Sinatra reporting in....
Well this was my 2nd ever marathon, first being at Great Langdale last month. What a toughie! Started off at a decent pace and took it steady up the pass. From the top of the pass to Beddgelert was mostly downhill and probably taken at a bit too quick a pace really.
Coming out of Beddgelert the legs started to feel heavy and people began to pass me. I tried to put this out of my mind as I was out to beat my time not other people, so I soldiered on. I took it steady and tried to maintain a decent pace over the undulating course. Again people passed me and I wondered if I'd made the right decision to run another marathon so soon after Langdale.
Hitting the last hill at Waunfawr, cramp immediately set in on my right calf and I had to mix walking and running to get to the top. From there I was able to get the speed going again for the downhill section and aimed to get back to the finish for 3 hours and 45 minutes.
As I approached the finish, I could hear over the tannoy that 3 hours and 40 minutes was a possibility if I kept going a bit more. Crossing the line in 3 hours and 39 minutes meant i'd smashed my Langdale time by 27 minutes. All that was left to do then was to enjoy a well earned coffee and a couple of chocolate cookies and collect my t-shirt.
The support around the course was fantastic, everybody out to cheer us on along the way. The organisation of the race was first class as was the service at the water/feeding stations especially given the weather.
Well done everyone!
