The day after... Bolton Hill Marathon.

This is the first time I have turned up at a marathon feeling half dead from running a 40k run the day before, but hey at least I turned up to give it a go. The drive up at just over an hour really helped the legs get ready for the run as did the brutal ascent from the gun.

Still with that out of the way, its pretty much downhill to the finish. Oh bar the sting in the tail which is with 8 km from the end and gives welcome relief to the joints even if the heart is making a bid for freedom.

The trails are rugged awkward stone set mostly, with some muddy bits and some tough steep road descents. Views were incredible all the way round.

Really pleased to get round this course with tired legs, although I did spend a worrying amount of time thinking that this was a stupid idea and not wanting to ever run again. Those thoughts stopped with about 3 km to go and following hobbling to a bench near the finish line a sense of elation bathed the battered body.

2 down, plenty more to go!

Shoe Choice: Nike Icarus. Happy with the choice.
Stats. Distance: 41.7 km  Elevation: 0.9 km  Total Dist: 81.7 km  Total Elevation: 1.75 km