Hi All,
I am the organiser of the Bolton Hill Marathon, if you have any questions about the event please don't hesitate to pop them on here and i will get back to you ASAP. I am really pulling out all the stops to make this event a regular in the calender and make your marathon day special and hopefully raise lots of money for charity. Yes you have read the event correct all the money from entry fees goes direct to charity so please support the event and hopefully we can reach the 250 limit quickly! Many thanks Phil
Comments
Hi Phil.
What can you tell us about the terrain, or undulations? I quite fancy having a go at this one. Is there suitable accommodation nearby too?
Paul
Hi Paul,
Accommodation is on my site at www.hillrunner.org.uk just click on Bolton Hill Marathon Page. Its a route i have ran for around 20plus years and is stunning unless its a foggy day!!! The terrain is mixed with the first 2.8 mile being tarmac roads followed by a 1 mile section of trail then another 2 mile of tarmac road then the rest is mainly trail. The first 3.8mile is all up hill with a climb of just over 1,000 feet then it is undulating until the 19 mile point where you get another good climb. I wear trail shoes to run the course but on days with heavy rain i have got the fell shoes out. The course will be very well marked however i would still advise carrying a map. I will put garmin trace on website once my new ant stick comes to give you a better idea. Hope this all helps PS iam putting a lot into the organisation of the event i am sure everyone who comes will not be disappointed but ii have ran a few marathons in my time lol!
fell shoes??
I am a bit of a wuss off road
Hmmmmm
Trail shoes would be fine, whats the point in running flat concrete marathons all the time? get out there and breath in some beautiful country air, you also have 8 hours to complete so that's plenty time for any running ability
I have run the snowdonia marathon. Is this a lot hillier than that?
Great. I am going to do it!
thinking about doing this got chester marathon next sunday
i never did off road one either..hahaa, plodding hippos comment made me giggle
im doing Chester too compo..but the country side ones appeal to me more..just rubbish with maps.! altho i do have a garmin..
Sounds excellent to me I have two comrades to my name and this sounds like perfect training for my third comrades which is an up run and the first time I did the up I struggled on the hills so need plenty of practice this time round.
i entered.!!! and i have it on my fb pages so can i clarify being the trail novice that i am..... am i ok in normal asics trainers? or are my innov8 trail shoes gona be the best bet?
I would recommend fell or trail shoes. Road shoes probably won't cope with the mud. They might be OK if the ground is frozen but otherwise off-road shoes are the best bet. It can be plenty swampy on Winter Hill. even in the summer.
Agree with Invisable Man, I managed to plod around the Rivington Marathon this morning managing 2nd place and some of the trails cut up a lot with the wet weather, however the route i have done is the better trails on Winter Hill so strong trail shoes should be fine (i think The Bolton Hill Marathon will be a lot better than today, no half marathon runners getting in your way!! lol) I dont see any problem other than areas stated on website for mud.
If anyone is interested in a little video clip I took today at the Rivington Trail Marathon, which took place today - and covers much of the same route/area, it can be seen here -
http://www.therunningshoeguru.com
thanks - enjoy!
Hi Phil, have just been on your website having a look at this. I've never done a full marathon though I've done the Rivington Trail Half 3 times. With a time of 2:22 for the Rivi Half and 2:02 on road (Bonn Half) I am worried that I may be over -reaching myself with this one especially with the 8 hour time limit. What do you think?
best wishes
Maria
Apologies for not getting back to you faster I have been a little busy running around the country. It's difficult to say and depends on your training from now until March, I ran the full rivington marathon and managed second place,I found the half marathon cut out most of the big climbs, I would say the bolton marathon is not far from the same course but you have a good climb at the start and fnish. Having said this there OS not many marathons with such a generous cut off normally about 6 hours, I set the 8 limit because I wanted to give all abilities the chance of finishing one of the toughest, I am sure you will feel proud wearing your conqueror of the hills marathon medal at the end and saying your first marathon was one of the toughest, we are friendly and lots of my marathon buddies will be running it and some of them just run for fun. If on the day you feel you are struggling and can't finish let a marshal know and we will pick you up and take you back to the start we won't leave you on the top of winter hill LOL. Look forward to seeing you and meeting you on the day its going to be a fantastic event
The course looks fantastic and I've signed up already, but I'm wondering what people will be wearing to carry the recommended 1.5 litres of water?
That much water would easily fit into a Camelbak bladder, but filling it during the run would be quite tricky. I don't know of a bumbag that will take two 750ml bottles, so would one bottle in a bumbag and one in a rucksack work? That seems like quite a bit of baggage to carry for a marathon. Alternatively are there any rucksacks that take two 750ml bottles (in side pockets for easy access) that can be recommended?
Hi WWW and Pete, glad you are looking forward to the marathon.
Please note that the water is just advisory and not set in stone, if you start with no water than that's up to you just bare in mind that there is only 4 water stations. I will change the site slightly to make it clearer it is up to the runner. I personally only go through 250ml whilst running a marathon but i put myself in the bracket of a more experienced marathon runner.All stations will have bottled water so you could grab a bottle at each station and run with it in your hand until you get to the next? it really is up to you. Looking forward to seeing you and please feel free to ask any more questions.
Thanks for clarifying the water situation. I usually carry a 500ml bottle anyway so I'll just top it up at the four drinks stations.
I've just done my first ever marathon last Sunday... the Rutland Marathon... and am very tempted for this as my second, as my wife's family are local to Bolton. Should I...should I not?
Well done LYDLT, just for people who are not familiar with Winter Hill it stands out of the landscape all around the north west of England and is one of the iconic hills in England due to its massive mast tower on top which is around 1,100 foot high and 3mtrs wide and can be seen for around 100miles a night due to its lights (you run right past this along the course) but don't look up for to long LOL! Winter hill is around 1,500ft high and when your running along the course if its a clear day you can see as far north as the Lake District, if you look west you can see Snowdonia and Blackpool tower, east you can see the Yorkshire dales and south you can see all of Manchester and Bolton, it is a truly spectacular course unless its foggy. PS they are snow poles on the website photo on the road