I ran Liverpool Rock n Roll Marathon on 25th May;
the first marathon I had ever run in my new home city.
I had been gradually increasing my mileage over the past few
months in the build up to the race with regular Saturday morning runs. I had
run up to 20 miles in training and I had also incorporated a few hills in
anticipation of the climbs at St Domingo Road and Upper Parliament Street so
was feeling pretty confident in the final few weeks. The only potential banana
skin in my control was that I was an usher at two of my best friend’s, Helen
Nash and Sam Gilbert’s, wedding the night before that was scheduled to go on
until 2AM!- the lamb shank and pork were delicious, but I don’t think carbing
up on cheese and crackers is mentioned in most marathon training guides!
The start line was at the Albert Dock and baggage was very
well organised at the Echo Arena; a short walk away. I arrived early with a few
of my LRC buddies to see the start of the half marathon at 8AM and was keeping
an eye out for my Sandbach Strider running mates, but couldn’t see anyone
amongst the crowds.
I positioned myself at the start line alongside Thomas
Madden; a 3:30 pacer and friend from LRC. I kept this pace for the first 6
miles or so as the route went through the City Centre passing the Royal Liver
Building and Matthew Street where the world famous Cavern Club is located. The
route then gradually heads uphill, and includes a full lap of Goodison Park;
home of Everton Football Club. By this point it was clear the forecasted
showers weren’t going to arrive soon, and the shadows of the stands at Goodison
Park were a welcome relief from the heat of the sun. I had taken one of the
free Power Bar carb gels which was absolutely disgusting and making me feel a
bit sick too! With all this in mind, I slowed my pace down a little and aims of
a sub 3:30/PB were looking less likely. I chose to let Thomas and the 3:30
group go, who were actually running below 3:30 pace at that time, but
maintained my PB pace of 8:00 minute miles.
The route then headed through Stanley Park before going
through Anfield Road and back through Stanley Park. It was a moving site as
football fans from all clubs touched the Hillsborough memorial at Liverpool
Football Club out of respect for the 96 who lost their lives 25 years ago. It was
a motivational experience running back through the beats of the dance music
blasting out at Stanley Park and at about the 8 mile mark where runners headed
up the first steep hill on St Domingo Road. I have trained up this hill regularly
with LRC but never enjoyed it as much as when I ran on Sunday; the marching
band was perfectly positioned half way up the hill and really did spur you on
up the steep gradient. Once runners reached the top, the postcard skyline view
from Everton Valley was as good as I’ve ever seen it; runners could see right
over the Mersey to the Wirral and the dwarfed view of the Royal Liver Building
gave a grasp of quite how far we’d already come.
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| The view over Liverpool. |
The route then headed back into the city centre and it was
just before the 10 mile mark when my only big criticism of the race would be
found. At this point runners were heading downhill on the right hand side of
the dual carriageway leading into the city. There were no clear markings,
marshals or traffic cones suggesting runners should cross the dual carriageway
at a specific point and access the left hand side of the dual carriageway. If
you failed to take this turn, and realised too late, then runners would be
forced to run into the city, thus adding about 800 metres to the distance. Needless
to say, after missing this turn and running about 100 metres on the right hand
side of the carriageway, I heard shouts of “turn around” and it had become
apparent hundreds of runners should have crossed over. Luckily I had only ran
an additional 200 metres but it could have been much worse as I saw many
runners heading into the city way too far West of the correct route. Adding
such a distance to a marathon can no doubt significantly damage a runners
target time and psychology so I would hope, and expect, that this problem is
fixed next year. I am sure that every
marathon has teething problems in its inaugural year, but this really should
have been foreseen from the organisers and marshalled.
Returning into the city centre, the route passed through Chinatown
where a band was playing Chinese music and the crowds grew. Shortly after,
runners raced up the last big hill of the day at Upper Parliament Street,
almost passing the Anglican Cathedral. I had slowed at this point but knew all
the big climbs were now completed so was happy to cross the half way line in
1:43:57 shortly after. At about 14 miles, the route did a half loop of my local
parkrun at Princes Park in an unfamiliar clockwise direction.
