Brighton Marathon 2022

Months of training and following a marathon training plan I got from the McMillan running training plan led me to this past weekend in Brighton.  

My training had really slipped in the last couple of weeks before the event so with a target time of 3 hours and 10 minutes, which is the "Good For Age" qualifying time for the London Marathon (being a 47 year old male).

Alarm went off at 6am, straight downstairs for a bowl of porridge and some proper "leaded" coffee which I'd not had for the previous week (I switch to decaf everything the week before an event). Showered, contacts in, the bag was packed and we were on our way to Brighton.

I'm glad my mum is as chatty as she is in the back of the car as it distracted me from the build up of nerves I was already experiencing.  Its like you've been studying for months for an exam and now you're on your way there.  In the intermittent lulls in conversation I was just zoning out and offering myself encouragement and advice on what to expect.  "Dave you've done this before, you know the route, you know what you did wrong last time.  Do NOT fly out of Brighton, stick to the pace on your garmin I dont care how easy you may find it, treat this like the last time you'll ever get to do this" oh and the last one "If you do this right, this will hurt".  To be honest, I treat all events as the last time I'd ever get to do them.  Its like it unlocks this permission to empty the tank and give it everything you've got.

Going from my performance in the Surrey half marathon and how the temperatures were, I made the decision that morning to not use a running vest with a bladder on the back.  Also, to ensure I didn't overdose on energy gels which I definitely did last year, I carried three of them to be taken at the end of every hour, secured to my left hand with a rubber band.  Had an energy bar just before the start also just to keep things going / topped up.

My entourage for the day were my parents, it was really nice to have them there.  We got to the event field about an hour before I was due to start.  The good news is I made a beeline towards the toilets which were in good condition (took my own wet wipes just in case), did my "business", got changed, and went into the fresh Brighton air.  A very nice 8 - 10 degrees I think it was which felt a bit chilly at first but it is what I wanted as it would be important to keep cool when the event was underway and the effort was put in.

Shortly after that, my parents then went off and I went into the participants only section of the park. 

Did a warm up run and stretches, then moved towards the corrals for the "red wave" which are runners expecting a sub 3 and a half hour time. I was looking around at the other runners, most were in groups from running clubs, there was the odd person that was solo but not too many of them. When they opened the gates for us to start to move forwards I double checked my headphones were ready to go.  Gels secured to my hand, garmin battery was ok (at 99%)  GPS locked in and things pretty much just needing me to press a button to start them off. We were funnelling towards the start line.  Ahead of me were the 3 hour 15 minute pacers.  I knew my trained for pace of 4:30/km was a 3:10 finishing time.  My garmin pace window was locked in at 4:20 - 4:30/km with reminders on when to consume a gel. I'd aim to stay with the pacers ahead of me while settling in as long as the timing on the garmin wasn't obscenely slower than I was aiming for.  Then move past them as soon as I could.

I could hear the announcer on the PA doing the countdown.. 5... 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.. and we were away.  Well, I wasn't away until I'd passed over the timing strip at the start line.  Thats when I started the garmin.  The pacers were about 30 - 50 metres ahead of me but I knew sticking to my pacing window I would catch them shortly after so not to go all out just to catch them.  But when I did catch them, thats when things got interesting as it was thick with runners that were using them to pace their marathon (and rightly so). I managed to negotiate my way through the crowd a bit but then found myself behind, what could only be described as a wall of runners, staying level with the pacers.  Fortunately my garmin showed we were doing a 4:30/km pace so I was happy enough to stay with them and not try to force my way through although I also knew I would have to break out of the crowd.  That opportunity came on the second incline we came across in Brighton town, I found a line and was able to get out in front, then it was clear running at that point.  Running down the other side I rested the legs as I was alerted I was going too fast, so gave myself a bit of a reprieve and a pat on the back for sticking to the plan.

The water stops went well even though it was in cups and not bottles.  I didn't think I needed any water when the first one came up after 2 miles, but I grabbed a cup, managed a couple of swigs before discarding it.  The pace did slip a tiny amount while doing that, but I thought taking on water and then doing a light press on to "catch up" the few slipped metres was more important.

I was about 8 miles in when I saw what I thought was the first casualty of the day sitting on the side of the road wearing a white running number (an expected sub 3 hour runner).  Thinking he was either injured or waiting for friends, it was a temporary respite from the hill we were running up.  I had settled in nicely to my pace.  Ocassionally looking down and seeing I was in the mid 4:20's was perfect.  if I saw early 4:20's or if I was alerted I was running too fast, I would back off a bit regardless how my legs felt.

