Race Report by Phil:
They say it always rains in Manchester… Except on marathon day! This year was Manchester’s biggest yet with 42,000 runners taking part … Theres something appealing about a flat terrain route which is primed for PBs. The conditions were perfect and everything was setup to be a good day and chasing down that PB I’ve been after for a couple of years.
The hard work of training was done and it was time to put all those hill reps, track sessions and long runs into practice for the physical and mental challenge of the day.
This was my 5th time running Manchester and I love it, the atmosphere and running through my home town with family and friends around the route is something special to me. Spectators line the majority of the route to cheer you on,give out sweets, drinks and anything to keep people going – there’s 100s of power up signs … Spoiler alert I’m not convinced they work 😂
It was a very busy start getting through the holding pen and then a long stretch to the start line (with no toilets for that last nervous wee) but then in the last stretch there was a good PA and music to get everyone ready. Over the start line my plan was to run with the 3:30 pacers for a while then see what I had to push on from there but everyone in the wave had the same idea so I focussed on my own pace! I nudged past the pacers early as it was crowded and I didn’t need the thought of tripping along with everything else and from there I had a consistent pace throughout. It was lovely to see fellow Lostocker Emma I think in Timperley and we gave a few words of morale support 💚
Through Altrincham the support was incredible and then looping back the crowds seemed to get louder. Back through Sale I had the morale support of a friend who was outside his house and ran a stretch to the end of the road which was a welcome distraction. Into the final 10k I had hoped to push on some more but the legs were feeling it and a slight incline at Stretford metro link feels a lot more than it is! I had to try and think of everything I could to take my mind off the leg pain and I spotted Harrison from race across the world – this must be a harder race than 12,000k across Europe! Turning onto Oxford Road the finish line came into sight to my relief and I was Happy to have finished in 3:28 which was a 7min PB and 26mins off last year which was a scorcher.
