I have run this race twice before and on both occasions, it has run like clockwork. Not so on Sunday. I was fortunate to be staying quite close to the start so ambled across after a short warm up fully expecting to be told to go to the starting pens. Instead, an announcement was made that there would be a 15 minute delay. I subsequently found out there had been a 30 minute delay with the 5km race that had taken place early so I was prepared to wait a bit longer but I was not expecting the hour it ended up being!
Thankfully it was a beautiful sunny morning and once the race started there was plenty of crowd support along the route. The course has been altered since I last ran it but it is still generally flat but not totally and the course route is quite varied with a section through Peterborough town centre. The end comes very suddenly with a sharp U turn leaving a very short distance for the final sprint. I was informed by a runner from Tri Anglia he had seen a few Jags as he sauntered past. He had done better than me as in the large crowds I had seen none!!
Sandra Roberts
Name
Time
PB
Standard
Sandra Roberts
1:38:58
First Timer, 3rd in Age Category and New Club Age Category Record!
I entered this EPIC race when signing up to the Spring version around the Blickling estate which was an enjoyable, mainly trail, sunny experience in March. This autumn version is a different course, all on road starting & finishing in Aylsham and the first time for me.
Spotting a few Jags while waiting for the start including Nicola (in a long toilet queue) she warned me of the hilly finish and after an organised warm up we were off. After some start errors for me this year I decided to be bold and position myself near the front of the 500 field. This paid off, as I was soon into my sub 7 min mile race pace with a nice opening downhill mile. After joining a small group and a couple of climbs reached half way in 46mins and still feeling fairly comfortable aimed for a negative second half split.
Lovely to see Elly who was marshalling and her encouragement was most welcome as we head towards Blickling and hit mile 10 in 69mins. After the last water station, I still had a couple of runners I could see in front of me and after taking another gel, tried to close them down for the last 5k, which after the NT Fisherman’s car park, hills start to kick in again. I was hanging on after the the railway bridge but managed to maintain pace on the final climb, overtaking the couple of runners before the finish. Wow that really pushed me & well done to the Jags who participated.
Really pleased I finished 23rd a minute outside my PB. A challenging but interesting course, my best half since the last Broadland Half (a race I loved & miss) 4 years ago and perhaps I’ve found an autumn race that may now replace it.
The never meant to be Marathon ! My whole year was based on doing Newport Marathon on the 23rd of this month and when 3 weeks of my 16 week training plan had gone I got the sad news that Newport was cancelled due to Obstructive issues!, but rescheduled for next April. So my head said”well that’s that” until Rod planted a seed to look at Chester, it was 3 weeks earlier meaning 13 weeks but after couple of days thinking entered this Race still intending to try for GFA qualification for London (sub 3-20)
Warming up for the start I felt great and strong for this, it Started from the Racecourse and took in two steady hill climbs within the first mile, I set off steady and loved the support as we all ran through Historic Chester City Centre on way out, to head south going through some fantastic countryside. I duly ran from the start seeing the two runners carrying the 3-15 board as was right behind these for between 1-4 miles when my legs said let’s just drift past. At 9 miles there is a dead turn where you come back on yourself and see the runners behind, at this point I gauged I was a minute or so ahead of 3-15 and running really well still, unbeknown what was to happen! At 11 miles it was like my legs hit a Stop button and for next mile my head said this is just a blip as we all feel running longer distances, by the time I was at 12 miles and see the board my head said “oh I’ve gone past 8 miles? I now know it was from this point my mindset was going but carried onto almost 14 miles where as if fated! A Marshall bib and chair were right in front of me! I made a beeline for the chair where I almost went over the side of trying to sit down. At this point for approx 20 mins I sat slumped forwards head in hands not wanting to know or listen to anything being said. The first aiders turned up, and pursued to look after another guy who had pulled a hamstring🤔. Eventually by the time they tended to me I was up and more coherent. Instantly on the Monday morning I booked myself in for a blood test and health check as have never experienced this in 11 miles of running.
All of this said I feel fine again now but took a few days possibly till fri/sat, then had a great Club run with Neil at Cafe run. I would highly recommend this Marathon to you all for future, as after running London twice the pressure is less intense you are on closed roads, out in countryside very much like a Sunday morning traing run. I will return if not next year in the future to complete this course and enjoy Chester more the City is fantastic even for a break.
