Abingdon Marathon

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  • I'm travelling soon so good luck to everyone from me too. Thanks in advance to all the marshalls, support crew and supporters. I for one am going to need all the encouragement going. image

  • Good luck everyone. I will be setting my alarm for 5am and driving up from London, so should be wide awake for the start of the race image

    The weather looks like is is going to be pretty good once the fog clears.

    Fingers crossed this time tomorrow I will be sipping on a cold beer.

  • We are setting off in a bit.

    GOOD LUCK everyone and Thanks to all the Marshalls too.

    See you at the back Seesteverun.We will get each other through it.

  • Jogged up to Ascot Racecourse this afternoon to watch Frankel's last race. It was an amazing sight and atmosphere. The only downside is that I was early so jogged round the road inside the course a couple of times, which means I accidentally ran more than 5 miles. Should be ok though, as it was a really easy pace.

    Not looking forward to a 6 am alarm in the morning. I shall relax with a couple of frames of snooker later on.

  • Bring

    It

    On



    Have a good one everyone. We'll all be superstars when we cross that line
  • Setting off for Abo soon, good luck all.

  • On Our way - mixture of dread and excitement ! Good luck everybody!
  • Hi all, I hope everyone enjoyed the race and came away with a performance they are happy with.

    I managed to run a big PB and finsh in 2:55:29 (on my watch), so very happy with the time. Also managed to run a neg split by 30s

    As usual the the marathon is superbly organised and the marshals did an excellent job encouraging runners and calming the odd irrate motorist.

    Time to open a beer!

  • Chillies

    Good to run with you at Abingdon today really helped me keep up a good pace through the last quarter. I felt good at 23 so, as I said, intended to kick on from there and managed a strong finish. Hope it went well for you.



    Biggles Forum lurker image
  • Well done to all the runners.  I was taking taking photos at 14.5miles  and the finish and the link to the Flickr page will be on the Abingdon Amblers web site at some point, but there are 100's to sort throughimage

  • Managed 4.09! Quite pleased as my first ever marathon, managed a sprint finish and legs felt good! Said never again at 8.45 this morning when

    I felt sick with nerves but now I'm reconsidering!!



    Hope everyone had a great run.



    Thank you to all the amazing marshals - you were all fantastic and so encouraging! Particularly liked the marshall at 15 miles who called me "young" lady - little things please me now I've hit 40!!



    Now for a long bath, glass of wine and Downton Abbey!
  • I think I entered Abingdon earlier this year as a fail safe incase I didnt do what I wanted to do at London, then it became about getting a mate round in under three hours.

    I didnt really get in to proper Marathon training mode for this one, struggled with motivation & my weight a little bit over the summer, I think only did about three 18 milers & one 20 miler a couple of Sundays ago, so it was the bare minimum or maybe even a little bit below that, I had a rough patch about 10 - 11 - 12 miles, but then seemed to be able to get my head down, I had just about enough, but didnt have any quality or conditioning in my legs, I was getting overtaken by allsorts throughout the race.

     

    I think I what I can take away from today is that Marathon running is a humble mans / womens sport, you cant just blag it & turn up without putting the long hours in, also what I learnt from today is that running a sub three marathon is harder than I had previously thought, my plan was to run 2:55 & I think I ran 2:57 in the end, I wasnt particularly impressed with the course after reading / hearing good things about Abingdon, I'm not sure whether there was anything sensational about the race or anything, the course wasnt as fast or as good as I thought it would be, sure it was flat, but a lot of running on poor surfaces takes its toll, I'm not sure if I would do this one again, I guess today I can just put down as a hard training run & I didnt choke when at about mile 10 or 11 I wasnt really sure whether I fancied it or not.

     

    As ever the volunteers & spectators are wonderful at these events, very helpful, completely non judgemental & equally supportive to every runner, Thank you to all of you, you are the people that help get the runners to the finish line.

  • Biggles - I was in a fair bit of pain in lower abs & front of hips from 22, so I just couldn't keep pushing - tried to do a few bursts, but in the end lost a couple of minutes and came in at 3:30:54. Then it took me nearly half an hour to hobble back to the Fit to Run Car Park!

