Race Day 5 - Brathay Windermere Marathon

Another week, another marathon. This week the Brathay Windermere Marathon, one of the toughest courses in Europe, 26.2 miles around England's largest lake with 2,500ft of climbing and a serious dose of man flu to boot, not that there's any dose of man flu that isn't serious! It is an irrefutable scientific fact that man flu is more painful than childbirth*. More men die each year from MFN (Man Flu Neglect) than lots and lots of other things (like rabbit attacks or choking on toast). Every minute in this country one man is struck down by man flu. Women, all we ask is that each of you offers them a cup of tea or coffee, some kind words and your undivided attention and care. Then maybe, just maybe, we'll beat this monstrous disease together.

* Based on a survey of over 100,000 men.

Ater the Three Forts Challenge and the Halstead & Essex Marathon, I thought I would be getting used to hilly courses...not so much! Turns out that hills are evil! They must be stopped! Calling the course "undulating" is a serious understatement! The course is consistently undulating with some MASSIVE hills around 7, 14 and 21 miles, where Sherpas should have been involved!

After last weeks pretty spectacular blow up around mile 15, I was determined that the same thing wasn't going to happen again. Having done some bedtime reading on the course, tactics were adjusted accordingly. Unfortunately, the new and improved tactics didn't take any of my man flu requirements into account. There was no extra time built in for sneezing, hacking up of lungs or throwing up (turns out throwing up and running should not be attempted at the same time!) I also didn't account for Billy the Blister returning around the 12 mile mark. I haven't seen Billy in a couple of years and my has he grown!

The undulations on the course seemed to be set up perfectly to ensure that there was a large hill at the beginning and end of every mile, meaning that every mile consisted of falling behind the required pace on the initial hill, working hard to get the time back for the rest of the mile and then working even harder to keep it on the final hill of the mile. The course really is brutal, not just in terms of the hills but the hardest sections seem to hit you just when mentally you need them the least. This year 18 brave people ran this course every day for 10 consecutive days, finishing yesterday with the main marathon! Absolutely amazing and yet more people putting me to shame!

I think it was Henry Ward Beecher who said "It's easier to go down a hill than up it but the view is much better at the top". Can't argue with the man! I thought last weeks scenery was beautiful but the Lake District is just stunning! Home to an annual Easter trip with the soon-to-be White's and the not-quite-so-soon-to-be-but-soonish-to-be Matthews' I should remember this but what do you expect when you rent a house that's attached to a pub! 26.2 miles of beer haze free running really was a great way to see such a beautiful part of the world.

All in all, a wonderful marathon, beautiful scenery, challenging course, fantastic marshalling and organization and a brilliant atmosphere. A nice touch at the end was that friends and family were allowed to jump in and run the last steep hill up to the finish line. Elise, Mike and the wee man (who has a surprising turn of pace on him for a small fella) definitely gave me a boost for the sprint finish, where Ma and Pa Campbell were waiting to capture a few less than flattering photos just after finishing. Only negative was that the mile markers were out by about 0.2 miles with the difference tagged on at the end, meaning that I missed my target of sub-3:50 by just over a minute. Official time was 3:51:12 which was good enough for 199th place. It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit.

A massive thank you to the Campbell Clan (Ma, Pa, Elise, Mike, Tyler and Bella) for coming along for the day out and helping with support, post race recovery and beer supply J

Next week, the Edinburgh Marathon. The only remaining "easy" marathon and weather permitting (i.e. not like last year where it was so bad that even the race winner stopped for a wee break) a chance for a PB. With £500 on offer for charity if I can post a sub-3:20. Let's hope that the body recovers and I can really give it a good go.