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RunLiverpool Marathon 2011
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This was my first marathon and I was really nervous about doing it- I'd become really fed up of all the training and I felt that all my confidence disappeared on the days leading up to the race...
Having said that I found the whole experience fantastic- I have never experienced elation like the feeling of being supported by so many friendly faces. The crowd was amazing, and I was overwhelmed and slightly emotional in places, especially coming out of the tunnel and the mile or so that followed.
Unlike others I loved running through Sefton Park- its where I do my training and being there felt familiar and it gave me loads of confidence. There was a great atmosphere too- I do understand what the previous comments mean about it being repetitive though!!
Personally I found Princes Park the most soul destroying part of the race- I'd just had to run ahead and leave my husband, who slowed badly down in Sefton after we agreed we wouldn't complete the race together as planned. Princes Park was dreary, wet and empty and a bit of a lonely stretch for me...
Nonetheless, I powered through to the end and was very proud of my very respectable 4 hours 11 min.
Now I'm just looking forward to taking a set of stairs with crying in agony!!
Well done to everyone who took part!!!
And then all my pics are hideous.
All
Have emailed runners world so we can rate this event can others please do the same it is as if it didnt happen at the moment its all about Chester,This was a fantastic event ,race and one the city should be proud off
Evening All
Hope everyone is starting to recover a bit now.
Seems some peoples races went pretty much to plan and other me included struggled.
FRC all that help you and Judderman gave me to keep in there when I was seriously considering not running is much appreciated. Even with the lack of training and immense pain from mile 17 I still managed a PB. You did really well and should feel very proud.
How did Judderman get on?
I'm ready to go again next year, who's with me?
Ah yes, I do remember the band, but there was very quiet parts where the soul searching took place!
I did 3 hrs 8 mins, had expected to go under 3 hrs (which shows how tough the course was) and this was my 9th marathon. I drove up from London (which actually takes longer than getting to most European cities!) which is another reason I probabley wouldn't return.
Again, I'm only critical to help the organisers make improvments. All in all it was a great weekend. I guess if it was a nice flat and fast course I'd be back year after year looking for a PB, but it's not so it's more likely I'll look to do a marathon I haven't done before for my next Autumn outing.
Running Hippo does just about a marathon a week and she's got it up there in her Top 2 races - so it cant be that bad eh ?
I'll be back next year. Enjoy Chester though - thats meant to be good too.
As you guys say 'calm down...'(!) - only joking.
Hey - it's a lovely city, but you can see a lot in a weekend (and I did and made the most of it) which means it's not necessarily top of my list to come back and do it all again when there's so many places to see in the world. I'm not having a go, it was a great weekend, but its not somewhere I need to rush back to.
Not being funny, but a lot of cities have great bars, history, cultural diversity and architecture - I live in London (but origionally from the north) so am a bit spoilt for all this stuff anyway. Don't get offended if people don't want to return year on year, there's a big world out there you know.
i would like to think that everyone who comments on this forum actually ran this race,Not just people looking for a excuse to diss this race
Because as for the start what could anyone done?????????
As for the bags i have also read people saying it was more organised than London(can't comment as i never had a bag)but friends who had bags never had an issue
As for the parks they werent that bad if you have ran the half marathon i'd say your in them longer
I just hope its NOT people who want the Chester marathon to be the number one in the North West just having a go for the sake of it
This race will go from strength to strength
Yesterday the city did itself proud
WELL DONE
Well I managed it! 5h 16m and I was expecting to break 5 hours - but I have still run a marathon.
The crowds in the city centre were awesome - I was almost in tears to have such support in my home city.
All was going well (first 11 miles done at 10m 10 +/- 20 seconds) to the bottom of UPS where I decided to walk rather than spend the additional energy going up the hill - ran again at the top but a couple of miles into Sefton park the energy simply went and started to develop a sore knee so the walked at lot of the next 4 miles to mile 25 sign where I decided if this was to be my only marathon (not yet decided) then I was darn well going to finish in style - mile 25-26 done in 11m 5 s and then on turning the corner kept on cranking it up so it was a virtual sprint finish!!.
Thank you Alan for this race (I met you & shook your hand about 9:15 at the start). Will deffo be doing the half in March and will consider doing the full again next year - if I think I can better my time!
Few hitches but you would expect this for a first time marathon.
Not particularly happy with my time (4.26) and I can't understand why I got serious cramp in my hamstrings going around Sefton Park, but I will learn and move on!
It was my first marathon but I will do Liverpool again next year.
Constructive criticism is good, the fact that quite a few people, including myself, commented on looping around Sefton park means there may be something worth looking at for next year.
As for the start, not sure what actually went on but I'm sure someone somewhere could have done something.
I can appreciate how tough it must be to put on a big city mara' and on the whole it was brilliant. Just a few niggles that people should comment on, that's how things get better.
(Not sure about the baggage arrangements being better than London, but I didn't have a problem either, it was very efficient and painless))
First off Mikey (((((Hugs))))) matey it's horrible when that happens. Sorry I didn't meet you guys and girls for the pub. I couldn't find it.
