Pisa Marathon, Italy: 15 December 2013: Last time I tried to get to Italy for Pisa Marathon I spent nearly 2 days sitting on planes at Gatwick Airport in heavy snow at which stage I gave up and returned home, so I was relieved when our plane touched down in Pisa Airport in sunshine. About 30 of us made the trip, which was mainly to celebrate a friend, Danny Kay’s, 72nd birthday and 500th marathon. Our hotel was only a few hundred yards from the leaning tower, plenty of good restaurants and the race start and the weather was perfect from Friday to Monday. The only part of the marathon course, which presented any problems was the first section through the city as it was difficult to spot some ruts in the road when in the middle of a large crowd. Once we got onto open roads and headed towards the sea the going was much easier and then the stretch beside the sea was very pleasant. My original plan was to run just behind the 3:45 pace group, but at about 13k another British runner, Gareth Hare, joined me and we gradually moved ahead of the pace group. At 39k Gary slowed down, but urged me to go on and I was amazed when I crossed the finish line in 3:39:38, my best time for over 3.5 years. I’m very tempted to go back to Pisa next year. Danny finished just behind me comfortably ahead of all other competitors in the 70/74 age group. The celebrations on the Sunday evening were not to be missed!
Portsmouth Coastal Trail Marathon: 22 December 2013: It rained constantly throughout both the Saturday and the night before this marathon so everybody knew at the start that all of the footpaths would be muddy and waterlogged. The race starts at The Pyramid Centre on Portsmouth Esplanade and then follows footpaths around Langstone Harbour until the turnaround point at 13.1 miles. In good conditions this could be a very fast course, but both times I’ve run it have been after heavy rainstorms. This year we had the added pleasure of having to wade through knee-deep freezing cold sea-water where the tide had come in and then run nearly 2 miles along the Esplanade into a strong headwind to reach the finish. This meant that Mark Travers (the only other Strider there) and I both missed out on getting an under 4 hour time with him finishing in 4:02:27 and me in 4:03:19. Given the weather and tide conditions I was happy with my run.
Winter Tanners (30.5 miles), Leatherhead, Surrey: 12 January 2013: This event follows a circular route from Leatherhead along Surrey footpaths and bridleways. The route description is pretty complicated and the organisers emphasize in the instructions that minimal support is provided. On the 30.5 mile route there are only 3 checkpoints so it is essential to carry your own water and anything else you might require. After several weeks of torrential rain I guessed that the route would be muddy and it was. The mud made progress slow and we also went wrong in quite a few places and had to retrace our steps. We completed the last 4 miles in the dark with one torch between 7 of us. The organisers said it was a tough event and it certainly was. My time was 8:51:00.
The Viking Coastal Trail Marathon, Kent: 18 January 2014: This race starts by the end of ‘The Parade’ in Birchington and heads out on the Viking Coastal Trail for just under 3.28 miles to the turnaround point just short of Reculver Castle (which was built by the Romans 2,000 years ago to guard the channel separating the Isle of Thanet from Kent). This loop is repeated 4 times and because the tarmac and concrete path is fairly narrow and is shared with dog-walkers and cyclists the number of competitors was limited to 50 (half of which I knew). The route was totally flat, but the wind made the return part of the loop quite tough and seemed to get stronger as the morning went on. I didn’t feel particularly strong throughout and finished in 4:11:59. However, it was nice to spend the morning running beside the sea.
 |
| Watford, 2014 |
Watford Half Marathon: 2 February 2014: This was a little confidence booster before I turn 62 in March. My time of 1:46:39 was the fastest I’ve achieved on this course since 2005 and was good enough to get me the 2nd vet 60 Herts County Championship medal. It was great to see so many other Striders there, many of whom achieved PBs even though parts of the course were flooded.
 |
| Genk, 2014 |
Genk Marathon, Belgium: 16 February 2014: Incredibly for my 6th running of this 7 lap hilly marathon the weather was so much better than in previous years that I was able to run comfortably in shorts and a T-Shirt. 11 of us made the trip this year (apparently with a total of over 5,400 marathons between us). I had a good run finishing in 3:46:16 coming 70th out of 188 and 2nd vet 60/69. After the race we just had time for a few post-race celebratory beers at the race HQ before catching the train back to Brussels.
Jack Brooks
No comments:
Post a Comment