"If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far, go together"...
photo credit: Positivelyrunning.com
It had been 3 months since my previous marathon and the decision to take a pause given the restrictions imposed. I had found the two virtual marathons hard with minimal support and the buzz of the race day, and with people’s minds elsewhere I had decided to hold back for a little bit.
Work was extremely busy too, with demand for Sands’ services increasing rapidly, but set against a backdrop of fewer charitable donations, it was a tough couple of months, but I wanted to get the 15 in 15 challenge back up and running again - literally - and to promote Sands’ important work to save babies’ lives and provide better care for those who need it most. we were up to £2,900 on the back of some really generous donations at the online quiz I had hosted in April.
In terms of fitness in the first few weeks I had worked hard on shorter and faster distances, complementing Joe Wickes’ workouts and plenty of family walks through the woods. I was pleased I had been able to complete new PBs for 5k (finally breaking 23m30s) and 10 miles (under 1h22m). I had built up in late June and early July to some good times for 13-20 miles in my training runs, and decided to really go for a sub-4 hour marathon. having lost a lot of weight in the previous six months I felt this was an achievable, if challenging, goal, having hit 4h04 in one of the virtual marathons in April, on the back of 4h08 in Kent in February and 4h14 in Gloucester in January.
I chose a course which I felt would benefit this challenge, a 5 mile route around Winchester which, starting at 7am on a Saturday, would be reasonably clear at least for the first two hours, and would provide a good meeting point for us to meet at the end, in the cathedral grounds. It was also a course I knew well having completed some strong training runs there during May and June. I pulled a few friends on board to support the effort and was heartened by their enthusiasm for the challenge.
I set off on the short journey to Winchester at 6.15am and knew we were in for a good day as the local radio station was playing Electric Light Orchestra’s Mr Blue Sky, which had become the theme tune for the last few marathons.
It was a warm start to the day as I met with my brother in law Pete at the 'starting line' at the bottom of the picturesque St Catherine's Hill. He is training for his first ever marathon and will be joining me at the New Forest Marathon in September, assuming it goes ahead. He was planning to stay with me for 3 or 4 laps, up to 20 miles, and would provide more than helpful encouragement along the way. Another friend, Nick, who was training for his first triathlon later in the summer, came to join us for the first 5 mile lap.
With Nick and Pete at the start line
We set off at planned pace, along the river path and into the city, past the Cathedral and past St Cross, a historical hospital and church/abbey with a lot of meaning for our family, where parents and grandparents had been married, and where baptisms and funerals had taken place, including 94 year old grandad last year. It was hard not to think of them, and their own journey of loss, each time I went past. Thankfully bereavement care has advanced considerably since their own loss in 1950 but as I run past each lap it serves as an important reminder to keep striving for high standards in the role I and Sands play. Up the long but not too steep incline up to the roundabout and down the spectacular old viaduct which is now a cycle path and footpath, ideal for runners after the 1/2 mile climb.
I used the car as a drinks table, stopping each time just to stretch briefly, take on board an energy gel and water, and change running partners, all the while keeping the watch running to ensure a genuine 'elapsed' time rather than an 'moving' time which has become hotly debated in recent online discussions. I was pleased to keep up with 9 minute mile pace as planned, thanked Nick for his kindness in supporting the journey, and welcomed Suzie to the run. Suzie and Kev (who joined later) have been our greatest supporters thus far, joining us at every marathon bar one! Suzie is a speed machine, but paced me and Pete really well, as we went round for lap two, and encouraged me to pick up my feet a bit more as she could hear them dragging a little at around mile 8. We completed the second lap in a similar time, less than 44 minutes, so with another short pitstop I was off for lap 3, this time with Charlie.
Charlie and Sean are good friends of ours whom we got to know a few years ago, shortly after their daughter Tilly was stillborn. Tilly is often in my thoughts when we meet up as families or run together, and it made the marathon extra special that Charlie could run with me and Pete too. It was a good reminder why I am doing this challenge - yes for personal achievement but predominantly to raise awareness and raise funds for Sands, to support the core aims of reducing the number of babies who die through stillbirth and neonatal death, and to improve care and support for those who need it most.. Currently there are 14 families a day who suffer the devastation of a baby who has died, and it brings it so much closer to home when it’s a close friend or family member. Charlie is a real encourager who has supported the challenge over the last year and is part of our Thrive Runners WhatsApp group so it was great to have her with me on lap 3 especially as we’d not seen each other for a while during lockdown. We kept on the same pace and on this lap I knew we were on for a good time because we passed the half marathon time at just less than 1h56, meaning that I needed to run the second half in less than 2h04 to break the elusive four hour target!
Kev then joined me for lap 4 and Pete was feeling strong enough to carry on for a fourth lap which was great. The sun was getting really warm by now as we approached 10am, and the repetitive pounding of mile after mile was beginning to hit at the end of this lap. However with Kev pushing the pace onwards, running a few yards ahead of me, we reached 20 miles at 2h59m, so I knew I had exactly an hour to do the final 6.2 miles or 10k.
