Lochaber Marathon 19/04/09
I had made a kind of new year's resolution to run my first marathon, and after missing the Edinburgh deadline, I entered Lochaber for no reason other than it was at the start of the year. On joining Scotland’s Premier Running Club I was told that Lochaber was basically flat & boring – this sounded just the ticket for a beginner. Race day conditions were hot sunshine and no wind – the surrounding mountains looked absolutely stunning, with snow still on the peaks.
Before the start I met part time Porty Gareth Mayze, who comes along to some of the Sunday runs. Gareth is a proper job runner (sub 3hr man then some) but he still chummed me for the first mile – cheers mate. (Gareth finished in 2.51 - 5th overall - tremendous performance.)
After dire warnings on pacing and not finishing, I was determined to stick between 7.40 and 8.00 miles for the whole race to hopefully get well under 3hr 30. My current default pace is probably around 7.20 so I spent the first part of the run trying not to go too quick, reaching halfway in 1.40, which was comfortable if slightly frustrating. With hindsight this was too slow.
By then the leaders had come back past and I think Gareth had moved up into the top ten, with an Aberdeen Metro guy out front (the pre race favourite apparently). Metro definitely had a look of relief on his face when he saw that the unknown Porty was too far back to mount a serious challenge.
My legs were getting tired at mile 18 when I first slipped over the 8min mark, but I kept it pretty much together until mile 22. The last four miles were woeful, being significantly over 8 minutes – I was “in the trenches” concentrating purely on not stopping. Although only 3 people overtook me on the back 13, one of those was a rather fat bloke who looked as if he was speed walking. Embarrassing. Thankfully the finish at Fort William’s shinty ground came into view and I hobbled over the line in 3.29.
A broken man with a piece of metal. (Jamie's caption.)A niggling ankle injury had limited my training to roughly 3 times a week, and the lack of miles told in the end, but I’m happy that I finished and sneaked under 3.30.
I would definitely recommend the Lochaber marathon – it’s really well organised, has a friendly atmosphere and a great setting.
Big thanks to everyone at Porty for the training & support, especially Bert – you might make a runner of me yet!
Report and photos Jamie Marwick
Action photos from Andrew Henderson who wrote in his email..."Caught a snap of Jamie at mile 11 - although you see the 15 mile marker in the background. What he omits to say in his report was that the temp was unseasonably warm. Our car temp gauge was reading 17c at that point with a cooler 14c in Fort William at the finish. His sub 3.30hr finish was good going given the conditions."
Results
The course.
