Yorkshire Marathon

DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

I note all the other main Autumn marathons have a forum so thought i'd open this up and see if anyone on here is running it?

It's come highly recommended to me and will be my 6th mara, targeting 2.59!

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Comments

  • Ran it in 2016 as my first Marathon, course is ok, it has a killer hill at around 25.5 miles
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    Thanks Vodkabob, I had been warned about that. Unfortunately even the slightest of climbs at 25 miles can be very problematic!
  • To be fair, on a normal day/run, the hill probably isn't that bad, but like you say, at 25.5 miles it is horrid!!!
  • This will be my second marathon and i'm hoping to get round in about 5.15. I haven't looked at the elevation of the hill, probably should do soon.
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    I'm doing it for the first time.  Looking forward to it - York is a great city too :)  

    Is anyone doing the parkrun the day before?
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    Yes I had a weekend in York a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. I'm travelling up Saturday morning so certainly won't be there for parkrun.

    Whilst there might be the hill at 25.5, the overall elevation of the course is still pretty low.

  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭
    edited October 2018
    You do actually run down the hill at the start so take note!  I use this last hill as a positive as I know it's almost at the finish.  Once you reach the top you run over the roundabout then there is a pleasant downhill 300m or so to the finish line. Here is a cyclist struggling up the hill at 25.5 miles (Green Dykes Lane)..


    ..and the downhill section which follows, the finish is somewhere close to the first pedestrian bridge..




  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭
    Wardi, thanks for the above. I'll have a look tonight at the footage when home.
  • Donnie2Donnie2 ✭✭✭
    I'm doing this one. My 4th marathon and all this event. Aiming to match my previous efforts so 3.50 to 3.59!

    Excellent event, well organised, my only criticism being the lack of signage at york uni, the race hq. For those unfamiliar with the campus it's not obvious where to head and there's a definate feel of following the crowd. 

    Course is pretty flat and killer hill is a huge exaggeration.

    Fingers crossed for a mild, still and dry day. 
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    Hi Donnie, thanks for the input. I think as vodkabob says above, on a normal day it wouldn't be much of a hill.

    I am looking at getting the shuttle on the sunday morning from the train station. Any idea on how long that journey may take?

    Also I am looking at going to David Lloyd afterwards at this address-  St John's Playing Field, Hull Rd, York YO10 3LG.

    Anyone able to say how far this is from finish line?

  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭
    DT19.. the shuttle bus only takes about 10-12 mins from the station at that time in a morning.  David Lloyd HQ is about 10 mins walk from the finish area, 15 if you're hobbling :)
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    Thanks Wardi, about the length of time you have to walk after you cross the finish line in  London before you are allowed to sit down then!!

    I think in that case, I'll check out of my hotel when I leave for the race then base myself at DL for the afternoon and get a shower and some lunch. That'll save me the £20 late check out fee at the hotel and mean I can tackle the 3 hour journey home without stinking the train carriage out!!

  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭
    Good plan DT19!

    Big G.. just spotted your park run request.  The main York Park Run is off on the 13th due to horse racing.  Heslington is on, this is about 1.5 miles from the marathon HQ.
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭
    so just watched the you tube of the hill. Slightly concerned the cyclist is talking about how he never used to be able to get up it without getting off and walking. Can I put this down to him not being that strong a cyclist???
  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭
    I don't think he was exactly a model of fitness - he was gasping for air at the top.  I didn't sound like that having run up it last year with 25 miles in my legs!
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    Wardi, thanks.  That's a shame as I'm staying fairly close to York parkrun, but 3 miles from Heslington, which would be too much for me to run there and back the day before the marathon.  It looks like there's a bus out there though, so I may do that.  Thanks.
  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭
    Just checked.. bus 66 doesn't start early enough but there's a No.6 from Rougiers Street (3 mins walk from the Rail station) on Saturday morning - 0807 getting to Heslington Interchange at 0828.  The stop is only 5 mins walk from the Parkrun at Sport Village (loos available) so Bob's your uncle. :)
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    Wardi, thanks.  Sounds like a plan :) 
  • Hello all

    York will be my 2nd marathon after Berlin 2017, which I ran in 3h 44m - hoping to better that time.

