we are!

Recent Marathon Record

2009 April - Blackpool Marathon 3:24:17 (Age 42)

2009 September - Fleetwood Marathon DNF (Age 43)
2010 October - Amsterdam Marathon 3:04:27 (Age 44)
2010 November - Milton Keynes Track Marathon DNF (Age 44)

2011 April - London Marathon 3:18:30 (Age 44)

2012 April - London Marathon 2:57:04 (Age 45)

2012 October - Chester 2:55:36 (Age 46)

2013 April - London Marathon 3:11:29 (Age 46)

2013 June - Cork Marathon 3:06:19 (Age 47)

2013 October - Budapest Marathon 2:58:53 (Age 47)

2013 December - Lancaster Marathon 2:54:17 (Age 47) (1st)

2013 December - Pisa Marathon 2:54:09 (Age 47)

2014 April - Manchester Marathon 2:51:52 (Age 47)

2014 April - London Marathon 2:57:52 (Age 47)

2014 June - Rhyl Marathon 2:58:24 (Age 48)

2014 October - Yorkshire Marathon 2:47:34 (Age 48)

2014 October - Dublin Marathon 2:58:53 (Age 48)

2014 November - Town Moor Marathon 2:54:56 (Age 48) (1st)

2015 March - Wrexham Marathon 2:48:12 (Age 48) (5th)

2015 April - Canberra ACT Marathon 2:52:10 (Age 48) (15th)

2015 April - London Marathon 2:50:55 (Age 48)

2015 May - Belfast City Marathon 2:54:54 (Age 48) 

2015 May - Kent Roadrunner Marathon 2:53:34 (Age 49) (4th)

2015 July - Potteries Marathon 2:52:40 (Age 49) (6th)

2015 September - Mary Anderson Colour Marathon 2:59:17 (Age 49) (7th)

2015 October - Yorkshire Marathon 2:59:30 (Age 49)

2015 October - Leicester Marathon 2:55:11 (Age 49) (11th)

2015 November - Donostia San Sebastian Marathon 2:57:03 (Age 49)

2015 December - Spiejkenisse Marathon 3:01:10 (Age 49)

2016

No specific plans for 2016 except to get to new locations and try out as many different and interesting events as possible.

Donostia San Sebastian Marathon 2015

Sunday 30th November 2015

The 5 weeks since the last marathon at Leicester have been a pretty quiet time on the running front.

Sun 1st Nov - Guy Fawkes 10 - 65:23 (19th)     [Hannah 67:27 (1st) ]

Sun 23rd Nov - Maravan HM - 1:29:31 (1st)      [Hannah 1:31:30 (1st) ]

Sun 23rd November - Maravan Half Marathon

This is the brainchild of Darren Rowe and utilises the roads of a deserted caravan park in Cleethorpes. An excellent well marked out course but that didn't prevent me getting lost twice despite big huge arrows pointing the correct way!

With Rachel Parker getting ready for the start:

We saw a good few caravans that day:

But the biggest challenge of all was the 'steep hill' on each lap. This is Hannah with her magnifying glass still searching for it post race:

An excellent low key race which we would highly recommend :)

Sunday 30th November - Donostia San Sebastian Marathon

So just 2 races plus 3 parkruns and the usual short (4 miles) slow runs in between filled those 5 weeks leading up to last Sunday's San Sebastian Marathon in the Basque country.

Expectations were therefore low and the idea of extending the run of 9 sub 3 marathons each in 2015 had pretty much gone out of the window.

Nevertheless it was a superb setting so we were going to enjoy the tour of the city no matter how long it took.

9am and off we went:

This is the home of Real Socieadad which would not only be the finishing venue but also the halfway point of the race:

This section along the scenic shoreline of San Sebastian was run in both directions on each of the two laps. Very pleasant:

The Race

The splits taken from the official site are at some odd distances but nevertheless tell the story of the race pretty well.

My own race felt pretty well paced with a positive split of just a few seconds and unexpectedly comfortably within the 3 hour mark.

However the story of the race was Hannah's move through the field with a negative split of -3:13. With both halves being pretty much the same course and the entire run being pancake flat this run was a great example of patience paying off, moving through from 12th at 5km to 2nd by the finish.

As there was also a half marathon combined with the marathon Hannah had no idea of her position as there were probably at least 30-40 women ahead in the first 10km.

