Beyond all Expectations!

Last weekend was a nervous but exciting weekend. Sunday brought the Manchester Marathon, which, as mentioned in my previous page, I hoped to sneak under the 2Hr45 qualifying time for London Marathon UK Athletics Championship entry next year (hopefully amongst several others too). Everything I am wanting to do next year relies on this 1 race!

Original plans were to travel down to Manchester on the bus with Dave and crew, since I had lost the hotel room I booked (or thought I'd booked...Long Story!). Unfortunately my Dad, who was supposed to be running, has become injured and was unable to run but every cloud does have its silver lining, as it meant he sacrificed his bed in his hotel room for me :) This was good news since it meant I could chill out much more the night before and morning of the race...even if it did mean putting up with these 3!...: haha They certainly supplied some entertainment that's for sure! (Sorry Marie.. I may be being a little harsh. You may be the only sane one of the group!)

With the risk of not being able to get in anywhere for decent pre-race food in Manchester, we decided to stop off in Chorley on the way and ate at a little Italian called The Italian Cottage, which was superb and would highly recommend to anyone doing the same thing in future Manchester Marathons, for a hassle-free carbo load! Plus dishes were only £5 before 7pm!

The Race!

Race day soon hit us. We awoke bright and early in order to get our breakfast down in plenty of time for it to digest. I had my usual pre-race ritual of 1 cinnamon and raisin bagel and a banana - Cant beat it! Easy on the stomach and not too heavy - I couldn't afford any risk of toilet stops on route today!

Following toilet stops, we checked out the hotel and made our way to the race village. There was all sorts going on at race village but I just wanted to get myself to the start and get ready for the race, so I dropped my bag off at the baggage drop, and tried to find my way! I thought I had read somewhere that there would be signs up to navigate runners from the race village to their designated start zones. There was absolutely none! The steward did say that they would take us around there once the warm up session had been completed by the stage, but I didn't want to wait in case I jeopardised my starting position (since I had been placed in the wrong start zone anyway) 

I eventually found my way to the start, following a little warm up jog all over the place. I was supposed to be in the Orange zone however this was for runners expecting to run over 3 hours. The sub 3 hour zone was white. This meant getting into the white zone early and hoping no one kicked me out! Dave soon turned up too so I wasn't the only orange amoungst the whites!

Despite a few funny looks from some of the runners with the correct bib colour for their respective predicted times, no body actually said anything and we managed to stay in that start position. We wern't too far far the front. Maybe around 10 meter or so however the number of people in that 10 meter was massive! We were like sardines in a tin!

Before we knew it, the wheel chair entries were off, leaving just 5 minutes for us to prepare for the mass start, ditching the cheap hoody and forgetting about how much I could squeeze out another pee! Soon enough and all of a sudden I heard the words " and we're off" and a rather loud gun shot made me jump out my skin. 12 seconds later, me and Dave were over the line!

It was hard running for the first several hundred meters or so, trying to weave in and out of fellow runners without tripping myself or anyone else up, but we found our way to the outside edge which allowed us to make our way towards the front of the herd! By half a mile was covered, we were nicely away from the main bunch, running at what felt to be a comfortable pace, looking at my watch though had me thinking of slowing down and holding back a little before I blew up after 5k!! 

Dave was off like the clappers over the first couple of mile! I had to tell myself not to try too hard to stay with him. I had to run my own race, so he drifted away in front for a little while. Soon enough we were back together though and I stayed with him for a little while before getting onto the back of a group which pulled me away. Its amazing how much running in a little group pushes your pace up without feeling much extra effort! I stayed with this group until the first water station where I found myself move to the front of the group and the others slown down a little which left me with the choice to slow down too or have a little push in order to get onto the back of the next little group of 3 or 4 runners (including the first female runner - what a cracking pace she had on her...in her first EVER marathon!!). 

I stayed with that group for roughly another 2 mile. It made me feel great! All the spectators were going mental for her and I pretended in my head they were cheering for me! :) haha The 4 mile marker took us up a very small incline back past the start line where the group seemed to slow down a little. I maintained my pace and then found myself between groups again, running on my own. The below picture is an official picture taken around the 4 mile mark (I was feeling a lot fresher than i looked!):

I hung around for a little while, indecisive of what to do. Do I maintain pace and hope the group behind catch up, do I run on my own or do I make my way to the next group, 300 yards up the road? Half a mile later of maintaining pace, I found myself naturally making ground on the group in front. The gap was now only roughly 100 yards, but the group behind were further away, so I bit the bullet and decided to make the effort to get to the group, despite running at a pace much quicker than I had intended to run! I've never raced a marathon before as such, so all that kept going through my head was everyones advice online being "dont go off too quick", "hold some in the tank for a negative split", etc. I quite blatently ignored this, however did expect in the back of my mind to suffer for it later on in the race. If I didn't give it my all, I would never know my capabilities. Its all experience after all! 

