By Kate Owens 

 

Well its been a week since I ran my first Marathon and I’m still buzzing from it!

 

In June I decided if my running was going to improve I needed a challenge to work towards. I randomly picked Liverpool for no reason whatsoever really, apart from the fact is was at the right time. I have never even been there before and had no idea what the course would be like.

 

I followed a training plan from the Runners World website and being a bit cocky I decided to follow the intermediate one! Fitting in the training wasn't easy at all, I work as an air hostess and summer is our busiest time. The hardest time to get motivated was after an 11 hour flight to Cancun, getting to the hotel where everyone else headed for the bar, I got straight into my running gear and out in the 30c heat. Fartlek training in the heat! I was not a pretty sight on my return to the hotel.

 

The week before the marathon I had a trip to Mombassa in Kenya. It’s quite dangerous there so the safest option was running on the beach again in the heat. It was so tough. However I was given a boost by several locals clapping me enthusiastically as I went by. I thought it was the best place to be before doing a marathon seeing as the Kenyans dominate marathon running.

 

So the weekend of the marathon arrived and I headed up to Liverpool with family and friends. I was excited and scared at the same time as we arrived at Birkenhead Park for the start. Being my first marathon I didn't really know what to expect but I was certainly surprised to see a burger van right by the start with runners queuing up outside! I resisted the temptation and just stuck to my banana!

At the start I intended on standing in the 4 hour pen thinking I would be happy with any time under 4 hours. But I accidentally found myself in amongst the 3.30 hour runners. Most of which were men.

 

The first 10k flew by with the aid of some good music on my ipod and a lovely atmosphere between all the runners. Liverpudlians really are lovely. The miles leading up to the Mersey Tunnel and the halfway point were stunning. The sun was shining showing off the Liverpool skyline, which was at its best. I felt like I was just smiling all the way. Seeing all the charity vests running in front of me was an emotional sight. Seeing what people are prepared to do for their causes.

 

Once in the tunnel it got tough though. There was no breeze and nothing to look at so it felt like it went on forever. I was grateful for the poor marshals who had to stand down there all day marking the half way point. Finally daylight was showing and the Batala Drum band were playing along with the roar of the crowd and I emerged out of the tunnel feeling better. I was hoping to see my family at this point but apparently they didn't think I would be that fast and hadn't got there yet! But I was cheered up a few hundred metres later where I saw a familiar face….. Lynn was shouting and waving at me! I knew she was going but didn't think I'd manage to bump into her. I'll have to thank her as just seeing her gave me a huge boost.

 

At this point my legs were starting to hurt and I knew a hill they nickname 'heartbreak hill' was coming up. I had no idea how bad it would be. In fairness it wasn't too steep but it seemed to go on forever.

 

After that I soon found myself at the 22 mile mark (unknown territory for me) but I was still smiling. And the last 4 miles went by fairly quickly. It was such a good atmosphere I almost didn't want it to end! Finally at 26 miles I saw my family and with that sight I was able to sprint to the end. I had no idea what time I was doing as my Garmin lost satellite reception in the tunnel. I couldn't believe it when I saw the clock on the finish line. It said 3.34 hours!

 

Everyone at the finish line was congratulating each other and shortly after I got a text through confirming my chip time of 3.32 hours*. I was happy with that!! The finish was at the Liver Building near to the docks so it was the perfect place to end the run.

 

I am now itching to get back out for a run and I’m hoping to get into the Brighton Marathon. I've well and truly got the bug now. I would recommend the Liverpool Marathon to anyone.

 

* This was a new LBAC record