Shrewsbury Marathon

Well just got back from a camping weekend just outside Shrewsbury. The aim was to enter a fairly flatish fastish road marathon to try to qualify for London Marathon next year. They have recently changed the GFA criteria so it means completing the race in 3:05 now rather than the 3:10 that it historically has been.

The caveat in favour of the organisers was that this was the first time that they had run the event. That is actually the only positive thing I can say about the race! The race although advertised as flat was anything but.

It was a cold drizzly day and they held us on the start line for 20 minutes, getting colder and colder. Most people were shivering and a lot of abuse was starting to be hurled in the direction of the organisers tent. Essentially the called everyone to the start before they were ready and then decided to clear the course when they realised they weren't ready. Muppets.

This was a 4 lap course with a half marathon started after the main race. This lead to absolute confusion and congestion out on the route as they had decided to make the course so tight in places that at some points you could only run 2 abreast. Great when you were catching the half marathoners. The feedback provided by most people on runners world says it all. The so called and self proclaimed 'experienced events company' managed to balls up pretty much everything.

Due to the above I reluctantly finished in 3:06:12. 72 seconds off qualifying. Still I had a nice weekend camping with the family so not all bad. It also was good to test how training was going with a road run.

Baslow Boot Bash

Ok so recovery was good after the LBC but with some stiffness. I learnt loads and so was keen to complete another and not screw up the 2nd half this time. I recce'd the route over 2 days the previous weekend with Simon so roughly knew where we were going. The weather on the day was great again and off we went. The start was quite quick, quicker than I thought that it would be so I fitted in about a dozen or so bag. It had good trails all the way round but some of people took odd short cuts on direct road sections which seems not in keeping with the type of event this is.

This course has a sting in the tale as you'll see from the elevation below, so if you're planning it in the future save some for that. Really enjoyed the course and the people on route. The weather was stunning and made the day. Energy was perfect all the way round and I felt strong and consistent on the whole run. Happy after 2 weeks ago. There is a section running through a bluebell field near the end that is stunning. I'll be back next year. Hopefully to go slightly quicker!