    I lived in York for a while and it a beautiful city for those who have not been before, but I don’t think we will get to see much of it, as the course is mainly out of town, but goes through a lot of pretty villages where I am sure the support will be great.

    build up to this has been far from ideal (few illnesses this year and lately lower back pain) but had a good 23mile run and a couple of solid runs since, so fingers crossed.

    have a great race everyone and enjoy as best you can.
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭
    Looks like we are likely to get lucky with the weather just missing both the warm and windy weather. I deserve some luck having had races booked the weekends it snowed, then unseasonal good weather for vmlm and pretty much ridiculously hot for every other race this year.
  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭
    Yes indeed DT19, Friday & Saturday are looking a bit wild.  Crossing my fingers Sunday stays as per the forecast, looking forward to it now.  I remember supporting the event in the fog back in 2014, it was a right pea souper!
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭

    yes I am slightly edgy as a shift of 12-24 hours in a weather pattern isn't wholly unlikely. The current forecast has flipped about quite a bit the last few days.

    I recall the day after London was 13c and cloudy. I was furious!!!

  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    I did Loch Ness Marathon the other week (an awesome event, by the way!) and was nervously monitoring the forecast.  Even the day before, the forecast was showing strong winds and rain but it ended up being good conditions with no wind at all.  There was a downpour but it didn't last long, so I finished thinking it could have been a lot worse.  The weather can have such a big impact can't it - I really detest hot conditions, but also a headwind is soul destroying too.
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    Wardi, I caught the bus and did the parkrun you mentioned, which is a nice course. Very windy today though, and hoping it’s not like that tomorrow (but it looks like it will be!!).  
  • WardiWardi ✭✭✭
    Glad the travel arrangements worked Big G.  Much lighter winds tomorrow but wet, heaviest rain right through the marathon which is just charming!  Mind you they said it was going to rain almost all day here today and I haven't seen any rain at all.  I am beginning to think this is all DT19's fault - every marathon he enters ends up with extreme weather conditions ;)  
  • DT19DT19 ✭✭✭
    Wardi, I don't limit it to marathons. The only race I've done this year in race conditions was the Liverpool half and that was declared void as they cocked up course measurement and it came out 400m short!!!
  • Thought I would review the 2018 marathon for anyone considering running next year.

    this was my second marathon After Berlin in 2017 so that is all I have to compare to.

    would definitely do this marathon again.... very Yorkshire and I loved it.

    Positives:
    1 very well organised
    2 pretty course
    3 thins out very quickly so you can run freely all the way 
    4 great support
    5 good water stations, cap bottled drinks, sports drinks and gels
    6 Great medal, tshirt and goody bag

    Negatives:

    1 whilst not hilly, this is by no means a flat course.... at all! There are some nice downhill bits but quite a few long undulating climbs... but the hill at the end really is not that bad!

    2 no changing tent! The weather was torrential rain all the way and at the end I was completely dripping in about 8c temperature and could not dry off and change into something dry! Freezing and shivering
  • Big_GBig_G ✭✭✭
    James, quite a few people used the tents to the right of the baggage area to change, which worked well.  I think it may have been the baggage tent for the 10-miler, but it was empty of bags when I got there.  The queue for the busses was quite long, and people who were still in their running gear whilst queueing looked very cold!

    I actually don't think it's that hilly; it's a PB course I'd say.  There was one drag up after the turnaround point on the out-and-back that got me a bit, but it wasn't steep.  I know the elevation on Strava can't really be trusted to be wholly accurate, but mine has the elevation as pretty low in comparison to many other events, and a couple of others I know have broadly the same elevation.  Yeah, the hill at the end was fine really - quite short, and then downhill to the finish.  

    I enjoyed it but the rain put a downer on it for me, which is obviously not the organisers fault.   I'd do it again though.
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