Brighton marathon

I wasn't best prepared for this marathon, after a skinful of wine on Friday night at the Fetchie social, and a hangover only conquered by another bottle of wine on Saturday, plus nowhere near enough sleep, I was only fit for a comfortably paced run. My brain was so pickled that even though I'd taken my garmin and charger out of my bag, I'd forgotten to plug it in, so I was entirely watchless. That made it a good opportunity to see what time my comfortable pace gets me to, I had wanted to run 3'45 but this way it would just be entirely what my legs and hangover(s) dictated. 

The organisers had made Brighton a superb inaugural event, apart from a delayed race start, it all went off without a hitch. The only things I would have liked to have seen were a clock at the startline and at the half way point so the forgetful and watchless had some idea of their time. It did make it quite relaxing though, you can't fret about splits or average pace or PBs or anything. There were lots of humorous touches: before we'd even hit one mile, we ran under a banner saying "highest point on the course", and there were plenty more saying things like "runners know beer tastes better when sweaty" to raise a smile. I particularly liked the gantry they'd erected at 20 miles that looked like a solid wall of bricks with a few holes in it, covered in "hit the wall" graffiti, though it may have just finished a few runners off..... And the 21 mile marker was funny, stuck on the most enormous crane I've ever seen, never run under a crane before. The DJ just after it was very encouraging too, and perfectly positioned at the hardest point of the course, if you're having a bad race, it was just at the point when you start to wonder if it will ever end.

The route was great, with lots of out and back sections where you could spot your mates coming the other way. It was a bit like a reunion, shouting at Fetchies and 100 clubbers. This was the first time in ages that I'd done such a well supported event and I'd entirely forgotten how uplifting it is. I had a Fetch top on and there were loads of shouts of "Go Fetchie!" which was great, but what really surprised me were the number of people who knew my name. I discovered later that a couple of them were Fetchies whom I couldn't pick out among the crowds but it was a bit funny, like being a celebrity! All the shouts really made my day, I was grinning through so much of the race. The bunch of triathletes on the seafront were a notable highlight, as I went past, one yelled "looking good!". His mate yelled "looking VERY good!" and then another of them bellowed "MARRY ME!" as I'd gone past, not sure which of them it was but if I hadn't been running so strong I may have gone back to see if he meant it...

Cruising past the spectators

It was a beautiful day to run a marathon, lovely spring sunshine and not too hot, and happily very little wind for being on the seafront. I ran alongside a few people in places, a rather good-looking bloke in a black t-shirt running his first who I had a nice chat to and was still strong at 19ish, and a very tall, also rather dishy rugby player, also running his first, who was looking great. Good hunky runner count today.. I lost him at 17ish so I hope he had a good race. I'm still amazed at anyone running their first in sub 4 hours, my first was 5'10.. The last couple of miles were extraordinary, the field had really thinned out so I was by myself for quite a bit and running down a gauntlet of tightly packed, yelling, cheering hordes made me feel like the winner, it was massively uplifting.

In spite of a few inclines in the first half, this was a really fast course and a lot of people posted some very nippy times. Running comfortably, I had no idea what my time was. I thought it had taken me about 60-90 seconds to cross the start line, and I crossed the finish line in 3'37'30, so I knew it was a PB, just not exactly what it was, 3'36 most likely. Anna's OH looked up the results on his iphone and discovered my time was 3'34'09, which seemed very toppy but I'd take an official time. However, turns out it was 3'36'13, which is superb, about 90 seconds off my PB without trying hard and having no idea of pace. It would seem that my natural pace is a bit quicker than I thought, and that I'd probably been holding back a bit lately. Nice 1'47'30 and 1'48'43 splits too, good even pacing with no garmin, and I can in as 47th of 2,497 female finishers, top 2%!!

It was the perfect finish to a marathon afterwards - I managed to change into non-sweaty clothes in a reasonably discreet spot, though my lack of planning meant this was an LBD (the barmaid wouldn't believe I'd run the mara until I pointed out the salt on my face), discovered a job lot of usable lotions and potions in the goody bag to accompany a cracking medal, caught up with lots of people and wrestled through the crowds to the pub. It was as packed as Linford Christie's knickers by now. A few pints on the beach with Fetchies and 100 clubbers to celebrate lots of great times and Anna's 100th marathon, and her huge PB, and a great day in the sunshine, a top Sunday all round.

Closing straight, full on grimace and is that a hint of abs??

And it's now about 2 1/2 weeks to go until the 10 in 10 starts. I'm really looking forward to having a good crack at the world record now, so please sponsor me to add a bit more encouragement. Gadget link thingy at the top of the page. Thank you!