Excalibur Trail Marathon 2015 - 1st

Excalibur is a trail marathon in the Clwydian hills for the Claire House charity. It's pretty tough as trail marathons go with 1700m ascent or about 5500ft. The highest point is 500 and odd meters but lots of short sharp climbs soon add up! Trails are fairly easy going, a few bits of rocks here and there some grassy fields but on the whole good tracks. Lots of well stocked checkpoints and course markings and marshals were fantastic! Really well organised too! 

On the day it was pretty warm and there was a quick kit check before a briefing. The race also has a half marathon option which shares the same start for about 1 mile. It was great to catch up with plenty of friends who were doing the various races once again! From the start there was about 7 of us in a small group, I was having a glance around at the numbers to see who was doing the half and who was doing the marathon, turns out at the split everyone else turned on to the half route so I was alone leading the marathon. After a couple of minutes just before a steady ascent on a wide trail I heard some heavy breathing and some loud feet then had a couple of runners on my shoulder. A little bit of chat and it seemed like they were working quite hard to maintain the pace up the climb. As we reached the top I moved ahead and began to create a gap.

In terms of pacing I'd expected to take about a minute per mile off my time from 2014 which I won in 4.03. On a good day and a bit of effort something around 3.30 would be possible. For today I expected a little slower than that around about 3.40 with the upcoming Bolton Hilly Marathon and Scafell Pike Marathon on the 6/7th June. I wasn't really sure on any particular split times from last year but felt like I was moving well. It was great to see Laura and David from Sport Sunday taking photos on the course! Excellent and supportive as always! www.sportsunday.co.uk has all the official photos! 

The course is pretty consistently up and down, not many flat sections, I'd say 4 bigger climbs but plenty of shorter sharper ones to go at too in between. After a few miles the  course joins back to the half marathon runners so I was gradually moving through the field which was nice to have people to chat to during the run. Everyone was very encouraging and seemed to be enjoying the day! As we reached about half way at the furthest point of the course I could see 2nd place in the distance so kept the pace on over the next few miles so he didn't get any ideas. 

The longest climb coming up from about 20 miles to 22.5 miles I thought would be an ideal point to put a bit of effort in and make sure there was still a good gap. I looked back from the top and thought I must have about 3 minutes to play with. Knowing the route, it undulates another 2 miles before Moel Famau. I kept a steady pace and enjoyed the final miles towards Moel Famau just shy of 2 miles from the finish and all down hill from here. I had a quick chat at the checkpoint there and looked back... Would I need a sprint finish? .... No sign of 2nd place so I must have had a couple of minutes gap at least. I jogged it down to the finish knowing that for someone to make up a minute per mile on me (or more) whilst I was doing just under 7 min miles would be a big ask.  

I finished in 3.42 so about 21 minutes quicker than last year. I knew it'd be a quicker time than 2014 and was around about where I expected. I also ran 20km the week before taking in the bigger climbs of the route and even at a comfortable pace was quick on all the ascents compared to the previous year so I was confident on my prediction. I'd also picked up a 2nd place in the Harrock hill 8.5km race during the week which was my best time there too. I didn't realise how hot it was on the day and should have taken some electrolytes in hindsight. 

If you're after a tough but friendly and well supported trail marathon, this is one to look at! 

Bolton Hilly Marathon Double 2014

A really well organised trail marathon with about 800m ascent, it's fairly local to me and the nearest thing you  could get away with calling a 'hill' to where I live. I could remember the course from last year (it was only a single marathon last year, had a good race then too, set the course record with 3 hours 22 min) so this year they made it TWICE AS MUCH FUN with 2 days! There was a stronger, larger field and it was a bit more muddy, same great organisation, Phil and the team were perfect as far as I could see! Lots of support at the finish as runners jogged/ skipped/ sprinted/ collapsed over the finish line! Thanks to everyone involved with making it a great event!

Since the Spine (268 miles along the Pennine Way)  in January, training has been going great, most weekends have involved a Saturday trail race of about 10km and a park run in the morning on heavily fatigued legs, totalling around 30km and a Sunday run around 25-40km around the Bolton Hilly route and surrounding area. Adding to a midweek 30-40 km run and some shorter faster runs seems to have worked well.



As for the race, on day 1 I started out in about 5th as the first 5km climbs up Coal Pit road towards the mast on Winter Hill before a good quick descent down the mast road to the first CP about 10km in. I didn't check the watch at all during the race on either day, I figured if I felt good and was running well and I know the course and how far to go, I don't need to see any data from the watch. After the CP the course follows Georges lane which is cobbled and quite exciting to run on, I moved up a place here before crossing Sheep house lane and the muddiest part of the course across the moor for a short distance to hit a farm track where I had now jumped up a few more places and was feeling good.

There's a small hill before hitting the 12 mile CP (and 16 mile checkpoint - runners do a loop to arrive back here after White Coppice) still moving well I had an incredible urge to check the watch for time but resisted, quite a quick section here before arriving back at the CP where I was apparently 4 min 30 away from the lead I grabbed a bottle of water, how exciting.... next up the course weaves along a couple of reservoirs in the trees and is pretty scenic once again, it's a relatively fast section.

By the time I hit the 21 mile point passing the cafe and nearing the school below the Pike I had closed down the gap to 60 seconds and a friendly cheer from Jo and Mia who were doing a great job cheering some of us runners on course! There is a bit of a climb back up towards Georges lane and I could see the leader and seemed to be closing him down. After the climb I put a good pace in towards the aid station at 22ish miles before a short muddy climb to cross the mast road and the final descent/ last couple of miles to the finish. I put a good pace in on the down hill and was moving really well after taking the lead at the aid station, the downhill training seems to have paid off recently too! It's a fun descent where you can let the legs roll before hitting a set of steps and the final 800m along a road and into the park where the finish line awaits.

After day 1 I headed to the gym for a shower and did a mobility session which left the legs feeling great and ready for....

Day 2.

Day 2 was the same course exactly and started in a similar fashion I was a few places back from the front initially with the addition of some runners doing the single day to keep us double runners on our toes.

It felt like my heart rate was up slightly compared to Saturday although my legs felt better on day 2.
Looking back on day 2 I should have consumed some more energy during the race perhaps as I actually noticed there was a bit of a climb at the 21 mile point this time! ;)
I think time wise I was 3 mins down over the first half and 2 mins down over the 2nd half  compared to day 1.  Happy with that.

As I mentioned the marshals were great and the route was well marked there was a lot of people dotted  around the course supporting friends and family which was great to see! Looks like a great time was had by all (perhaps aside from one or two people with achy legs) Well done to all involved! Great to catch up with a lot of friends and share the weekend!

Post day 2 finish. Overall winners trophy on the left! A WHOPPER!

Double results here
http://www.reason8.com/shared/images/content/bus_36434/pdf/BHM_Double_Marathon_Results.pdf

Legs have coped well, a steady running week before getting the intensity up for some 'proper' races (haha... I mean ultras) soon!