Lee it happens and has happened at Milton Keynes, Blackpool and Cardiff half from memory. Sometimes things muck up the race or cause problems that are conpleately beond the organisers control. It did I think effect most of our races because we were stood there for a bit ready to rock. But if everything happened well everytime it wouldn't half be boring. Good luck at chester next year matey.
Well done Run liverpool it was a very good race. Afraid I had a conpleate mare of a race personally but was expecting it to be harder than normal.
Managed to chat to some of you at the start and greese myself up in front of the lord mayor in the bargin.
Tried to pace it round and didn't quite work althrough meant I was able to chat to folks as I struggled round. teal the balti king t-shirt was me cheers for saying hello as well as the rest of you. Did go with the pacing grounp for 5 hours for a few miles and Richard who was the pacer was doing a right good job. Afraid the wheels came off big time for the last 6 miles and no matter what I tried I couldn't get them back on. Plus side of this is now got to get a monkey off my back so probably be scaring you lot again next year with better training and without some of the illness's and stuff had this year. Managed a brand new personal worst so got to come back now. 
For any newbies out there this wasn't the toughest race out there but with all the bumps in the road. Tunnels and some of the streets wasn't the easiest ever. WELL DONE EVERYONE!!!!! and thank you liverpool for having us. This ones going to grow as long as it's allowed to, any doulters out there remember that both London Marathon and Great north run took about 10 years before they became the monsters they are now. Give this marathon 5 years and this will be a very big race and a massive boost to the city in terms of £££ if it's given support. For every runner out there Sunday there was also there support crew/family/freinds and I bet the hotels bars and shops make a few pennies out of it.
Alan while I'm assuming your stressed out and knackered hope your a very proud man today.
HannahsMom, thanks for the shout out at about mile 15, really appreciated a friendly face at that point!
I think people should be allowed to criticise the event - this is an open forum after all. I agree that the start was a bit of a disaster, especially when it came to meeting others during or after the race...but once got going that was soon forgotten.
I also agree that felt too long in Sefton park and got a bit monotonous - especially as we're all getting so desperate for the thing to end!
But overall I loved it - and most of this was down to the view from Wirral, the tunnel, the tunnel exit and the Liverpool/Wirral crowds - and managing to finish and reach my goals. In the end it was one of the most memorable days in my life for all sorts of reasons. So there.
How patronising! I am fully aware of the "World out there" having travelled all over it!
I am also aware of the many places in the world that have similar offerings to Liverpool but for you to say that it doesn't have enough to offer is ludicrous! Fair enough if you've seen lots of Liverpool and want to try somewhere else but I lived there for over 20 years and still find new things that I've not experienced before!
http://www.marathonfoto.com/index.cfm?action=site.home
Looks like photos will be on this site. Page for Liverpool 2011 set up, but no pictures loaded yet,
I think a runners world rating can only be given if the race was advertised on the RW events site. This one wasn't so I dont think it will be possible to rate. Which is a shame as it would have scored very highlyfor atmosphere alone.
Running a first marathon with a broken collarbone, and limited training, managed a time of 4:47, but lost running jacket and other kit in the Railway Pub afterwards, next time I will curb the celebrations!
Very good race except for the tunnel hill.
LK great support from your mum and dad!
I'm not sure FRC will agree that it's a great photo.....but it was nice to be able to put some faces to names!!!
BTW....Scouse Elvis.......just be careful because someone might take you up on that Sir Steve Redgrave moment if you put your shoes on for next year.....I've heard LB's a good sniper!!!!!
I still can't believe what a brilliant day I had (even if it did involve unimaginable pain on the way round!). I'm so glad I've done my first, and now have lessons to learn!! Bring on Liverpool 2012 (and maybe Belfast 2012 inbetween!!).
Shame you find it partronising, but I think you should re-read what I actually said before you fly off the handle:
Would I do it again?:No. Glad I’ve ticked it off and it’s something I’ll always remember, but the City doesn’t really offer enough to warrant needing to return to do it again.
I was talking about the race, this being a forum about running a race.
Sorry, but the City doesn't offer enough for me want to return to do another 26 miler there when there are so many great options around the world and places to see. I'm sure it's lovely to live there, and I'm not saying I'd never go back to Liverpool, but I'm not going to spend the £100's that it costs to go somewhere for a weekend to run a marathon when you only do about 2 a year. It has to be somewhere pretty special for me to want to go back.
My first ever marathon and I really enjoyed it. Managed just over 5 hours with alas very little training (suffered some recurring shin pain in the months before which threw me off my plans).
I think as it was my first and the goal was to "just finish" I lost the mental battle late on - if I had been pushing for a personal best from a previous marathon or for example I was told there would be no medals if you didn't finish inside 4.45 or 4.30 I think I could have got within that time zone. As it was I got to 19ish miles and knew I would make it one way or the other so I lost a lot of that manic drive to push through the pain, from which I never recovered.
