This has to be one of the posher marathons on the calendar, starting at the very smart Godolphin School in Salisbury with registration in the purpose built theatre complete with proper Greek-style orchestra space, and finishing in the King's School in Winchester where the burger van looked rather out of place among the music facilities, sports field and beautifully tended trees. It's not often that you see marshals in blazers and immaculately pressed duck egg blue trousers either. It being a point to point race, we took the bus from the finish at Winchester to the start which provided some amusement when the driver realised there was no way we were going to get under the railway bridge, no matter how much his passengers ducked.
The route is on trail, but largely pretty straightforward trails, so even my tarmac-spoiled ankles could cope with it. It's also pretty hilly, with a mix of long drags and shorter sharper climbs. These were rewarded with some of the best downhills ever, the mile or so at mile 11 was particularly exhilerating, or at least it was to me as I flew down whooping with delight. There's not much to report on this race. It was intended as a final long run before the PB attempt at Abingdon in 2 weeks' time, and a nice relaxed day out in the country, admiring the views and the fields of "high health pigs", walking the ups, running the flats and downs. It worked out perfectly. I wasn't in the least bit bothered about the time after chasing the clock in my 4 September marathons, and the weather was good enough that you didn't get too cold when walking up a hill. And it really was a lovely bit of countryside.
In the final few miles, I was doing my usual thing of feeling stronger and stronger by the minute and the competitive spirit got a bit fired up. Everyone ahead of me turning into a target, and I was picking them off one by one, making sure that as I passed them I did my utmost to appear fresh and bouncy and well in control, just to psyche them out a bit and make sure they didn't chase after me of course! It seemed to work, and my last mile was a belter in spite of the two little hills. Bounded in in 4 hours 34, which isn't too bad for me on a hilly trail marathon, and I even had the energy to chase my boss's 3 year old around the sports pitch afterwards too. Brilliant Sunday roast in a lovely country pub, couple of glasses of wine and a long hot bath, and I was ready for the next one. Hmm, best hang onto that energy somehow, I'm meant to be tapering for Abingdon in 13 days' time..
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