    Still, I reckon we kept each other up to speed for a few miles - you certainly helped my pacing. While I was more than 7 minutes quicker last year, I don't feel I could have done any more today, so I'm fairly happy.

    Perfect conditions and the usual great marshalling today. Well doe to SR3 for that result in your first marathon. More stories please!

  • Chillies

    It definitely helps having someone keeping pace with you, I normally just run by myself so noticed the difference with a bit of chat and encouragement. The marshalling was brilliant, really helps.

    My Garmin time was 3:28:47 but not sure how accurate that is.



    Any idea when the results are on the website?



    My only big complaint having really looked forward to a end go race shower the bloody things were sone cold! image
  • Well done on the PBs . I did 3.19 last week at Leicester which was a PB, my legs were still tired so quite pleased to knock out another 3.19



    Last year I did 3.37. It seemed a lot more crowded in the 3.19 area especially on the first lap. I found the narrow bits annoying first time round when if was crowded. There was a really annoying man who obviously didn't like me being ahead of him. He would pass me then block me and slow down. Then I would pass him on a wider bit and he would do the same. He also kept gobbing so was well pissed off with him



    Agree with a previous poster that although flat it is not as fast as billed as there were a lot of uneven surface to deal with and puddles/ mud to dodge as well as up and down curbs.



    A brilliantly organised event though, great supportive marshals too. Nice t shirt at the end
  • 3:47:11 according to the sheets of paper stuck to the club house. It's a big PB because my last marathon was 14 years ago and was about 4:20, so it was always going to be the case today. Beat my challenge of (a) finishing and (b) under four hours, so delighted. Wasn't quite so delighted by a cold shower (but it was probably good for me), nor now by my aching calves (nothing else is really aching). Marshals and those who turned out to watch were excellent, I agree. I'm not a natural, and I think I'll give marathons a swerve for a while, but I wouldn't say I've ruled another one out, despite the hell that is miles 20-26. Well done to all you fast guys with great times and PBs, and anyone who finished in fact.

  • I got round my first marathon unscathed and had a really enjoyable day. Did it in just over 5 hours (not sure exactly what, as I forgot to stop my watch) so not up there with the other times posted. Still, I'm pleased although I imagine at some point a little disappointment will arise for missing the 5-hour mark.

    I can only echo what has already been said about the support. The people around towns and villages were great, whether standing specifically to watch, passing in cars or just passing in the street, but most importantly the Marshals were SUPERB. I don't know how a group of people can stand around for so long, some of them in quite isolated spots, and still have a massive genuine smile on their face as you pass and know exactly the right thing to say to cheer you on. I made a point of thanking as many as I could, even if they didn't cheer me. It's usually such a thankless task.

    Brilliant BRILLIANT day. I'm so glad I did it and now have a month or two of 'running for fun' before training for #2 begins. And I have a chunky time to aim at.

    Thanks to everyone who supported me on here, especially in the last few days of taperchondria and maranoia.

  • Great to hear you enjoyed your run seesteverun. You never forget your first one! You are now part of minute proportion of the country that have completed a marathon. Well done!

  • hellen wrote (see)
    Agree with a previous poster that although flat it is not as fast as billed as there were a lot of uneven surface to deal with and puddles/ mud to dodge as well as up and down curbs.

    I guess its tricky for the organisers to dry out all the puddles and mud after an inch of rain in the last few days....

  • Massive Well done to everyone today. I just want to say a Massive Thank You to all those faster runners who lapped me at around 12.13 miles. I was in the CRAC vest. I just cant get over how encouraging people were and one comment had me in tears as it was so lovely. I managed to Finish in 5.40 as my friend nearly passed out as mile 23 so we walked the rest. I made some fab friends and I have to say the Marshall's were just fab,especially the Lady and the Guys who looked after my m8 and got us space blankets.

  • Well done everyone, hope your having a nice cold one or glass of vino you deserve it image



    Any of you Abingdon old hands know when the results are normally on the website?
  • I think I remember saying well done to you Eckytump as I ran past you on that path through the tree's about mile 13/22 you should be proud of yourself.

  • Well done Seesteverun and Eckytump - we are now officially marathoners!
  • You know less than 1% of all the people in Britain have completed a Marathon ?

    That's because they aint easy. 

