My third marathon in nine weeks - the
Greater Manchester Marathon - has yielded a very surprising result - 3:17:02 - which is just 16 seconds outside present PB. The race is very well organised as it meanders its way around Trafford, but its most memorable feature is without doubt the large and very vocal crowds lining the route from virtually start to finish.
The race starts on Bridgewater Way where the 6,000 starters headed towards Manchester City Centre via Chester Rd for the first mile before doubling back on the opposite side of the road. Next the course heads through Trafford Park along Trafford Wharf Rd (past the Imperial War Museum North) before doubling back on the opposite side of the road towards Manchester United football ground. As Trafford Park is mainly a non-residential district, there were only small pockets of supporters during the first 5km. In this section of the race I was feeling good running at approximately 3:10:00 pace.
On returning to Bridgewater Way, we then turned right and headed away from the City Centre along Chester Rd via Stretford towards Sale. Even though Chester Rd is a main arterial road in and out of Manchester, there were still plenty of pockets of spectators lining the street shouting encouragement to the runners and creating a really good atmosphere. I passed 10km in 44:36 (gun time plus 14 seconds it took me to cross the start line) (4:28/7:11km split), a little too fast, especially as this was my third race effort marathon in nine weeks. From here I had a sudden attack of common sense and made a conscious decision to slow down.
By the time we reached Sale the crowds has thickened considerably. The local communities really were doing their bit to make the day a success. A left turn at 11.5km took us along Northenden Rd for the next 1.5km towards Sale Moor. From here we navigated through big crowds and turned right, heading towards Brooklands.
I was getting plenty of attention in my Manchester City shirt with plenty of shouts of 'Come on City' coming my way and just a handful
of [good natured] smart arse comments coming from United fans.
By the time we turned left onto Brooklands Rd (opposite the Metrolink station at 14.5km), where we would spend the next 2 km, the crowds were now on either side of the road and also in the middle of the road in places, roaring runners on as we made our way towards Timperley (see photo, left). Whilst on Brooklands Rd, we crossed the 10mi timing mat and I recorded a 1:12:56 split, overall pace 4:32/7:18.
After turning right onto Stockport Rd at 16.5km, we were soon in Timperley heading towards Altrincham. The crowds were getting bigger and noisier and I was finding it difficult not to get too carried away as we headed towards halfway in the centre of Altrincham.
My fuelling strategy for this race was the same one as I used in Chongqing. I took a gel every 5km from 10km. There were water stations serving
Iconiq pouches every 2-3mi. These are great as they are easy to carry on the run and there is no need to slow down, as is the case with cups of water.
The course meanders round Altrincham town centre where once again dense crowds were out in force. This is the toughest section of the course with a few bridges and short elevations to navigate but these were not too taxing so early in the race. Towards the end of the town centre loop we crossed the halfway mat (1:35:49 at av 4:33/7:19 overall pace). I was still feeling OK at this point but I knew what lay ahead and I was also well aware that I had two recent marathons in my legs and I would be severely tested in the second half of the race, even more so than usual.
From halfway we retraced our steps back to Brooklands (26.5km) once again experiencing that magnificent support as we approached the business end of the race. The defining and most inspiring moment of this race for me was when we arrived back at Brooklands Metrolink station. Here the crowds were in the roads encouraging the runners. The scene resembled a
Tour de France hill stage, where the crowds are in the road either side of the riders, rather than a marathon. Absolutely fantastic.
From here we turned left and headed briefly back along Marsland Rd and then via Washway Rd and Manor Ave towards a loop of Carrington and Flixton. The section in Carrington was semi-rural but even here there were small, enthusiastic pockets of supporters. I was feeling the first major signs of fatigue here. We crossed the 20mi timing mat at Carrington where I recorded a 2:28:21 split (average pace has slowed to 4:37/7:25). The 10-20mi section had been completed in 1:15:25 (4:41/7:33 pace).
From here I was feeling the strain. I was struggling to eat my gels and it was a relief that the water stations were coming more frequently. I was still going reasonably well up to around 35km in Flixton, but even the crowds here couldn't get me to maintain my pace. I encountered a significant bad patch that would last for 20 minutes or so, to the extent that I was starting to feel very tired and nauseous and I have little recollection of this stage of the race.
The pace slowed to around 5:30km. This was the point where I thought my race was over. I had visions of jogging over the finish line as I had done in
Tokyo back in February. I was getting lots of encouragement from the crowd and I felt I owed them as much as myself. I was hurting but kept going.
At 39.5km we were back on Chester Rd in Stretford and heading towards Old Trafford and the finish line on Sir Matt Busby Way. I am not sure what happened here, but all of the sudden I was able to pick-up the pace as the crowds encouraged us home. There was a beautiful moment at 41km when a women wearing a United scarf shouted at me 'come on, keep going, even in that bloody shirt'. I thanked her as we made eye contact, snot and salt all over my face, and proceeded towards the finish line.
As we turned onto Sir Matt Busby Way (outside MUFC) for the final 100m I was totally stunned to see 3:17 on the clock. I was so tired and running on empty that I had given up looking at my Garmin a while back. I thought I was coming in around 3:18 or 3:19 which I would have settled for.
I don't think it would have made any difference had I known I was so close to a PB because I really was giving it everything during those final 2.2km. I completed the final 10km in 49:23 (4:56/7:57 pace) crossing the finish line 3:17:02, unbelievably just 16 seconds outside my 3:16:46 PB set in
St Petersburg in July 2012.
So, what does this result tell me? It is saying very clearly that I am on an upward trajectory. To improve in the two marathons after Tokyo. which I blew spectacularly, tells me that there is definitely a decent PB on offer if I complete a full training cycle AND get it right on the day [easier said than done in my case].
That will my absolute focus between now and the autumn. I will start by going back to basics. In the first instance that means a long base-building phase with plenty of volume and then periodization as I get closer to the autumn. I will keep running marathons, but at training pace. I have proved during the last nine weeks that my body can handle this.
At last, I am going to run in the London Marathon.
Official time: 3:17:02
Qualifying for: London Good for Age/Boston Marathon
Position (men): 536/4194
AG place: 55/507
Winner: Dave Norman 2:20:19
Winner (women's race): Issy Menzies 2:42:24
Marathon rating: 10/10 - terrific organisation and the most inspiring crowd support imaginable for a race only in it 2nd year since restarting after a 10 year break. Thank you Stretford, Sale, Brooklands, Timperley, Altrincham, Flixton, Urmston, Carrington and any other communities I have not mentioned.
* As always - special thanks
to residents, organisers and the hundreds of marshals, volunteers and emergency services*
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