Marathon fever - Loch Ness, London and Kielder Sunday 3rd October 2021

With all the COVID postponements Sunday 3rd October seemed to be the day that the mass participation marathons chose to happen.
The club had four runners - Vickie and Phil Morrison at London, Amy Alcorn at Kielder, and Brian Smith at Loch Ness. Here's the summaries:

London Marathon
I was lucky enough to be allocated the Moorfoot London Marathon place back in Oct 2019! so have been preparing myself on and off for nearly 2 years! During last years lockdown my husband applied, and won, a ballot place-he would the lucky bugger! So we got the chance to run in together, a once in a lifetime opportunity!
This was to be the fourth road marathon I have run and my first took me 5 hours, and with the training I had been putting in I was aiming to complete it around 4 hours, definitely aiming for under 4.19, as this was the time of my virtual London last October.  
Running a marathon is always hard for me, anyone who knows me knows I need to eat alot, oh and pee! These are always welcome breaks too!
This time I knew I had to be more clever than to stop whenever so managed to cut down my essential visits to two.....I also managed to eat a pork pie and a snickers!
One of the surprises for Phil and I was the challenge of not getting 'free of the crowd....someone would always just stop when you were on a good run, there was not quiet bits.....but this also meant there was always support too from the supporting crowds.   They were epic...there was numerous steel bands, choirs and dj sets... I love music so this was perfect for me......the route was so flat compared to my practice so I felt pretty good all the way round!
Phil and I ran together all the way until mile 21,Phil had hit a bit of a wall and told me to go on, as he knew I was trying to get finished at 4 hours.....I left him.I ran the long 5 miles,alone,  but I never felt alone the cheering was fabulous....the finish line seemed very far away when I checked my watch, 3.56.....final sprint for me....and crossed the line with a few mins to spare!!!  
My husband finished only 5 mins behind me which was brilliant!! He said that if I hadn't needed to pee so much he would have finished under 4 hours.....ha ha
Details: https://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/

Kielder Marathon
Kielder Marathon route follows an almost entirely off-road course around northern Europe’s largest man-made lake, Kielder Water, in Northumberland. https://kieldermarathon.com/marathon/
After feeling rather smug that I’d just about done enough preparation for the run nothing could have been further from the truth. I was sitting happily in 3rd place at around mile 3 when I decided I’d try to overtake the girl in front. This was the beginning of the end for me. I eventually got past her, but it ruined me, and it wasn’t long before she reclaimed her place and I was struggling. Around mile 9 my knees were starting to complain on the downhills, something I’ve never had before. It got progressively worse to the point at mile 18 onwards I was limping up the hills and squealing in pain on the downhill sections. There is not a single bit of flat in this run (except crossing the dam) which I had not anticipated, and my body was pretty upset and shocked. By mile 22 I was crawling my way to the end, and was so relieved when it came. Saying all that, I’d love to do it again, with some proper training and a realistic idea of the course. Stunning scenery though 😁

Details: http://kieldermarathon.com/
Amy Alcorn finished 11th Female in 4:00:44
Results: https://www.chiptiming.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Results-Kielder-Marathon.pdf
 
Loch Ness Marathon
Brian Smith completed his first ever marathon in an official time of 3:26:42, to finish 221st out of 2,635.
A picturesque one to do:
The Loch Ness Marathon follows a spectacular point-to-point route alongside world famous Loch Ness, starting in an atmospheric moorland setting and continues through stunning Highland scenery, taking you along the south-eastern shores of Loch Ness, across the River Ness, to finish in Inverness, capital city of the Highlands.
'Pleased with that' was how Brian described it.
Details and results here: www.lochnessmarathon.com

Brilliant runs all round well done.

For anyone thinking of running London Marathon, 2 October 2022 the ballot is now open: www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/enter/how-to-enter/ballot-entry

The club does recieve 1 guaranteed London Marathon place and evidence of entering the ballot is considered in the allocation of that place.