Race report by Gareth
Palma marathon race report!
Sunday saw Chris, Paul & myself tackle the warm & toasty Palma de Mallorca marathon. I think it’s fair to say we were all quite nervous about the weather, on the lead up to race day it was forecast storms (rubbish weather for running a marathon) only to be replaced on race day with heat, sun, humidity & 25 degrees (equally rubbish weather for
running a marathon).
A nice an early 8:05 start time, means being up at 5 ish for bowel movements & breakfast, yes Paul actually ate something before amarathon for the first time 🤣. A mile or so stroll in the dark is a strange way to start a race but it made for a great & unique atmosphere, especially seeing the stunning Palma Cathedral lit up.
We were soon underway along with the half marathoners on the 2 lap course, the first 5K was very crowded & quite difficult to get into a rhythm but thankfully it thinned after the first aid station. It’s a varied course with 2 distinct sections, long flat straight out & back
sections along the beautiful marina combined with zig zagging up & down through the historic town x2. By far the best thing about starting with the half marathoners was being able see & support fellow
Lostockers doing the half, Chris ran with Janet for a while & Paul & Hazel ran together for a few miles, thankfully Hazel didn’t kill Paulfor throwing water over her but I believe it was a close call 🤣. Seeing Janet, Matt & George out on course & cheering each other on was
great buzz, as was seeing Paul & Chris on the out & back sections.
As the sun got higher in the sky the heat intensified & we were met with the spirit sapping sign pointing the marathoners on to the second lap whilst the half marathoners came to the finish. Suddenly seeing a very long, straight, flat stretch of tarmac ahead with very few runners & no spectators about as we ran along the marina for the
second time was a tough mental challenge & physically as we were
exposed to the sun & marathons definitely don’t get easier in the second half!
But what made it all a hell of a lot easier & pretty amazing was
having the support of ALL of the Lostockers who had either raced the 10K or marathon earlier, every single one of them stuck around in a few groups for hours to support us which is incredible, no other club
does this. They even made up separate chants for all 3 of us, “push it Paul” “crunch it Chris” or “go Gareth”! It was massively appreciated & still give me goosebumps when I think of it. There were some dark moments for all 3 of us in the last 10K or so, I had to walk/run a few miles because I felt like I was going to throw up whenever my heart rate get to a certain point but thankfully I got my s**t together &
knowing the support squads where to come was a huge help. The best bit was yet to come though, I grabbed the Lostock flag off a shocked
looking Janet (soz!) with a few hundred yards to go & ran with it above my head to the finish cheered on by everyone in team green, it was a moment I will never forget.
I quickly grabbed my medal & joined up with the gang to cheer on Paul & Chris over the line who both finished looking very happy (ish)!
What a day, what a club 💚🖤