5km 20:58   [Hannah 21:57 (12th) ]

10km 42:16   [Hannah 42:46 (10th) ]

14km 58:48   [Hannah 59:20 (9th) ]

21km 1:27:15   [Hannah 1:28:04 (8th) ]

Halfway 1:28:14    [Hannah 1:29:00 (8th) ]

30km 2:05:30    [Hannah 2:05:50 (5th) ]

31km 2:10:01    [Hannah 2:10:17 (5th) ]

35km 2:26:37     [Hannah 2:26:27 (3rd) ]

42km 2:56:28     [Hannah 2:53:59 (2nd) ]

Finish 2:57:03    [Hannah 2:54:47 (2nd) ]

It was at 34km that the Union jack Kent Roadrunner vest pulled up alongside and then started easing into the distance. This photo below was at about halfway but I think Ian Berry would be happy with how the vest he designed was easy to spot in the next morning's paper:

The Finish

Reaching the finish a couple of minutes after Hannah I expected her to be already adorning a new medal with a broad grin from ear to ear.

However, instead I was greeted by a scene of puzzlement and confusion as she had acquired a chaperone and was being told not to leave the finish area as she had to report to doping control. This was a first!

But first she was beckoned towards the podium. What? She was nowhere near the top end of the field or at least we didnt think so! As it turns out the battle that she had had from 38k to the end with the Spaniard, Nere Sagasta, had resulted in her taking 2nd place by 5 seconds in a high quality field, something they like to highlight:

So after the podium presentations it was then a case of being escorted under the stands to a doping control room. 

We were a bit flummoxed as the language barrier meant that we couldn't get a grip on what they were wanting. So we sat and waited...........and waited some more. We didn't know what we were waiting for but we waited anyway. Perhaps the testing person was coming soon?

As it happens the testers were standing around also waiting for some action. A good half an hour later it dawned that they were just waiting to supervise the production of a sample, which could have been produced at the outset.

Then the next issue arose when it became apparent that Hannah couldn't leave until she had produced some official ID! Uh? Who carries ID with them while running a marathon? For the actual elite entries this wasn't a problem as they knew the routine and their bags had been moved to the finish area. Ours, however, were in a different stadium over at the velodrome. I could leave and go and get the ID but would I be able to get back into a stadium past all the marshalls and into the most secure area bearing in mind the aforementioned language mismatch?

After much exaggerated pointing and gesturing and flashing of passports I got an 'ah, ok' from the burly security guard and allowed back in. I have no idea what he thought I had said but it was nothing coherent.

All in all it took a good hour to get through the doping processing. This whole carry on does raise an interesting question though. It is fair to say that elite athletes should know what substances they need to avoid in everyday products and should keep a close eye on such things. However, how can an ordinary run of the mill runner who happens to blunder into the scope of the doping regime by getting an unexpected result be expected to have the same knowledge? You could end up banned because you took a paracetomol earlier in the week for instance?

A very interesting experience.

A few scenes from the very attractive area around San Sebastian:

2015 Marathons

So after both completing the 10th sub 3 of 2015 how are the overall average times comparing in the 'experiment of two'?

Well, remarkably, over the 10 marathons our average times are now 2:54:19 and 2:54:55, it couldn't be much closer.

Too many marathons?

As another interesting set of stats knocked together by Hannah the spreadsheets below show the annual average times for each of us (mine first) along with the number of marathons run in that particular year. It would seem that the combination of getting older and running more marathons isn't avalid  excuse for getting slower after all ;)

Recent Marathon Record

2009 April - Blackpool Marathon 3:24:17 (Age 42)

2009 September - Fleetwood Marathon DNF (Age 43)
2010 October - Amsterdam Marathon 3:04:27 (Age 44)
2010 November - Milton Keynes Track Marathon DNF (Age 44)