Can't fault 99% of the event but for what its worth I was a little disappointed that the marathon / Merseyrail didn't offer free travel on the trains as this had been on offer during the Liverpool Tunnel run I did in June. I also rather foolishly bought a return ticket, little realising that since I was running back across(under) the Mersey I only need a single for around half the price
)!
Have found the 3 Run Liverpool events I've done this year (half; tunnel; marathon) really well organised and hope they are cemented in the calendar for the city year on year.
As you say though, we digress away from what is intended to be a forum about a race.
I for one hope you find your "special place" to return to, you obviously belong there.
Ok,
I'm sure I'm going to slammed for this, but this is my honest view from back at finish at 6:13... And if running faster was an option I would do...
The 45 min delay (and most importantly not being told about it) probably affected me more than others... side product of the diabetes, I do plan my carbs in some detail... I lost pretty much all of the benefit from the porridge, and the instant hit stuff (taken 10 min before the official go time) had long gone by the time of the hooter!
The pens were not well marshalled (not the ladies fault, it was one lady) - so my pen at the back had everyone walking through to get to their pens... and every relative, friend, child in pram and dog... First time ever I've had to jump a dog in a race pen!
I knew it was hilly, but this was not nice at all. The tunnel slowed many a better runner than me... and then the hill going up to the parks was just agony...
The delay was "probably" the reason why all of the entertainment had packed up and gone home by the time I got there (and I was 75 min from the back)... Lesson to learn for Run Liverpool every runner needs support from start to finish and should feel they get the same support. There is little more soul destroying than seeing you're so slow that the band has left the building!
This run has been set up to rival the GNR & VLM - its got a long way to go! They've shown the way, copy, steal and generally plagarise everything they do to make this a truly special run - for everyone!
Almost all the stewards were good - expect the one I shouted at around Princes Road - no it is not acceptable to take the gatorade when there's still runners on the course, or to give it to your mates.
But do make sure they know where they're standing, especially when the mile markers start disappearing - anyone take 19 as a memento... I thought I was in hell when it wasn't there, and the marshall had no idea where she was, let alone me!!!
For once, no I'll be fair to runliverpool, for twice in the last 4 years there was a T-shirt for me at the end
The medal is quite nice, the goody bag was interesting...
I'm not going to do run liverpool events for a long while - other events remember that it doesn't matter how fast you are, but how much you try that is important.
I would've loved to have the experience others have raved about coming out the tunnel, but even if we'd left on time those behind me would've missed it.
What makes runs great, and I've checked my feelings with other similar "fun" runners , isn't the pace of the front runner (unless they truly are one of the greats) is the heart and sheer guts of the last ones across the line. The 3+ hour half marathoners, the 7+ hour marathoners. Treat these people as you would the champions, the winners, and all will feel great.
Ready for the attacks now...
Paul
I have only done one other marathon before - and that was going to be my last one as well - in Blackpool. It was a double loop of the prom and was dull. Very flat but dull.
Yesterday, I was feeling ok until the tunnel and then just lost it. It was only the support as we left the tunnel and through town that kept me going. I don't know whether I should thank or throttle the people on Castle Street and the river front but I felt like I grew 10 feet tall with the cheering and support - and this was the only thing that got me to the end.
I shouted to a friend as I crossed the finish line - NEVER AGAIN! But, do you know what, I hope we are all at the start of history in the making and I will be back.
Crowds fantastic, marshalling superb, drink stations etc brilliant, - the only blot was the start but the organisers can't be held responsible for that. As for the course, yes bits were boring but I think there was enough for everyone to be able to hold their heads high.
Nothing of any substance can be built in a day. The RunLiverpool marathon has a bright future if we all get behind it.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thanks for all the great and positive comments.
We like to receive positive criticism as well, it is only by listening to these that the marathon will improve.
Alan will be back tomorrow probably, most of the senior race team (me included) have been out and about on the course making sure the streets are as clean as they were before the race.
Although I am one of the organisers, I am no runner, I am just a long time friend of Alan.
I must say though, to be at the finish and see all you runners coming in makes it all worthwhile, how you can praise the staff when you are obviously completely exhausted is awesome. My son who was helping at the finish has said he will do it next year and he doesn't run!!!
Just to say I also had a fantastic day I don't think I have ever been involved in anything so emotional and awe inspiring
TBF to Prince....I loved yesterday and I loved running around my 'home' city (I've lived in Liverpool for 15 of my 32 years) but I can understand why others want to run in as many different locations as possible. My next ambition is to add Belfast to my marathon list (as my actual home city).....but after that I reckon I'm going to be satisfied with Liverpool...if I make it as far as marathon number three!
Everyone has different reasons for entering any marathon, and I think Prince has offered a reasonable enough view on the race to justify his position on not running here again! Who knows...maybe after a couple more elsewhere, Prince might decide to come back to this great race?
I personally love the idea of being able to run the likes of Berlin, Barcelona, or Boston....but I'm realistic enough to know that I can't justify the cost of any of these trips just to run a challenge that I can have on my doorstep!