When Josh Brighty & Emily Beavis told us they had entered the Budapest Marathon in Hungary, Keith & I decided to make the trip to support them, we’d never been to Budapest before and there happened to be a 10k race on the Saturday, so naturally we signed up to run this while we were there!
We had been told that Budapest was a lovely city & were not disappointed, with many beautiful buildings and the Danube river running between the two halves of the city, Buda and Pest.
(Unfortunately Keith realised when we landed that he had forgotten to pack his running shorts so we had to go shopping as soon as we arrived!)
The 10k course was fairly flat, starting at the University, running out alongside the river before turning slightly inland and then back along the embankment. The weather was perfect, bright and sunny but not too warm at the 9am start, with a nice gentle breeze. There were various pacers available on the route and the 2027 finishers were aware that if they didn’t complete the course in the cut off time of 1hr 30 they would get scooped up by the sweep bus!
This was not a problem for Keith Brighty, who was 5th in his age group, first in for his club and in fact 3rd for Great Britain 😂with a very respectable time of 45:58. I had to dig deep in the second half of my race to finish in 49:34 with a 5 second pb, somehow managing to come first in my age group!
Then it was time for the main event, the 37th Budapest Marathon.
Unfortunately Josh had to withdraw due to injury, and they had both also fallen victim to Covid only a few weeks earlier so Emily wasn’t sure how she would fare over the 26.2miles. She needn’t have worried however, she ran a brilliant race, again starting at the University and running over various bridges crossing the Danube and along either side of the river and even around Margaret Island in the middle of the Danube. Josh, Keith and I decided to hire bikes and cycled along the route to support her, at times struggling to keep up with her whilst avoiding the spectators straying onto the cycle paths, not to mention the trams!
It was a warm, sunny day, around 19 degrees by midday but after training through the summer heatwave back in the UK this was no problem for Emily. She finished in a fantastic time of 4:02:22 with a brilliant pb, and in a field of over 2000 runners was the 160th female and the 6th British lady, very well done Emily! 👏👏
There were also various other running events including a marathon relay and 5k race if any club members fancied entering next year, all very well organised, we would thoroughly recommend a trip to Budapest.
My journey to the London Marathon started back in the Autumn of 2018 when a friend asked me if I would enter the ballot with them. They got a place and I didn’t.
Undeterred I applied for a charity place with the National Autistic Society and was duly accepted. A few months later I pulled a calf muscle on a Jags training run from Homebase on Mousehold Lane. I didn’t run again until Boxing Day and 4.5k into a 5k run I felt my calf muscle pop and walked home in excrutiating pain.
I started running again in February with hopes of still being able to compete in London 2019. It went well for a few runs, but then I started to get pain in my lower calf and took the decision to defer. It was only after a visit to see Becky Schofield for some physio work that I had the confidence to run again and over the course of that year I gradually worked my way back to running fitness.
Training for London 2020 started well. I was feeling strong and had a good 18 mile run with Scott and a Jags club run from Coltishall to Catton parkrun and back in March. The talk at Catton was all about this new virus and the prospects for parkun and mass events being able to continue. Sure enough later that week we were in lockdown and the London marathon was postponed until October. I think we all knew that was unlikely to happen and of course it didn’t.
The charity I was running for gave me the option to defer my place to October 2021, April 2022 or April 2023. I chose the second option, preferring to train through the winter for a Spring Marathon.
My running was going well in 2021 and The Hamlet Centre, where my son Chris who has Autism goes, asked me if I would run the 2021 marathon virtually as a fundraiser for them. I decided to take up the challenge and trained throughout that summer. As the date approached I had a tightness in my glutes that I self diagnosed as piriformis syndrome. This began to affect my sciatic nerve and I was having to take painkillers just to be able to sleep and lay on the floor to watch TV.
On the eve of the virtual I was about to call it a day when Nick Eley turned up with a big fat cheque that matched the amount I had already raised for the Hamlet Centre, so I decided to give it a go. Supported by friends and taking breaks to rest and recover I somehow made it round, but then faced a 2-3 month lay-off and weekly physio to recover. The 2022 Marathon was moved to October, which turned out to be something of a blessing.