2011 April - London Marathon 3:18:30 (Age 44)

2012 April - London Marathon 2:57:04 (Age 45)

2012 October - Chester 2:55:36 (Age 46)

2013 April - London Marathon 3:11:29 (Age 46)

2013 June - Cork Marathon 3:06:19 (Age 47)

2013 October - Budapest Marathon 2:58:53 (Age 47)

2013 December - Lancaster Marathon 2:54:17 (Age 47) (1st)

2013 December - Pisa Marathon 2:54:09 (Age 47)

2014 April - Manchester Marathon 2:51:52 (Age 47)

2014 April - London Marathon 2:57:52 (Age 47)

2014 June - Rhyl Marathon 2:58:24 (Age 48)

2014 October - Yorkshire Marathon 2:47:34 (Age 48)

2014 October - Dublin Marathon 2:58:53 (Age 48)

2014 November - Town Moor Marathon 2:54:56 (Age 48) (1st)

2015 March - Wrexham Marathon 2:48:12 (Age 48) (5th)

2015 April - Canberra ACT Marathon 2:52:10 (Age 48) (15th)

2015 April - London Marathon 2:50:55 (Age 48)

2015 May - Belfast City Marathon 2:54:54 (Age 48) 

2015 May - Kent Roadrunner Marathon 2:53:34 (Age 49) (4th)

2015 July - Potteries Marathon 2:52:40 (Age 49) (6th)

2015 September - Mary Anderson Colour Marathon 2:59:17 (Age 49) (7th)

2015 October - Yorkshire Marathon 2:59:30 (Age 49)

2015 October - Leicester Marathon 2:55:11 (Age 49) (11th)

2015 November - Donostia San Sebastian Marathon 2:57:03 (Age 49)

Leicester Marathon 2015

Week 1 of 2

Mon 12/10: 4.0 miles @ 8:48/mile

Tues 13/10: 4.0 miles @ 8:52/mile

Weds 14/10:  4.0 miles @ 8:41/mile

Weds 14/10: 4.0 miles @ 8:28/mile

Thurs 15/10: 4.0 miles @ 8:41/mile

Thurs 15/10: 4.0 miles @ 8:32/mile

Fri 16/10: 4.0 miles @ 8:28/mile

Sat 17/10: 4.0 miles incl. Sth Manchester parkrun 17:56 (7th) (3.1 miles @ 5:46/mile)  [Hannah 18:33 (2nd)]

Sun 18/10: 6.0 miles incl. Green Drive 5 29:08 (5 miles @ 5:50/mile).   [Hannah 30:11 (2nd)]

Total Weekly Mileage:  38.00 Miles

Week 2 of 2

Mon 19/10: 4.0 miles @ 8:17/mile

Tues 20/10: 4.0 miles @ 8:52/mile

Weds 21/10:  4.0 miles @ 8:29/mile

Thurs 22/10: 4.0 miles @ 8:38/mile

Fri 23/10: 4.0 miles @ 8:40/mile

Sat 24/10: 4.0 miles incl. Brueton parkrun 20:29 (41st) (3.1 miles @ 6:35/mile)  [Hannah 20:29 (2nd)]

Sun 25/10: Leicester Marathon 2:55:11 (11th) (26.21 miles @ 6:42/mile).   [Hannah 2:57:51 (1st)]

Total Weekly Mileage:  51.0 Miles

Sun 25th October : Leicester Marathon 2015 - 2:55:11 (11th)      [Hannah 2:57:51 (1st)]

Leicester wasn't even on the agenda until last week but in the days after the Yorkshire Marathon on 11th October it appeared that we had both come out of that race reasonably intact.

Therefore, the idea of another quickfire marathon seemed like a good idea, that doesn't mean that it was a good idea ...... but we entered anyway :)

7 days after Yorkshire the Green Drive 5 at Lytham St Annes in Lancashire had provided an opportunity to see just how unscathed the legs were. The resulting 29:08 (recent PB) for me and 30:11 (all time PB) for Hannah was a very positive outcome. It is fair to say that 5 miles is not a very common distance and therefore PBs don't mean a great deal but nonetheless we were very happy with those times as a sign that marathon recovery was going well.

The Race:

Brrrrrrr is about the only way to sum up the pre-race conditions.

It therefore became the first glove wearing race of the season. Thankfully the organisation for this race was pretty slick and it was easy to leave the baggage depositing until the last minute. That was an enormous help as I could feel the teeth clattering when attempting to have a conversation with Helen Hood in the warm up area.

0-10 Miles (1:06:37)

It was a relief to get underway to start getting warmed up.

With a Marathon, Half Marathon and relay event combined into a single start it was more important than ever to switch off in the opening stages and ignore all the inevitable barging and jostling that goes on in these mixed events.

The events split at about 6 miles at which point all the bustle disappeared and wide empty roads became the norm. 

My only aim for this race was to look after the calves to see if the shooting pains at Yorkshire were simply a one off due to excessive dehydration. At Yorkshire the problems occurred between 18-20 miles so the aim here was to ease through the race and past 20 miles with everything still working. 

The first 10 miles were pretty flat with the odd undulation. The 6:40/mile average pace felt comfortable enough with not a squeak from the calves ....... yet!

10-20 Miles (2:12:57)

By this point of the race things were feeling very pleasant, the sun was out, the course was uncomplicated and the legs were feeling good. There was certainly scope to push the pace along a bit more swiftly but the wariness about what might happen around 18 miles served to keep a lid on things.

At around 12 or 13 miles following a string of generic 'well done, guys' type comments there then followed two successive comments from spectators saying 'well done, 2nd lady' just after I passed.

A quick look over the shoulder confirmed 2nd place lady was a certain Miss Oldroyd a mere 15-20 metres behind looking pretty comfortable.

