Back at the Chester Marathon, after 12 years! I last did this in 2013, as part of my "13 Marathons in 2013" fundraising challenge, which was my first multi-marathon year. I remembered enjoying the event back then (confirmed by my blog for it!), and, as it's near to my roots and my parents, it was a good opportunity for a road trip home!
The drive down from Scotland on Friday during Storm Amy was wild! 😬 But turns out, we left home just in time, as the power was out all weekend, and a tree blew down in the garden!
Having escaped the storm, we had a great weekend road trip, and visited some old favourite haunts on the way; Sizergh Castle and Morcambe.
The marathon was on the Sunday, and the event starts and ends at Chester Racecourse on the banks of the River Dee. In Roman times, this was a harbour, but eventually, the area silted up, and by the early 16th century, horse racing started to be held on the site, with the consent of the Mayor at the time - Henry Gee - that's where the term "the gee-gees" comes from! 🐎
The marathon is so well organised, it is an excellent event. Plenty of water stops with brilliant volunteers along a very picturesque route, which starts with a small loop of the beautiful old city, with amazing crowds.
The route then heads out over the River Dee and into the countryside, along pretty lanes and through villages, which also all had great crowds.
At the water stop about 3 miles in, a man running next to me, who was a good foot and a half taller than me, decided that rather than drinking his water, he would pour it over himself (I'm not sure why, as it had recently been raining, and wasn't particularly warm), and therefore me. Due to the height difference, this created the effect of having an actual shower, all the way down to my previously nicely dry trainers. I shot him a reproachful glare, which hit him somewhere around chest height, and therefore had absolutely no impact whatsoever, and squelched off towards Wales, which we reached just before mile 10. We ran in Wales for about 7 miles. The road signs were then all in English and in Welsh, and running along the right hand side of the road, the words on the road were all upside down, and I misread SLOW ARAF for SLOW AR** , which I thought was a bit rude, frankly.
Storm Amy was still blowing a bit of a hoolie, so I soon dried off from my shower.
There were some great signs and cheering along the way, including my favourites:
- You're nearly there! (2 miles in)
- Keep lifting your knees up for the next hour and a half!
- Sweaty but slaying it!
- Who needs toenails!
- Whine now, wine later!
After 17 miles, it was back into England, and a few undulations towards the end, which is always a nice suprise just as you're getting tired, but for the last couple of miles the crowds are so loud, and the last half mile along the river is magic, so the finish is absolutely brilliant!
You get a lovely medal, a goody bag full of all sorts of goodies, and a long sleeved running top perfect for winter, all in my favourite colour - Caribbean turquoise! 🩵 I was happy to have beaten my finish time from 2013 (I finished in 3:42:07), it was good to see some running pals at the event, and I very much enjoyed it; so it was altogether an excellent day.
Afterwards, the road trip continued to Chorley for a family Lomax catch up, with black forest roulade and whiskey!🍒🤎🥃
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