Beachy Head Marathon

I'm not racing.  With the new baby, the training has been consistent just not long.  So the plan is to go out and run gently and enjoy the marathon.  No heroics, relax and enjoy the scenery.

But this is the brutal Beachy Head Marathon.  The first half is a bit up and down, but enjoyable especially in the Vivo Barefoots.  The fast half is in around 2:10, but that's cool, I'm chilling and enjoying.  There's been hills, but I've dug in and crawled up them.

I've a little pain in the left foot.  The stony rocky paths are taking their toll on my left foot with the Vivo Barefoots.  But in terms of a relaxed movement, the super flat footwear experiencing the surface is working well.

Then the second half kicks in.  I had planned to run the whole lot, but suddenly sometime after mile 13, I have to walk, you can't run up this kind of hill.  And that is how it continues for the next 13 miles.  These hills are like nothing I have ever experienced.  As a one of challenge, I'd struggle to run up a single one of them.  As a series of about 10 at the end of a marathon????

It's all right though.  Everyone around me is walking.  And to be honest walking is a real struggle.  We all battle on, encouraging each other on.  We walk up the hills, and shuffle down the other side.

Eventually after much slogging there is a big downhill into the finish (we ran up it on the way out).  I look and see the clock is a couple of minutes short of 5 hours.  A nice round mark, but there's no way I can make it there.  I say to the woman next to me
"Hope you weren't looking for under 5"
The marshall says, if you sprint you''ll make it.
Suddenly it dawns on me that it may be possible.  I look at the crowd, count 3-2-1 and then open up full speed.  As I cross the line I markedly point at the clock to show I made it under 5 hours.

I see the woman the other side of the finish and apologise for my idiotic comments.

I love running, but somehow this was different especially the second half.  I'm proud of the way, I dug in and made it home.  But it wasn't through running excellence, more by walking/hiking.  Which is good, but I'm exploring the athletic envelope at the moment.

42km 4"59:50