Apparently I only run inaugural marathons, this was number 3 and all of them have been run for the first time. This was a low key 23.5 laps of the Kelso racecourse service road. Every bit as glamorous as it sounds - London this wasn't, but this came with a number of advantages.
For one, after one lap I had the course nailed, no nasty surprises, no worrying about getting lost, sure there was a danger of mental disintegration from treading the same ground, but at least it was ground I'd be familiar with.
For two there was no real need to carry anything. Water was available every lap, never being more than a mile from the finish I didn't take a phone figuring that in an emergency I could probably make it back. I took 3 gels, but to be honest if I'd thought properly I could have left these by the track at the start and picked them up as and when.
For three, you got to see more of the other runners, there weren't too many, but some were faster than me, some slower, so I was passing people and being passed with some regularity. There was also a relay, I thought this would be really fast (relative to me) but again some we're faster, some were slower. This was nice as you got to see everyone in the race.
After registration in the golf club, and a great briefing "if you see any horses stop for them, they're not going to stop for you" (for the record I saw no horses on track) we set off in the cold morning air and we're piped to the start, which was a nice touch. I got chatting to a few people, all of whom were ultra runners which gave me some comfort this was a good idea given this was really just a long run with a bit of spice in my Highland Fling training.
And then we were off, without intending to I started about 1/3 of the way back, was amazed at how fast some of the fast guys and gals go, but went off at a pace that felt comfortable.
Last time out at the marathon in York, I wanted 3:30 and when off at 3:30 pace, only to slow down later on and crumble once 3:30 began to slip away. As I wasn't taking this race as seriously, I'd ummed and ahhed about what to do. I was tempted to go off very comfortably, and trust that increased stamina from my good work so far this year would help me hold on better. But when push came to shove there only seemed on antidote to starting too fast, last time, start even faster this time.
So I did. 7:30 pace for the first eight and sub 8:00 all the way to mile 19!
One of the things about a lapped race is that it makes it hard to put your thoughts into a sensible narrative. I ran the first lap and quickly realised there were two main straights. One was uphill and into the wind - there is always a wind wherever I go - one was downhill with a following wind - loved this bit. And a finish section where some great volunteers would shout "runner 41" and count the laps and offer encouragement. It really threw me he fist time they shouted "come on Jamie" I was thinking how do they know my name do I know them, before realising they simply had the competitor list, and this was before the accretion of laps had addled my brain.
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| The downhill bit - we were spared the jumps |
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| The finish |
We had to do 23.5 laps so the start and finish were at the opposite ends of the course, and for most of the early and mid part of the race the laps were taking around 8:30.
The race progressed, some people ran impressively fast, some people ran with a slow and dogged determination, I passed some, some passed me. I think it took 4 laps to get lapped by the leaders. I took a gel at lap 8 and another at pat 16 and some additional water at lap 14. That was all, after feeling very sick at York I was trying to give my stomach less to do.
I didn't count the laps, I pressed the lap button on my watch everytime I passed the start until lap 22 when the race director drove down in his golf buggy and nicked the start marker. I was a bit miffed and had to guess where the lap started from then on. I tried to follow people along the windy section, this rarely worked, I seemed stronger in this bit than others and managed to loose time in the downhill bit.
I'm talking about this hill like it was a hill, it wasn't, although the uphill bit started off as the gently incline it was, by 10 miles it felt like Ben Nevis and by 25 like Annapurna.
After 20 miles it got tough, I slowed, I felt sick, but I kept going far better than I did in York. It wasn't until I was out there doing it I realised exactly how disappointed I was with my York performance, and the memory of this was a good motivator.
I wanted 3:30 and for a while I pushed for it. "3:30 you can do was a two lap mantra". I felt empty, I daren't chance another gel, as I already felt sick, I tried so water at about 22 miles. It made me feel sick so I poured it over my head. Thankfully I twigged before it went over my head on the next lap when I got powerade by mistake.
I slowed more but I began to realise that 3:30 was there to be had. I adjusted to this, mentally I discovered I was willing to suffer for sub 3:30, however I was not willing to suffer extra for 3:25, or 3:27 and once I was sure that 9 minute miles would get me in, this was all I seemed capable of. The course emptied out a bit, my lap counters began to count me down and it all felt harder, but I kept on going and eventually the end came in a touch over 3:29. I was delighted.
All in all a brilliantly simple race, the laps didn't bother me I just kind of tuned out and I had plenty of time with my thoughts.
I was pleased to deliver the kind of performance I knew I could there were a few rough points by I kept going far better than before. I Enjoyed my post run banana and the distinctive horseshoe medal.
