Giving it a full 9 days since his last marathon, Steve Hickman was back on the startline on Sunday for marathon number 154.
In its inaugural running, this marathon was never going to be easy. Billed as cold, muddy, hilly, lots of steps, 4300ft of elevation and 27.5 miles in total this was no comparison to last weeks, flat as a pancake Martello Marathon. “Virtually a zero chance of a pb” quotes their website! For some that was all the encouragement they needed to take on the challenge.
Starting at Detling Villiage Hall in Kent, from the off it was uphill as Steve headed out west on the North Downs Way doing a loop of Bluebell Hill before heading back out east on an out and back on the North Downs Way to the namesake Lenham Cross.
Constructed originally in 1922 by hand, it is a memorial dedicated to those villagers which lost their lives in both of the World Wars. The compacted chalk cross measures 61m by 21m is visible from miles around.
“Wow that was hot and hard!” the marathon mogul exclaims! From someone that runs this distance virtually every week, the statement holds that extra bit of weight!
“Brutal Hills and about a million steps. Quite a few of the experienced runners were saying it’s the hardest marathon they’ve run… I’m not so sure…. but it was tough”
Marathon #154 …. done! 6.46.47 phew!