Because of the events being mixed in the early stages there was no way of knowing what positions anyone was in without this feedback from the spectators. 

On we went enjoying the Leicestershire countryside. Approaching 15 miles was the first point at which the leading lady came into view. Hannah was still in close proximity so the race was now on with 1st place being a realistic target.

At 16.5 miles there was one single slight twinge from the right calf. Oh shit, was this going to be a repeat of Yorkshire? As a result of that twinge even more wariness ensued over the next 3 or 4 miles.

But keeping the metaphorical fingers crossed 17 miles, 18 miles, 19 miles and then 20 miles passed by thankfully without incident.

20 Miles - Finish (2:55:11)

It felt good to get to 20 miles still moving smoothly but the thinking at this stage was to give it another mile of caution and then start pushing over the last 5 miles.

By 21 miles everything felt great and it really didn't feel like the 21 mile stage of a marathon, the wariness to this stage was now paying dividends. It wasn't going to be an amazing overall time but you can't beat the feeling of being strong and in control over the last few miles of a marathon.

Even knowing that there was an uphill last mile didn't stop the feeling of wanting to push along the miles leading up to it.

The Finish (2:55:11)

Over the line in what turned out to be an even paced marathon and feeling as good, if not better, in the last 10k as any previous marathon. It was also good for the first time in 3 races to not be watching the 3 hour countdown looming ever closer.

There was some decent progression through the field as a result of the even pacing and being wary in the early stages:

Looking back up the finishing straight it was quickly confirmed that Hannah had gone on to take the lead and build a comfortable margin over the last 10-11 miles.

The Ladies Podium:

1. Hannah Oldroyd 2:57:51

2. Sarah Davis-Foxon 3:05:23

3. Alison Matthews 3:07:23

Looking quite pleased with her morning in Leicester:

From left: Alison Matthews (3rd), Hannah Oldroyd (1st), Sarah Davis-Foxon (2nd) :

The first place for Matthew Lalor was even more impressive considering that it was only his 2nd marathon, the previous one being a 3:30 four years ago:

This is Sean Duffy who narrowly missed his sub 3 target by seconds at Yorkshire two weeks ago as a result of a natural break stop. On this occassion he performed a perfect execution of 'Run Your Number' by clocking 3:03 while wearing number 303!

It was nice of the leaders to wait for us slower runners to arrive but their wait took it's toll ;)

Good friends, Mark and Julie Thompson, who fared a wee bit better than the chap above in waiting for the runners to arrive. As parkrun ambassadors they will be bringing a new parkrun to this very park in the next few weeks:

Next:

With a string of 18 consecutive sub 3 marathons since Oct 2013 it must surely now be time for a rest? Then again....................????????????????

Marathon Building Blocks (getting a bit long now but this is the year in a nutshell once all the slow short runs are removed) :

15th Feb: 18.6 miles @ 6:16/mile

22nd Feb: 10.0 miles @ 6:04/mile

28th Feb: 3.1 miles @ 5:48/mile

28th Feb: 3.1 miles @ 5:50/mile

1st March: 13.1 miles @ 6:24/mile

8th March: 26.21 miles @ 6:23/mile

14th March: 3.1 miles @ 5:46/mile

14th March: 3.1 miles @ 5:36/mile

15th March: 20.0 miles @ 6:25/mile

21st March: 3.1 miles @ 5:45/mile

22nd March: 9.65 miles @ 6:18/mile

28th March: 3.1 miles @ 5:45/mile

29th March:  11.2 miles @ 6:08/mile)