  • Thanks for that Stephen. I must admit I didnt find it easy at all but so glad I can say that I did one.

  • I ran this (admittedly it was a different course then ) as my first marathon 6 years ago and have marshalled it in recent years. Wanted to see what it was now like "from the inside".

    Can't argue about the comments re. surfaces and dropped kerbs. However as a local yokel (these days I think I count!) I was very impressed at the changes wrought on the cycle path stretches in the last week. In fact on Tuesday I caught the workers in the act of clearing back the early stretch (round mile 3, that bit). I think a lot of chopping, sweeping, and conkerclearing got done, well done guys!

    Ecky well done sticking with your mate. Might well have run with and/or seen you + m8 - do remember someone being tended where the cycle track comes out into the town/marina area.

    A lot of folk did well & I'm pleased for you all. (Particularly pleased for my Amblers clubmates who got the ladies team prize, the win, or the bungee record without falling in the ditch !) Personally I had not trained a lot. I'd picked the Hal Higdon Novice program as a sensible get-U-round plan following a big A race earlier this year, but a combination of injury and Olympics-related business meant that I didn't even reach that modest amount of running - long runs were like a small child playing hide-and-seek : 12, 13, 15, 13, 18, twent-er-17, ready-or-not!

    Did manage to get round (thank you energy gels!) but the last 3 miles were like running through sand. Would have been even worse if I hadn't caught up with a clubmate so we could stagger in together. So yes, training is a Good Thing image.

    The upside of being too untrained to do anything but trundle was that I could enjoy the rural scenery (particularly on those roads too hairy to train along normally!) and chat to the other runners I knew and wave at all the marshalls (a lot of whom I also knew image). The marshalls and supporters really really helped during those final deathmarchy miles!

    I was surprised that we didn't run through the arch any more but really liked the run through the town square! Looking at the traffic management guys and the extra efforts taken this year I'll be surprised if there weren't fewer car-related "issues". And I bet having the CPSOs at a few key points didn't hurt (thx guys).

    I know how much hard work people put into this and from the point of view of my little ten-and-a-bit-minute-miling bubble - two thumbs up. I would put up more thumbs but I don't have any (and my big toes both have blister plasters on !!).

  • Results now on Abingdon website.
  • Hi, dropped in to congratulate all the runners today at Abingdon. I disappeared from the thread a few weeks back following injury holiday, and illness. This threw my plans and I ended up running Leicester last week but still recovering. I missed my sub 3 attempt by 4 mins. Spent the last week moaning and decided yesterday to roll the dice and run Abingdon. It hurt from mile one, but didn't regret a second of it.

    The event was superbly marshalled and organised, and after Leicester being billed as flat, Abingdon was ridiculous - like a bowling green (with a few dodgy bits of curb, pot holes etc)!

    Loved being treated as a professional in the changing room by receiving an ice showerimage 

    Just scraped inside 3hrs for the first time so this one will live long in my memory.

  • Pretty good day for running out there today. Unfortunately I was still not over the man flu and was coughing up all sorts on the run and resting heart rate was still not anywhere near where it should have been. Got to halfway in 1:26:30 or so I think. Had a bad wobble after halfway and started to really struggle, but then had a good chat to myself and told myself to just hang on to a decent pace to 20 miles and see what was on from there. The last 6 miles were interesting. After 21 I had decided to just settle for 2:59. Then I just decided to try keep it going at 2:57 pace so I don't finish slower than when I did Abingdon a few years ago. Then at 23 miles I slowed again, got chatting to someone and said I'd settle for anything under 3. After a few hundred metres of the reduced pace, I thought, I still feel good enough to put in a bit more effort. Took off at a better pace again and started passing people. I got passed by someone finishing even stronger so hung onto his pace and started to really grit my teeth and squeeze just about every bit out of it. Even managed a bit of a kick when onto the track and passed about 5 or 6 people to finish in 2:55:09.

    Happy enough with the result, given the lack of training and the illness this week.

    Well done TickTock, we must have been quite close on the road. Well done Seesteverun on completing your first marathon. Well done as well to Ecky and Fido and any other I may have missed.

    The marshals and the support were great. Still the best marathon I have done in this country by a fair distance.

     

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