Manchester Marathon

The flattest marathon course in the UK (or so they say!) and the 4th largest in Europe (their words not mine!) tempted 5 road runners into entering the Therme Manchester Marathon on Sunday 3rd April. With just 180ft of elevation across the entire course, this makes for a perfect opportunity to run a PB.

Ross Wilkes and Guy Mattinson made the journey North in the quest for a PB, and not just a PB for Ross but also his dream of achieving that sub 3 hour goal. Richard Bezer after months of training with his Dad travelled the 250 miles up the country to run alongside him for pacing and support on the big day. Whilst ladies captain Zoe Sherwin was keen to put her new training to the test, and Andrew Macarthur was just happy to see what happened on the day.

Organised by the Salford Harriers, and first run in 1909, this marathon has had several periods of absence and accompanying course variations. However in 2012 the marathon was revived and brought back to Trafford, the heart of sport in the city.

Weather conditions on the morning were absolutely perfect for running and although there had been a frost the night before, it was chilly but dry and with no wind it definitely made the cooler temperature more bearable. Nervously our runners arrived at their designated times eager to just get started, apart from Ross who looked so happy and more excited than anyone I’ve ever seen at the start of a marathon. 🙂

One by one they were directed from the race village round to the starting area where they lined up in their respective start waves amongst the near 15000 strong field outside Old Trafford for the early start.

9am came and off they went with fire in their bellys, a plan in their heads and drive in their hearts. Taking on the first 10k at their planned paces to leafy Sale. The streets were well supported and well marshalled, with plenty of entertainment on route. From blues bands to choirs and of course a samba band, the local community really get behind this fantastically organised event.

“There were so many people just shouting my name! It was lovely to hear and really helps to spur you on when its feeling tough” said Andy.

Winding through Timperly, Brooklands and Altrincham , the course takes the Runners on a tour of Manchester’s suburbs.

“I stuck to my plan and felt great for the most part” said Zoe “I could really feel the benefits of my training as I got further and further into the race and for the first time managed to resist the temptation to get carried away with the crowd and I just stuck to my pace. I loved hearing the choirs who were all singing really motivational songs and I’ve never seen so many families set up with tables of drinks, sweets and power up boards for the runners. The support was amazing!”

Onward they went toward Aston upon Mersey and the 18 mile mark. A mile on Zoe started to struggle with a re-occurring hip niggle that has been plaguing her for a while.

“Effort wise I felt great, it was just my hip, so unfortunately I was forced to pull back on the pace slightly”

No niggles for Ross or Guy though as they were both sticking to their plan and target paces, ticking the miles off and smashing them at the same time.

And the pacing was going equally as well for Richard and his Dad who were well on target to beat their aim of a 5 hour marathon

Ross continued his journey and was the first Road Runner back to the finishing line at Salford. He’d only gone and done it!!! Every mile he’d run in training, the months and months of pure grit and determination had paid off and he crossed the line with a sub 3 hour marathon time. Finishing 1111 overall out of an enormous 14184, 1058/9795 men and 388/3565 in the Senior Male category.

“A sub 3 marathon has always been the end goal over the last 5 years, and while the shorter distance times have tumbled, the marathon has always evaded me. There were lots of tears coming over the finish line.” he later said on Facebook. Ross went on to thank his wife, friends and family for all of their support, and of course his “brilliant running club.”

What an amazing achievement for our rocket Ross.

Back out on the course, and not to far behind Ross was our other speedster Guy Mattinson who continues his amazing running form going from one PB to the next. And that’s exactly what he did on the day. Guy was second home for the red white and blue brigade crossing the line with a Good for Age qualifying time and also a fantastic marathon PB. Guy finished 1865 overall, 1740/9795 men and 114/930 in the MV50 category.

He later told me “I am so thrilled to have achieved my Good for Age qualifying time going under 3:15, so will be entering the GFA ballot for April.” Absolutely amazing Guy!

Andy Macarthur completed the trio and crossed the line a short time after Guy. After not entirely enjoying the course Andy had decided to pull back on the pace quite early on in the race and just go with the flow enjoying the support from the crowds rather than racing to achieve a time. Saying that, he still finished in an awesome time and managed to run his third fastest marathon time ever!!! Andy was 2409 overall, 2221/9795 men and 181/930 in the MV50 category. Well done Mr Mac!

Back out on the course Zoe and Richard were still plugging away, the smiles faded now as the hurt started kicking in for Zoe.

“From mile 19 onwards my hip niggle had turned to proper pain and I was just desperate to finish. I’d trained for this though and was determined not to lose sight of my goal so I pushed through knowing that the end was in sight and I was still on track to finish under 4 hours.” And finish under 4 hours she did!

Just Richard and his Dad left to bring it home for the Road Runners now. Richard had done a fantastic job of keeping his Dad on track.

They pushed on to a strong finish and crossed the line together, totally smashing their aim of 5 hours and sharing an experience that has made a memory to last a lifetime. “We enjoyed it as we executed the plan and a little bit more” says Richard. “Paced my dad throughout and towards the end pushed on to finish strong. He was hurting, he couldn’t have given any more! (whip cracking)”.

They’d all done it! All the hopes and fears had totally been worth it for every one of our awesome runners as they all made their way back to hotel rooms (pubs) and homes with their shiny new bling and actually pretty decent finishers t-shirt……….because that’s what its really all about………isn’t it!?! Brilliant running everyone!