Running back into town my mind jumped ahead to what I called the never ending road.  This is a straight road which goes on for a couple of miles at least before turning and then doubling back.  Just like last year though, when I was nearly at this road which is about 24k in (or 14.9 miles) I saw the front runners already coming back in the opposite direction.  Somehow though I was able to remind myself about how much my legs were already starting to hurt and it was down this stretch of road albeit on the way back that in 2021 I had to come to a complete stop because my legs were shaking. 

The crowds were fantastic, the wind was cooling and I just kept to my pace as well as I could, a couple of alerts that I was running a bit too slowly but I managed to pull the average for the km to be 4:30. On the way back I was already knowing that I wouldn't need to stop when I did last year which was a nice mental boost.  But I was also preparing myself for no mans land out by Shoreham power station.  

Heading out that way I was somehow remembering spots where I'd taken a walking break the out towards the power station which again just seemed to go on forever.  In that industrial estate there were buildings on both sides so there wasn't the refreshing wind coming off the coast and it felt like the heat had really been turned up.  

I was sometimes moving past people, people were sometimes moving past me.  The race doesn't start until mile 20 I'd read so compared to last year I was smashing it.  When we turned around close to the power station I told myself.  This is it Dave, you're now heading towards the finish line! No more of these B.S. out and backs.  Soon enough we were back amongst spectators and supporters and more importantly, a refreshing wind from the coast. 

What had also happened though is my brain had said to me about 22 miles in "You've done enough Dave, take a walk".  To which I asked my legs to give me one more mile and then we'd "talk".  The 23 mile marker showed up and I'd pretty much ignored my garmin saying I was now running too slowly (about 4:40/km), then I did "oh come on, this is it.  2.2 miles left and we've not had a break once, lets have another mile.  The 24 mile marker showed up and I could see the observation tower in the distance too.  "Come on, I know your legs hurt, I know your feet hurt, we expected this to hurt, but if you stop to walk now then you'll give up the fact that you never stopped running in a marathon". 

I was looking out for the 25 mile marker to give myself another pep talk but it never came!  Once past the observation tower and back in the thick of the supporters it was sheer pride (or is that vanity?) that would NOT allow myself to walk. Not in front of all these people, NOT this close to the finish.  You're nearly there Dave, 25 miles done 1.2 to go, yes it hurts but only 7 - 8 minutes of hell on the legs and feet left.  You've kept going for the last 3 miles, time to finish this.  

Once I saw the 2XU sign, then I saw the roundabout to go towards the finish line I knew I had this. You're not going to walk, you haven't puked (although I was burping a bit but no stomach discomfort) and seeing that finish line in the distance I just focussed on it and asked my legs to dig deep, the end was in sight.  But, wait a minute, whats this? What does that timer say?  3:1x:xx" OMG! Once I passed over the timer strips I stopped the garmin and could not believe the time! Over 10 minutes off my previous marathon distance time!

My legs practically shut down as soon as I crossed over the line.  We'd gone from "running" to "dont you dare ask us to do anything else more strenuous than a slow walk".  I picked up my medal, Oooh one more photo at the "finishers" place. Then bounced from one refreshment station to the next.  A banana? Yep! An apple? Yep! Some luke warm spring water with salt? Yep.  

Kept on walking and was greeted by a guy holding 2 cans of alcohol free beer. Yes I'll have one.  OMG the can was so cold! As soon as I took the can and felt how cold it was I involuntarily said "OMG you beauty".

While I was 2 minutes and 22 seconds over the target of 3 hours 10.  I'm still incredibly proud of what I've achieved.  I'm not sure how to say how much faster it was than last year as the course was incorrectly measured, but over the longer distance my chip time (from start line to finish line) was 3 hours 27 minutes and 25 seconds so thats just over 15 minutes off the time.  But strava reported my marathon distance time as being just over 3 hours 22, which is still 10 minutes off that time.

Next challenge for me is a sub 20 minute 5k run.  My fastest 5k was during the Surrey Half marathon at 20:04.  

After thoughts

Can I do a faster marathon run?  You know what, I think with even more proper training yes I can.  While I followed a marathon training plan, I'll confess that I didn't really stick to the strength and conditioning side of things (read as "never did any") so I do believe my legs could have been in much better condition pre Brighton than they were.  They were fading fast towards the end.  I've now done a marathon without stopping, so I now KNOW I can run a marathon without stopping which should banish those voices from my head.  The mental resolve is there, the physical can be improved.

On the way back to the car, my parents and I were walking along the sea front looking for a place to cross over.  We spotted a runner that wasn't even at the half way stage but was still moving along.  I'll probably never know who she is, but what I admired was the fact that she was out, running a marathon which is not to be sniffed at.  I just hope she did get to finish because I imagined while there would have been a cheer for the first person to cross the finish line and win the Brighton Marathon, there would have been an even bigger cheer for that final person that crosses the line several hours later and it would have been incredibly well deserved.  If you gave it your best shot then to me it doesn't matter if you finish first or last.