Liverpool Rock 'n' Roll

I have just signed up for this.

Anybody else on it? Anybody done it before?
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  • Yes and yes. My running club has signed up for this race en masse, I believe our bus is now full and we're filling up a second one.

    I've done it twice before - well organised, having the arena at the start & finish is good, get to see lots of the city, hilly in places and the last 4 miles can be exposed / into the wind. Free beer & concert at the end and amazing medals, what's not to like?

  • signed up... heard its a good atmosphere event... its my 2018 mission to run sub 4 hour Marathon.


    Just got a niggling calf injury last few weeks to get sorted first (& the inevitable Christmas weight gain) !


  • > @Jonny Beach said:
    > signed up... heard its a good atmosphere event... its my 2018 mission to run sub 4 hour Marathon.
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > Just got a niggling calf injury last few weeks to get sorted first (& the inevitable Christmas weight gain) !


    Also hoping to run my first sub 4 at Liverpool. Can't see christmas being kind to my waistline so this is a massive motivator to sort myself out.
  • I am signed up together with my youngest son, hoping for an injury free sub 4 if all goes well. Any advice on Liverpool would be greatly received.
  • Yup, did it last year and am signed up again. It's a great race. It's a little undulating - first few miles are uphill (though it's a gentle gradient until you hit a steepish incline around mile 6, which is mercifully short) and then a lovely two mile downhill back to the city centre. Then there's a long drag back up for around 2 miles before some flat and slightly down bits. The nice thing is that a lot of it goes through parks, so it's very pleasant, and there's music every mile.

    My advice would be don't start too quickly. Last year I ran Manchester first, where I achieved my goal, then got a niggly hamstring problem which curtailed my training in between the races. I wasn't even sure I'd manage Liverpool but decided to have a bash. On the day I felt pretty good and set off at a slightly quicker pace than Manchester, but due to the downtime in between races, the lack of long training runs took a toll and I ran out of gas at mile 16. The last 10 were a deathmarch on dead legs (I slowed a lot at that point and then had to take walk breaks after 20).

    Despite this, once I'd finished my immediate thought was "when can I do another?"
  • After niggling calf in December then 2 weeks over Christmas having the "Bug", not quite where I hoped be fitness wise at beginning of 2018 but have started with couple 5 milers over last 2 days too blow the cob webs away ..


    Just entered Retford half and then East Hull 20 Mile following week in March as targets to get myself in shape for May !

  • Nice one, Jonny. I managed 10 miles today, but it was quite an effort. (I've been injured most of the Autumn, so I'm a long way off where I was a year ago). Of course, I have Manchester marathon to get out of the way first so there's a bit more time pressure!
  • thanks for the advice Cal, i had better keep the hill work up then!
  • There's a lot of elevation changes at Liverpool (you get a great view over the city after leaving the football stadiums, but you have to earn it!), so hill training is a good idea. Don't forget to do a little downhill in training as well - the downhill which Cal mentions is great, but could easily trash the quads if they aren't used to running downhill.
  • Does anyone have a Garmin measured elevation/profile? I'm wondering what the overall gain is. I did Robin Hood last autumn and it was rather hillier than I was expecting (I'm a flatlander and not supposed to run hills due to dodgy knees). Should be training for London but have had the lurgy since before xmas and not run since NYD so beginning to look for alternatives.
    If you think you can or you think you can't you're probably right.
  • I made it 238m gain.
    My stats for each mile are as follows:
    1 +14
    2 +16
    3 +9
    4 +16/-14
    5 +7/-6
    6 +7/-4
    8 +24/-14
    9 -21
    10 +7/-33
    11 +9/-19
    12 +23
    13 +20/-2
    14 -10
    15 +9/-13
    16 +7/-8
    17 +14/-12
    18 +6
    19 +3/-14
    20 +11/-4
    21 +4/-17
    22 -5
    23 +5/-17
    24 +2/-1
    25 +2/-3
    26 +5/-7
    (Last .2 was entirely flat).

    As far as knees go, they'll take more of a battering on the downhills but since the downhills aren't steep I think you'll be fine. My quads were a lot more sore after Manchester than they were after Liverpool. I think the undulating course actually helps spread the load around the various muscle groups.
  • That's really helpful Cal, thank you. More elevation than I'd want for a fast time though I did PB at Robin Hood I think that was despite the hills - and they were mostly in the first half.
    If you think you can or you think you can't you're probably right.
  • TBH, the hills in the first few miles aren't that bad and are less noticeable than you might think. There's just one short section which is really tough and then it's fairly flat and then the big downhill. The uphill in the second half is a bit more of a slog, but at least you get it over with early and the last 1/4 of the race is mainly downhill or flat. The last 4 miles are very flat.
  • Yup, that's what I remember. You'll be fresh at the start, and excited, and the music around the route will spur you on. The bit I found tough was the long drag though miles 11 - 13, but I was running with an injury and had gone too fast for the first 10 for the amount of training I'd done. So, don't do that!
  • Thanks. Currently ill and have been since before xmas so my London build up has been somewhat compromised so I'm looking for an alternative marathon that's conducive to a PB and whilst technically you can do that anywhere it's not sounding like Liverpool is going to be it for me. I won't discount it totally until I hear what they're offering in the entry package though, if it's just free entry it probably won't be worth my while as it will be an expensive weekend away. Of course if I make a miraculous recovery in the next week or so London could be back on the cards though the extra month would probably come in useful.
    If you think you can or you think you can't you're probably right.
  • LMH, I'm running London and Liverpool, so maybe even see you at both! Liverpool is hilly in places, no getting away from that. But the hills are well-positioned along the course (i.e.- no uphills near the end), and it might not seem like a PB course, but I know from previous discussions that quite a few people have PBd there. This was the first race I ever got GFA at, so don't discount it as a course where you can get a good time. As long as you don't get a screaming westerly wind (i.e.- headwind for the exposed last 4 miles), a PB is definitely a possibility.