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| The Chinatown gates |
From 16 miles to 20 miles, the route takes in about 4 miles
worth of the picturesque Sefton Park where, barring the city centre, the crowds
were definitely the highest and most supportive. At 17.5 mile and 20 miles I
got a much needed boost from my fiancée, Karen Schofield, as I could feel my
legs tightening and was now counting down the miles until the finish line. I
had started to slow down from 8:00 minute miles to 8:30 miles as I was
determined not to stop running until the finish. It was about mile 21 though
when fellow Sandbach Strider Steve Farnell passed me and I can honestly say
that nobody in the second half of the race who passed me looked as strong as
Steve did. Steve and I offered each other a brief bit of encouragement; much
needed and appreciated on my side, before Steve shot off into the distance. It
was great to see Steve looking so strong and at that point I knew he was due to
smash his PB barring any disaster.
At 22 miles the route headed into the woody Otterspool Park.
Anybody that has ever run the BTR Liverpool Half Marathon in recent years will
know the headwind here can be brutal as runners hit the River Mersey. I was pleasantly
surprised that on this occasion there was no breeze whatsoever. However, the
lack of breeze was replaced by the relentless midday sun of which there was absolutely
no shade. The two water stops at 22 miles and 24 miles seemed a great deal
further apart and, as I’m sure most runners were at this stage in the race, I
was beginning to get really dehydrated. Despite being dehydrated, sunburnt and
a brief moment of cramp in my hamstring, I was continuing to run at maximum 8:45
minute miles and really appreciated the support from Jon Tatham at Mile 25. The
support, as the race headed into that last mile really was incredible and it
was amazing to finish in a time of 3:36:36 after struggling earlier in the
race. That was my second fastest marathon time; second only to Chester in 2011
where I somehow managed to pull a 3:31:12 out of the bag.
I caught up with Steve in the Echo Arena who told me that he
had PB’d with a time of 3:31:11. Despite originally thinking, Steve had
equalled my PB, Steve actually beat my PB by a solitary second, which I’ll have
to use as added motivation if I run another marathon in the near future. Sporting
rivalry aside, I was absolutely delighted for Steve and was yet another
highlight of an amazing day! Steve actually ran a negative split too and to do
that in the heat of the second half was an incredible achievement. I couldn’t
find my other Strider teammates after the run, but a massive well done too to Cheryl
Hutchins, Michael Escolme, Elaine Tatham, Perry Wyatt and Karen Lovatt who also
completed the marathon and to Matt Wood who ran the half marathon distance. Karen managed to knock an incredible 22 minutes off her marathon pb and Matt also got a pb at the half-marathon - a good day at the office all round!
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| Enjoying a post-race free pint of Cobra |
The medal and technical running shirt were amongst the best,
if not the best, I have been given in the 11 marathons I’ve run to date.
Runners got treated to a few pints of complementary Cobra beer too outside the
Echo Arena where the main stage was. The Farm were headlining and it was a
really good atmosphere resting my legs, proudly wearing my medal and sipping my
beer in the sweltering sun to the tune of “All Together Now”. A few of my
friends got their medals engraved with their names and times too.
After the Farm, my LRC running mates and I headed to Thomas
Rigby’s where there were hundreds of runners from the local running clubs all
celebrating an amazing day and achievement. It was in Rigby’s that I received a
message from Jason Bulley who had spotted a photo I posted on Facebook, and it
was that cringe worthy moment when Jason pointed out I had run the whole
marathon with the club vest the wrong way round....... eek! In my defence, I didn’t
get back to Liverpool from my mates wedding until gone 1AM the night before, so
I must have been half asleep putting my race number on! Still, it was probably
(and hopefully!) only Sandbach Striders that would have realised this, as it
had taken until that moment for Jason to point it out. I’m sure I won’t live
that down for a while though!!
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| The bling |
The party at Rigby’s went on into the night although there
was obviously very little dancing from any runner! I have heard R&R have
signed up to Liverpool for the next four years, and if this is true then I will
definitely be on board next year. I’m sure the 10 mile blip in this year’s
marathon will be ironed out as I’ve already seen plenty of feedback on this, and
popularity will grow! All the results were published in the Echo where the race
got a great write up, and the race got plenty of television coverage so
hopefully this will be the start of a growing event!
For more information visit the race website.
Paul B.