pickupthepacepaul

On 25th April 2021 I took part in the Hard Cheese and Whine Marathon with Phoenix Running Events. This event is held in Denbies Wine Estate, and is certainly a challenging course. It is always held on the same date as London Marathon, so if you haven’t got a place at London Marathon “Hard Cheese”, don’t “Whine”…

It is a real shame for the second year in a row London Marathon isn’t at its usual date. I’ve missed London and hope next year it can be back to normal. Although I’ve not been able to pace for a year, or run as much as normal, today was my 2nd Marathon of 2021, and 62nd Official Marathon (71 towards 100 Marathon Club).

The idea of this event was a warm up marathon for my 11 Marathons in 11 Days, which starts in just 14 days. I had thought about pushing a bit harder, but first of all, the course at Denbies is tough, and secondly I had far too much to drink on Friday, and on the morning of the marathon I was still feeling fragile.

This event was chip timed, so much more flexible than normal. With a staggered start I turned up in the morning, got myself ready, and was free to start whenever I wanted. Chip timing started as soon as you crossed the timing mat for the first of 8 laps.

During the event I started off looking at around a 3:30 Marathon time, but there are two big hills, and each lap they felt steeper and steeper. There were a couple of fast down hills, but that did not make up for the up. I thought about my 11in11 happening in just 14 days, so decided to pull back and just get under 4 hours. My number one goal for my 11 marathons would be to achieve 3:59 for all 11.

I finished strong, my average pace had dropped to 9 min miles, but my last lap I ran a sub 8 and got a Garmin time of 3:57:26, happy days.

After a lovely run I had a family picnic, then walked another lap with the family. That counts as an ultra right 😄

Next week I will be running another marathon, keeping my legs used to the challenge ahead, and the week after I start 11 Marathons in 11 Days. I have hit my first milestone of £1,000 for Cancer Research, would be great if you can help me get to the next milestone.

So many people were running today. How did you get on?