I didn’t run again until just after Christmas and gradually worked my way back by running intervals of increasing distance until I could manage to run 5k again.
In the Spring I had a couple of good 10k races in my fastest times since 2018 and was feeling strong again. I worked my way up runs of 10 mile distance at the start of my marathon training in June and all was looking good. Then just after I had completed a half marathon training run Covid hit the Henry household for the first time and I was laid low for a couple of weeks.
Running in the post viral period was incredibly hard and I probably pushed things a little too much too soon and ended up with a hamstring strain. July was a write off for running and I seriously thought about jacking it all in.
Fortunately a holiday came at the right time and I was able to relax and reflect and use the hotel gym to build up my fitness and came up with a plan to squeeze the rest of my training into the 7 weeks that were left. I jeffed my long runs with local running buddy Nicky, who was training for the Chester marathon on the same day and although the long runs in the heat of early September were hard I made it through without any further problems.
As I was lining up at the start on Sunday I knew I didn’t have it in the legs to run a full marathon and set out to enjoy the occasion and make sure I made it round by walking when necessary. I ran the first 20k slowly, lapping up the atmosphere and high fiving the kids as the side of the road. Just before Tower Bridge I could see a Jags shirt ahead of me and had a quick word with Katie Fenn before lapping up the cheers across the bridge.
I needed to walk for the first time just before half way and then looked for my family at the NAS cheer point at Limehouse Holiday Inn at 14 miles. Their frantic waving and cheers gave me a boost, but by mile 15 I didn’t have much left in the legs and decided to run / walk the rest of the way.
The support from the crowd was incredible and having my name on my shirt really helped as complete strangers were giving me so much encouragement.
When I saw my family again at mile 21/22 I knew I would finish the race and although my legs were hurting I dug deep and again used the support from the crowd to keep me going.
At last there was the Millenium Wheel and Big Ben and then I was in Birdcage Walk with less than 1 mile to go. I managed to run the rest of the way, reached the final turn at Buckingham Palace and there at last was the finish!
It was something of a relief to finally complete the marathon and get the monkey off my back I feel I’ve been carrying for the last few years. I didn’t even notice my time, which I later found out was 4:44:15. The Charity laid on a nice post race reception with food and a much needed massage and shower.
After running London 3 times for charity and one virtual in the last 10 years that’s me done with marathons and I’m sticking firmly to distances between 5k and Half marathon from now. London is a great experience, but in my opinion one to enjoy and forget about trying for a PB. Of course Jack Stuttle had to blow that out of the water by smashing his PB by 10 minutes and setting yet another club record. Congratulations to Jack and well done to Daniel Smith, Neil Button, Radley Fenn, Rosemary Jackson, Jackie Bye and Katie Fenn who also ran London this year and not forgetting the Jags who ran the race virtually. Commiserations to Rod Bye who was unable to take his place and to Mel Porter, who had to pull out of the Chester marathon.
If any other Jags are fortunate enough to get a place to run the London marathon on another year then I wish you well, enjoy the occasion and savour the memories and I hope your journey to that start is a straightforward one!
On a fine, sunny Sunday morning a good contingent of Jags convened for the last race of the Sportlink Grand Prix 2022 season. I hadn’t run it since the first one, when it was extremely wet and cold, so this was a very pleasant experience and a pretty (if undulating) route! It was especially good to see the speedy ones coming back in the opposite direction just after half way, with at least four Jags among them, before I turned up the hill to the church.
Everyone ran really well so it was a profitable as well as an enjoyable run with some outstanding performances, as you can see, which bode well for the final Grand Prix results. Well done to everyone who entered the series this year.
Rosemary Jackson
Name
Time
PB
Standard
Jack Stuttle
57:05
Yes, 2nd place overall and New Club Record!
Diamond
Daniel Smith
59:46
New Club Age Category Record
Diamond
Stephen Pointer
1:08:51
Yes
Silver
Graham Johnson
1:09:44
Diamond
Julian Smith
1:13:00
Yes
Gold
Sandra Roberts
1:14:37
First Timer, First in Age Category and New Club Age Category Record