The exact same thing happened with the next group. I hung around for a couple of mile, and then they seemed to taper off the speed a little and again I made the decision to make it to the next group. This group being the group which provided me with exactly what I needed! It felt like I was hanging on the back of this group of 4 of us for a couple of miles. I could feel that, at times, I had to put a level of effort in to keep up with them, which I didn't feel too completely comfortable with at this stage in the race. I hung in though and got into the rhythm. We then got to the next water station and I found myself at the front again alongside Barlic Fell Runner Chris Singleton. We maintained the pace we were running at and found ourselves running next to each other until the 16 mile point dropping the others behind! 

We found ourselves through the half marathon point in 1:15. All that was going through my head was "surely I can't keep this up! At least I now have 15 mins to play with in order to get my championship entry time!", but we seemed to just keep going. 

Soon enough we found ourselves get to the 16 mile point and I think we were both starting to feel the effects of the pace. We were a few hundred metres away from the next runner and Chris said to me "go on mate, use them! Don't wait up for me!". I kind of chuckled and said "I can't keep this up!"..but I did what he said and upped the pace a little. I was now on my own. I didn't want to push so much that I blew up once I got to the next guy, so it probably took half mile to a mile or so in order to catch him up. I sat in behind him for a few seconds but decided to just keep the pace going and see what happened. I had time on my side!

The same thing happened several times for the rest of the race. Picking people out in front and trying my hardest to catch them up. There was a few people which had clearly blew up or injured themselves around the 20 mile marker and struggled on. I had to try my hardest not to join them in their dark hole!

The last 10km was HARD! I had got myself into a good position and didn't want to let it go. Again I could see people in front but it was getting harder and harder to catch them. I got cramp again at 23 mile! This is becoming a frequent issue for me when racing. Always getting cramp at 22-24 mile! It doesn't happen in training. I certainly need to sort that out! Maybe need even more electrolytes, more fuel, more or less water...I don't know :(. 

After the cramp kicked in, it was a matter of holding on for the remaining 5km. I had my two slowest miles at 5.59 min/mile pace but was still catching runners up front. Not a chance was I allowing myself to slow down and have a poor last mile. I was going to finish before that guy in front! 

Mile 25 beeped through on the clock so I decided to have a good word with myself and dig deep. I upped the pace slightly but the cramp was getting worse and more frequent. I had to adjust my running form, just to be able to keep running. I became the worst heel striker in Manchester! Pointing my toes up to the sky to keep the calf muscles under tension, I powered through, passing one of the elites who was in difficulties. He passed some words of encouragement and then the crowds came into sight. 

The spectators were going absolutely mental. They could tell I was making ground on the guy in front. All I could here was cheers and people shouting "GO ON GRANT!", "YOU CAN CATCH HIM!". Word of advice...If you want encouragement in a marathon, get your name printed on your running vest! The support was phenomenal! 

I turned the last corner and the support got even better. I upped the pace again. The pain got worse but I didn't care. 100 meter of pain and it was all over. In the end I dug deeper and deeper, running in the worst form possible, but I managed to pass the runner in front with about 10 meter to go and clocked home in 12th position and and time of 2hour 31 mins. 

 As you can tell from the photo...I was sore! The moment I stopped running my muscles stiffened up and stopped working. But, despite all of this, I felt on top of the world! Not only had I ran a massive personal best, I had smashed 14 minutes off my goal time. That's over 30 seconds per mile! Knock that much off again and I am running a sub 2.20 elite qualifier....Maybe some day! ;) 

That race has put a lot of things into perspective for me. I achieved something which, in the current condition I am in, I did not think was possible. I completely underestimated myself and did not realise the potential I had. I haven't trained specifically for a marathon. I've been putting some high(ish) miles in, but have been doing very little speed work. Things have just started to fall into place. It's given me a massive confidence boost...probably much needed!

I am currently UK u23 no 1 for the marathon this year! :)

Post marathon, I have ended up being contacted by several running clubs and groups which had noticed that I am not part of any club. Clubs include Barrick Fell Runners, Salford Harriers, Lancaster & Morcombe, etc, all wanting me to join them! But..to top it off...on Wednesday I was contacted by Great British Olympian, Helen Clitheroe - European 3000m champion. She has invited me to join her training group based in Preston, which holds athletes such as Stu Robinson (2.22 marathoner) and Chris Livesey (northern 5000m champion and 5th at the national indoor 1500m). 

This year could be a massive turning point for me in my running, now that I have decided to take it more seriously. I best get prepared to take it even more seriously and wait to see the outcome! Onwards and Upwards! :)

To finish...when in Manchester, it would be rude not to get a post race selfie with the theatre of dreams!! And celebrate in style!