    There's also fairly cheap accommodation around Liverpool, especially if you're prepared to stay outside the centre. There's a group of us staying in a hotel near the airport, and we got a pretty good deal. The race start area is easy to get to by public transport as well.

    Good luck either way and hope the training gets back on track soon.

  • Thanks for the info rodeoflip. If I do Liverpool I'll probably have ditched London, too much faff and expense to go and bimble round. I usually use it as a fund raising opportunity but with being unable to run for a while now I'm not feeling that enthusiastic about any of it. A guy I'm mentoring is due to make his marathon debut at Boston (Lincs) the week before so if I'm not able to get back to it in time to put some good training together and look to PB at London I'll probably go and pace him for his GFA there instead.
    If you think you can or you think you can't you're probably right.
  • Does anyone have a description of the route?
  • It starts at the docks (at the arena there) and you then head on up to Anfield and Everton (which are quite close to each other - never realised that until last year). Then back down to the town centre, past the Cavern and Cilla statue, up a long hill through what looked to be Liverpool's Chinatown, through some parks (one of which contains Penny Lane, which is really just a small road with no houses on it) and back down to the Mersey. The last couple of miles are along the river so they're nice and flat, but can be windy (it wasn't windy last year though). A lot of the route is through parks, so it's quite pleasant.
  • There's a map on the website, but it's a little bit "busy", so I've attached the course map and elevation profile.



  • Hi all! 

    If anyone’s interested I have Chester Half Marathon 2018 place I can’t use (fractured my back, no running for 12months ?!).
    Going for £25. PM if interested.

    Thanks.
  • Hopefully my Marathon is back on track .... after a rubbish December calf strain then a stomach bug over Christmas and most January my mileage took a hammering so I had decided rather to switch to the half.... a surprising good February started changing my mind...

    This month continued getting some long runs (15miles twice and one 17 miler) into legs and have the re-arranged from last weekend East Hull 20 this Sunday so all being well will be back on track :)

    As long as this weekend goes ok will stick with the full marathon path !!!

  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    Good to hear, Jonny! You're well on track. I've had an awful time too (out pretty much all Autumn with a hip injury, and then another 1.5 weeks off with a grumpy calf, then most of the week off when it snowed...) but I've got my 20 done. Oh, I'm doing Manchester first, which is just two and a half weeks away. I doubt I'll do another 20 between the two, maybe an 18. Should be OK though, hopefully.
  • JokeybhoyJokeybhoy ✭✭✭
    Hi folks I've got a bit of a dilemma.I love my football as much as my running.Im signed up to run Stirling on Sunday but it collides with a big football match in Scotland.Im looking at maybe turning my attentions to doing Liverpool but it also collides with the Scottish cup final weekend and I wouldn't be able to be in Liverpool in time to pick up my bib.Wondering if anyone has ever had any luck picking it up on race day or getting someone else to collect it for them.
  • rodeofliprodeoflip ✭✭✭
    JB, don't think you'll be able to pick up on race day. You've missed the boat now as far as getting the number posted out to you, so your only option is probably pick-up on Saturday. Why don't you give them a call and se what you can sort out? Best of luck!
  • JokeybhoyJokeybhoy ✭✭✭
    Hi I got an email back from them saying that I could pick it up from the start line if i really couldnt make it,so it looks like I'm ditching Stirling for Liverpool
  • rodeofliprodeoflip ✭✭✭
    JB, I'll see you there. Liverpool is a great course, but you might want to include a few hill runs over the next couple of weeks. Just saying......
  • JokeybhoyJokeybhoy ✭✭✭
    Cheers for the tip,can't be any worse than loch Ness surely 
  • rodeofliprodeoflip ✭✭✭
    Dunno (haven't done LN) but is it has its hills. Check out the course profile - the climb up to the football grounds is a fairly gentle one, but there's a short, sharp one just after Anfield. Just after halfway the climb up to the Chinese arch is also a bit of a slog, but after that it's fairly flat all the way to the finish. There's nothing too scary, but it will help to be comfortable on the hills. Great race. You know there's a free beer at the finish?
  • I'm local and that second climb shocked me ! Bloody hills. The second half is much flatter than the first. 
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