by Pete Mackrell

On Sunday I continued what appears to be a recent club trend of running a marathon. I picked Preston, which is in my home county of Lancashire and not too far from my parents' house in Burnley. This is the first time Preston has hosted a marathon, and there won't be another one for 20 years! It was arranged to coincide with the Preston Guild, a civic celebration held every 20 years. Preston's Guild dates back to 1179 and it is the only town in the UK that still celebrates its Guild. The marathon organisers have said they will not host another full marathon until the next Guild celebration in 2032, although the Half Marathon which took place on the same morning is set to be held each year.

Before the race I was hopeful of improving my PB of 2:50:44. Training had gone well so I thought I had a chance, but knowing the course would be hillier than Amsterdam (where I ran my PB) I didn't know whether this was realistic. I had further doubts on the day due to the heavy rain and wind, but I suppose that had to be expected for that part of the world.

The first mile was significantly downhill which meant I got off to a flyer (a 5:46 split, my fastest mile of the day). The course was undulating with a couple of nasty climbs, but I wouldn't describe it as hilly. The strong wind was more of an issue, my mile splits were all over the place so I didn't pay much attention to them. I was surprised to go through half way in 1:22, faster than intended, but I felt comfortable and had settled into a group with three others.

Not long after half way the group split and I spent the next 8 miles on my own. After 16 miles I started to feel some tightness in my hamstrings, but this didn't really impact me until around the 20 mile mark when they started cramping. This meant I wasn't able to stride out, particularly when going downhill, and my mile splits started to deteriorate.

At 22 miles the half marathon runners (who had started an hour later) joined the course for the final 4 miles. Having not seen anybody for a while it felt good to be overtaking people. At 25 miles the course began a long painful uphill drag to the finish, this was the same hill we had gone down at the start, and this was inevitably my slowest mile (7:20). I had no idea how close to my PB I was, but seeing my parents at mile 26 inspired me into a final burst and as I entered the finish straight the clock showed 2:49. By 'eck, I had done it! I crossed the line in 2:49:43, placing 11th out of 1131 finishers.

Considering this was the first hosting of the race, the organisers did an amazing job. The entire route was on closed roads and everything ran smoothly. The goody bag was also the most impressive I've seen! I will definitely do this race again, if I'm still running in 20 years!