…they say “Plenty more fish”, I say “Amoco Cadiz”, she’s keeping two chevrons apart
Liverpool Marathon Review, INRATS beware!
So we finally arrived at race day. I entered the marathon end of June, just a month after my first outing at the classic distance in Edinburgh. The club guys and gals were starting their training and I got carried along on the wave. Since Edinburgh I’ve managed to clock up a whopping 1225 miles, which ironically is the distance between Liverpool and the Greek town of Marathon. Well almost, that would’ve been nice wouldn’t it :o)
As well as the miles, I’ve piled in the races this year. Including the Park Run, which I don’t kill myself on but nearly always push myself around, I’ve ran 40 races in 2011. The logic behind this stems from my injury (did I mention I broke my leg in 2010, hohoho). I was/am determined to run as many races I can. I always read the runners blogs from the likes of Dave Norman/Andi Jones etc and they always say use it while you’ve got it (at least that’s my understanding of them),.don’t leave anything on the table. Plus I spoke to Nige Grant at PLS who’s forgotten more than I know about running and he was very positive about racing as much as you can.
Now, where was I…oh yes, the Liverpool Marathon. What a day! Well, where do I begin? The start was delayed for 50 mins which didn’t help, nowt to do with the organizers, just a few idiots who ignored blocked roads and made over 6k of runners task all that bit harder in the process.
I sometimes suffer with my hips on longer runs so I had the nurofen gel on them and this was obviously gonna ware off sooner than I wanted, plus the nice bowl of porridge and hydration would be knocked back for over 10k’s worth of effort. I know I wasn’t alone in this and I really felt for guys and gals who would be out for over 4 hours. Luckily the weather was fine for the wait and few of the PLS lads de-camped to the field to chew the fat and discuss the possibility of booking flights to Amsterdam if the Liverpool event got canned. There’s a good pic here http://www.jmu-journalism.org.uk/#/sport-215/4554555819 of Neil, Simo, Tim, Syd and myself ‘playing the waiting game’. Just as Syd mentioned he wasn’t in the mood for it now, the announcer said ‘5 MINUTES!’
I got back onto the line, ran through a few squats and stretches then BANG - the gun fired and we ploughed through Birkenhead Park en masse for the Odyssey that was the 2011 Liverpool Marathon. The plan was to hit 6:15’s and cling on but I tagged onto my mate Gerard Lenehan from Southport and we stayed together for the first few miles.
As the field stretched out, I left Gerry and after turning onto the Promenade with a big wind behind me I started to push a bit harder. I hit 10k around 40:15 – slower than I wanted but I felt like I was jogging, really fresh. On the Wirral side, the course had a few twists and turns with slight undulations but nothing to worry about. I was catching a few runners and got to 10 miles in 1:03:45, ahead of schedule and still feeling good. The crowds were great, pom pom girls and people with bells and whistles, especially through Hamilton Square – it felt like the big city marathon it promised to be.
As we turned into the tunnel I was still feeling great and really pushed on the downhill. I hit the half way point at 83:48 – still under the sub 6:26 overall pace I was aiming for and according to the chip results I was in 12th place. Bizarrely, the runners in the tunnel were sticking to the left, the Birkenhead tunnel has a few twists and turns so I made plenty of ground on the lads in front of me by cutting the corners off. The uphill wasn’t as bad as I thought, I still felt great and that was about to get even better.
About 200 metres from the exit I heard noise. At first I thought it was a plane going over but the closer I got it dawned on me this was the crowd and their cheers echoing down the tunnel. Then about 50 metres from the exit and my stomach filled with butterflies. The first thought that entered my head was the Gladiators coming up from the bowels of the Coliseum, stepping into the arena to deafening sound of baying hoards FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE ABOUT DIE AT 14 MILES, WE SALUTE YOU!
The combination of the samba band and roar of the crowd actually choked me, the hairs on the back of my neck (not on my back, they’d been waxed, HIYA FRANK) stood on end and as I whooped it up, the crowd responded with louder cheers. I was dizzy and to be honest in bits! I steadied the ship just in time for Old Hall Street where I knew the Penny Lane Striders water station was. I was booming as I passed what seemed like 200 striders, all cheering me on, again the emotions were too much and so early in the race I really had to stop myself from sprinting down Old Hall Street like Marco Tardelli!
I passed through town still going strong, the garmin clicked back into life with the average time but the distance had missed the 2 mile chunk from the tunnel. I was back to doing 6:15ish pace and in my opinion, Parliament Street was always going to be where the race started. It’s a long drag of a hill that has two climbs, the second being steeper than the first and this took you to 16 miles. My wife was on the corner cheering me on and I still felt great but started to flag around 18 miles. The excellent John McCole, who won the race, passed me going the otherway, I gave him a big shout and seeing him leading gave me another boost.
There were yet more striders in the Park, this is where I really needed the support and boy did I get it! My mum, dad, sister and niece and nephew were also on hand to keep me going. The park was tough as from South to North it’s a noticeable gradient and you had to run this from 18 to 24 miles. Every corner I turned I seen a friendly face, Liverpool Harriers were out in force and made me feel 10 foot tall but my times were gradually getting slower. I passed Ian Lawton from the Harries who had blown up, I tried to convince him to stay with me, more for my own benefit than his but he was gone. I knew I had to hang on and just keep moving, I wanted to get to the 20 mile mark in 2:05 – 2:08 but I was 2:10 and didn’t feel like I was going to run the next 10k in 40 mins!
I was still confident of getting under 3 hours but 22 to 24 were as tough as it gets. I knew the downhill was to come so really dug in, passing the missus again on the corner of Parliament Street, passing all the Striders heading towards the 17 mile mark themselves helped the cause. I was rolling down Parliament Street and at first was oblivious as to what was going on around me. Runners heading up on the other side of the road were really cheering me on, I was pretty much alone on the Street and these poor soles who still had over 10 miles to torture were giving me all the praise in the world. That was it! I opened the legs drew the last drop of energy form the very bottom of the well. Peter Doran from PLS was there too, shouting me home, telling me I looked good (I didn’t!). Cheers for that Peter!
I thought I might have gone too fast and too far from home, one runner caught me with around ½ mile to go but I stepped it up again. By now the noise in my head had gone, I just wanted it to end and as I turned the corner and seen the finish I felt light headed. The legs were still going but the finish seemed a mile off, as it got closer I relaxed for the 1st time in what seemed an age, I crossed the line and I’d got a PB. I fell to me knees in some half arsed Mo Farah salute (pointing West though) then just about got to me feet and breathed a huge sigh of relief! I got an excellent massage from some lovely Edge Hill Uni ladies then met up with the other Striders to swap tales.
Great day, unbelievable atmosphere but a tough course made tougher by the delay. I can remember clearly watching the 1st Liverpool Marathon go by the my Street in 1983. There was a time I was obsessed with it, mainly due the training shoes like but I loved the idea of a Marathon. That idea left me for a long time but luckily for me returned in spades on Sunday, I’ll never forget this for as long as live…ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED…
Here are my splits, 13 and 14 are skee-whiff because of the tunnel:
1 6:16.3
2 6:18.3
3 6:25.0
4 6:26.3
5 6:22.7
6 6:03.8
7 6:09.0
8 6:22.0
9 6:28.9
10 6:28.0
11 6:22.7
12 6:31.2
13 8:13.7
14 8:16.5
15 6:17.1
16 6:55.5
17 6:18.5
18 6:30.8
19 6:44.8
20 6:45.2
21 7:03.4
22 7:21.4
23 7:44.5
24 7:46.0
25 7:02.6
26 6:18.7
Summary 2:55:34 |