4th April: 3.1 miles @ 6:00/mile

12th April: 26.21 miles @ 6:35/mile

18th April: 3.1 miles @ 5:40/mile

19th April: 5.8 miles @ 6:04/mile

26th April: 26.21 miles @ 6:32/mile

4th May: 26.21 miles @ 6:40/mile

6th May: 3.1 miles @ 5:36/mile

10th May: 13.1 miles @ 6:15/mile

13th May: 3.1 miles @ 5:36/mile

16th May: 3.1 miles @ 5:45/mile

17th May: 13.1 miles @ 6:03/mile

20th May: 3.1 miles @ 5:37/mile

23rd May: 3.1 miles @ 5:45/mile

24th May: 1.0 mile @ 5:07/mile

30th May: 26.21 miles @ 6:37/mile

6th Jun: 3.1 miles @ 5:58/mile

7th Jun: 13.1 miles @ 6:05/mile

10th Jun: 10.0 miles @ 6:20/mile

13th Jun: 3.1 miles @ 5:50/mile

14th Jun: 13.1 miles @ 6:02/mile

20th Jun: 3.1 miles @ 5:54/mile

20th Jun: 3.1 miles @ 5:40/mile

21st Jun: 6.21 miles @ 6:31/mile

25th Jun: 10.0 miles @ 5:57/mile

26th Jun: 13.1 miles @ 6:11/mile

27th Jun: 3.1 miles @ 5:57/mile

27th Jun: 6.21 miles @ 6:15/mile

28th Jun: 6.21 miles @ 6:42/mile

1st Jul: 1.0 miles @ 5:11/mile

5th Jul: 26.21 miles @ 6:35/mile

9th Jul: 3.1 miles @ 5:50/mile

11th Jul: 3.1 miles @ 5:54/mile

12th Jul: 3.1 miles @ 5:50/mile

18th Jul: 3.1 miles @ 5:57/mile

18th Jul: 6.21 miles @ 5:43/mile

19th Jul: 13.1 miles @ 6:15/mile

22nd Jul: 2.75 miles @ 5:50/mile

25th/26th Jul: 62.1 miles @ 8:00/mile

1st Aug: 3.1 miles @ 5:54/mile

1st Aug: 3.1 miles @ 6:47/mile

1st Aug: 6.21 miles @ 6:24/mile

2nd Aug: 13.1 miles @ 6:34/mile

6th Aug: 3.1 miles @ 5:49/mile

8th Aug: 3.1 miles @ 5:45/mile

9th Aug: 5.0 miles @ 5:57/mile

15th Aug: 3.1 miles @ 5:40/mile

16th Aug: 10.0 miles @ 6:00/mile

22nd Aug: 3.1 miles @ 5:52/mile

22nd Aug: 10.0 miles @ 6:15/mile

23rd Aug: 6.5 miles @ 6:19/mile

29th Aug: 1.0 miles @ 5:05/mile

30th Aug: 6.21 miles @ 5:58/mile

5th Sept: 48.0 miles @ 7:11/mile

13th Sept: 26.21 miles @ 6:51/mile

19th Sept: 3.1 miles @ 5:46/mile

20th Sept: 13.1 miles @ 6:03/mile

26th Sept: 3.1 miles @ 5:48/mile

26th Sept: 3.1 miles @ 5:59/mile

27th Sept: 6.21 miles @ 5:51/mile

2nd Oct: 3.1 miles @ 5:47/mile

2nd Oct: 10.0 miles @ 6:10/mile

10th Oct: 3.1 miles @ 6:46/mile

11th Oct: 26.21 miles @ 6:51/mile

17th Oct: 3.1 miles @ 5:46/mile

18th Oct: 5.0 miles @ 5:50/mile

25th Oct: 26.21 miles @ 6:42/mile

Recent Marathon Record

2009 April - Blackpool Marathon 3:24:17 (Age 42)

2009 September - Fleetwood Marathon DNF (Age 43)
2010 October - Amsterdam Marathon 3:04:27 (Age 44)
2010 November - Milton Keynes Track Marathon DNF (Age 44)

2011 April - London Marathon 3:18:30 (Age 44)

2012 April - London Marathon 2:57:04 (Age 45)

2012 October - Chester 2:55:36 (Age 46)

2013 April - London Marathon 3:11:29 (Age 46)

2013 June - Cork Marathon 3:06:19 (Age 47)

2013 October - Budapest Marathon 2:58:53 (Age 47)

2013 December - Lancaster Marathon 2:54:17 (Age 47) (1st)

2013 December - Pisa Marathon 2:54:09 (Age 47)

2014 April - Manchester Marathon 2:51:52 (Age 47)

2014 April - London Marathon 2:57:52 (Age 47)

2014 June - Rhyl Marathon 2:58:24 (Age 48)

2014 October - Yorkshire Marathon 2:47:34 (Age 48)

2014 October - Dublin Marathon 2:58:53 (Age 48)

2014 November - Town Moor Marathon 2:54:56 (Age 48) (1st)

2015 March - Wrexham Marathon 2:48:12 (Age 48) (5th)

2015 April - Canberra ACT Marathon 2:52:10 (Age 48) (15th)

2015 April - London Marathon 2:50:55 (Age 48)

2015 May - Belfast City Marathon 2:54:54 (Age 48) 

2015 May - Kent Roadrunner Marathon 2:53:34 (Age 49) (4th)

2015 July - Potteries Marathon 2:52:40 (Age 49) (6th)

2015 September - Mary Anderson Colour Marathon 2:59:17 (Age 49) (7th)

2015 October - Yorkshire Marathon 2:59:30 (Age 49)

2015 October - Leicester Marathon 2:55:11 (Age 49) (11th)