Pete left us at this point having achieved his own personal best of 20 miles running, and was looking strong up until 18 miles at least, so I have no doubt he’ll do really well at the New Forest Marathon in a few weeks’ time. It was a nice surprise that Kev then continued with me, as I thought he would leave at that point and I’d be left for a couple of miles until I would meet Jayne at the cathedral at around 22 miles for the final push. It was great that he carried on with me, it meant that I ran the entirety of the marathon alongside someone and the African Proverb was coming true - if you want to run long, run together. This was really crucial as it turned out, as I was beginning to flag at this point. We met Suzie, Jayne and the children in the cathedral grounds, and was great to have their cheers in my ears as I left with Jayne for the last 4 miles around the final, shorter lap. We were still on track, but each mile was getting a little slower so there wasn’t much to spare.
Kev and Suzie - incredible Sands supporters
Jayne spent the first few minutes telling me about a chance meeting she and Suzie had had whilst waiting for me. Wearing their Sands t-shirts they had been approached by someone who was keen to talk about the work of Sands, as it turns out her husband is Sands’ national chair of trustees! So a huge shout-out and thank you to the Reichardt family for their kindness, encouragement and sponsorship. This really encouraged me to keep going over those last tortuous miles. Although I am used to that feeling having run 8 marathons in the past 10 months, there is a point when it really hits you. I was glad this time it was at 24 miles, where previously it had been at any point between 16 and 20.
There were a couple of points where I felt I was going to just stop completely and really needed Jayne to pick me up and keep me going. I just wanted a minute to stop and breathe, but I think she knew how grumpy I’d be if I were to miss out on the 4 hour target by just a few seconds, so it was fantastic to have her with me willing me on and almost literally picking me off the floor with a mile and a half to go.
We kept going and came round the final bend to enter the bottom of the High Street, past King Alfred’s statue for the 5th and final time, but soon realised that I was going to be finishing at about 26 miles not 26.2. So we had to do some circling around a couple of side streets until we were confident I would meet the official length. This was a bit of a killer - as with most things in life if you think you’re about to finish then someone tells you that you need to go an extra mile - or extra fifth of a mile - it can be a real mental drain - but as I could see some friends and family in their socially distanced groups on the Cathedral Green I was determined to finish with a flourish. Our daughters had brought a Sands’ flag which acted as a finish tape and I burst through it with 31 seconds to spare in a time of 3.59.29.
I was so thrilled but literally couldn’t move, the legs had completely seized up more than any other marathon as it had been such an effort to get to the target time. I leant against a tree for what felt like an eternity, with a mix of elation and exhaustion.
As it was my own marathon I didn’t have an official medal but I had bought a ‘thank you NHS’ one online which seemed apt and Jayne did the honours in front of Kev, Suzie and Nick who had rejoined us at the end. A little while later I did manage to stumble into Greggs for a sandwich and a coffee and it was great to debrief and thank the team for supporting me on and off the course. There's no way I'd have dipped under 4 hours without them.
Medal Ceremony
We travelled home and after a shower, restoring foot massage from my daughter and a traditional celebratory pint of Badger we spent the afternoon relaxing and it was great that my parents could swing by to join us for tea in the sunshine.
As a result of the marathon we had pushed the total up to over £3,200, and subsequently with facebook fundraisers for mine and Pete’s birthdays in the summer we are now over £3,500. I cannot thank our sponsors enough! The link is here for those who'd like to donate to the cause.
The marathon was a great reminder that friends and supporters are so vital to keep us going. It is so much harder to go it alone. Whilst I would never claim to be an elite athlete it was mentioned on more than one occasion that it was akin to Kipchoge’s sub-2 hour marathon world record from a few months ago, where pace-setters helped him along the way to achieve his goal. Every small detail helped - good training, planning a route and being familiar with it, laying out gels and waters in the boot of the car ready, running the last lap with my wife, all of these things added vital seconds to get under that 4h barrier. I remember listening to Sir Clive Woodward on England's rugby World Cup success of 2003 - it's the combination of the small details, the one percents, that can make the biggest difference. On top of this every encouragement helped - be that good luck messages on the morning, kudos on Strava leading up to the run, the kindness of strangers during the run itself - the encouragement of the Reichardts was enormous, as were the cheers of some of those sat in the cathedral grounds as I ran the last 100 metres.
So onwards to the New Forest Marathon and number 10 of 15. At the time of writing we are hoping it will go ahead, it has moved date and location to Wimborne St Giles in Dorset on Saturday 19 September. Sadly no spectators are allowed on the course, in order to ensure that it goes ahead whilst retaining a COVID-secure atmosphere. It will be great to run with a proper running number on for the first time since February. I will be running with Pete so hopefully our mutual support and encouragement will be enough to keep each other going, as we will miss the support of friends and family; as the Winchester Marathon showed, that fantastic quote is so true: “if you want to run fast, run solo. If want to run long, run together”. And that chimes with one of Sands’ core aims of being there anyone affected by the death of a baby for as long as is needed.
The truth is, I managed to run both long and fast, (well, fast for me at least) and achieve one of my lifetime aims, with a little help from my friends.
