Race review: #28 Richmond Park Marathon

Richmond Park, 21 May 2017

Well he we go again, this was marathon number 28 for me and for some crazy reason had decided to enter this at the last minute, one day before I was due start a new job.

The start time was fairly non-aggressive (09.30) so for once I could have a "lie-in" (If you call 6am wake-up a "lie-in!!!") and didn't need to leave the house till 7 o'clock. The M3 was closed for the 'smart motorway' upgrade for the weekend, so getting up to Richmond involved taking a lengthy detour around Windlesham, there was a small moment of panic where I thought I might be lost, but Google Maps saw me right :-)

Race HQ

Before I knew it I had arrived at Richmond Park, and I followed the race instructions and headed for the East Sheen car park. This was free parking all day, and a fairly large car park. Not sure I would have got a space had I rocked up at the last second, but anyway it's a nice change not to get rinsed by a greedy council.  East Sheen car park was fortunately right next to the start and finish area, this made for a really nice and relaxed beginning. I dawdled over to HQ and collected my race number and built-in timing chip.

I bumped into Emine at the start which was great, I had run East Hanningfield and Punchbowl with her, as well as seeing her at Bewl and Walton the weekend before. Small world when it gets to doing lots of marathons! I also saw a couple of other folks that I knew: Kirsty, Theresa and Julia, and it was great to say hello and catch up. I chatted with Kirsty about the Bewl Water and the poor chap she had helped at the half way point. I also got chatting to a chap who dressed as princess Jasmine from Disney - now that takes balls LOL.

The organisers had booked a couple of portaloos for the start area, and as the time ticked on the queues got longer and longer! In the end they delayed the start by almost 10 minutes so everyone could "go" that was in the queue. I know you can never have enough, but perhaps a few more than just two would be good for next year.

There was a briefing by the organisers (where the 100 marathon club got a shout out - only 72 marathons left for me ha!), followed  by a quick warm up. I'm always a bit dubious about marathon warm ups, after all I need every drop of energy I have to get round the 26.2, so I didn't bother and just lurked at the back, as per usual.

We all lined up at the start and the there was the usual countdown, and we were off! Almost straight away I recognised the lady in front of me - it was Lucy who I had met at Milton Keynes three weeks earlier, what a small world. We had a great chat, she was one marathon ahead of me. She was on good form and after a mile soon pulled away from me.

Lucy at mile one

White Lodge

The first mile we were running on the grass along side on the few roads inside the park. Our reward was some curious glances from the drivers.

There was a short hill and we went past the impressive 'White lodge', before taking a right turn and hitting the "Tamsin Trail" past the Robin Hood gatehouse. So far so good, I was up to about 6 miles at this point. I was fast walking up the major hills, and then doing my usual run/walk. I had taken some advise from my friend Jayne who advised me to keep my usual 3:1 ratio but cut it down to 90 secs run, 30 secs walk. It felt odd to have such short periods of running, and I skipped a few breaks when I was going downhill.
 

Who wouldn't want to run along here?

I was also practising what my coach Jo Longmuir had taught me, that my posture was terrible and I wasn't engaging my glutes (in other words, my legs were taking the full hit and my butt muscles are doing no work!). I made sure I stood nice and tall but relaxed. This made a massive difference and the legs complied right until the end.

Nice to see lots of other uses for the park

On we plodded and up a fairly steep and long hill up to Ham Gate which I guessed was part of Ham Hill, This was a beautiful mixture of grass, trails and wooded areas. 

There was another sharp hill leading before we took a left turn and followed the Tamsin Trail again. This lead back up to the Race HQ and the 13 mile point. I had been sipping from my camelbak until now but took this opportunity to glug a load of water at the aid station and tip a load of water over my head. It was a beautiful sunny day, but by now was boiling hot and I was getting seriously warm. I knew I had to keep the fluid topped up or risk dehydration, which is every runners enemy.

I got chatting to a great chap called Peter who was running his 30th marathon, he was struggling a bit but in good spirits and we had a great chat and shared a few stories. It's great how you can get talking to almost anyone in a long distance race!

Dismount eh! Ooerr!

I knew that once I was through the half way point that the second half consisted of two 6.5 mile laps. We headed past the Sheen Gate and crossed the road - at this point I got very confused. I saw some other runners head right - these runners weren't in the race but it wasn't obvious were to go! I spent a minute or two waiting for the next runner (Kirsty, who I had chatted to at the start) to arrive and she soon put me right.  I feel the course could have been a bit better signed posted and there was a lack of marshals too especially as there were cars bombing around at this point. I have no sense of direction, especially so when racing, so waiting a minute was a good investment of time :-)

On I plodded, and a pleasant couple of miles awaited through a wooded trail - this was very nice to finally get in some shade and out of the direct sun. As we emerged from the wood, we went round a corner and there was that first awful hill from the first 13 mile lap again! Except this time it felt like climbing Ben Nevis :-) I just dug in and kept one foot in front of the other. There was a really great aid station at the top though, with very friendly marshals who exchanged quite a bit of banter with me.  

Best marshals ever!

We now headed along the Tamsin Trail - it got a little confusing here as the signs kind of petered out - but I was following the folks in front of me and hoping they weren't lost. In the distance I could see my friends Emine, Julia and Theresa and I finally managed to catch them up! Emine had spotted some deer right up close in the park - this was a magical moment, seeing the deer so close. They were pretty tame for deer and didn't just storm off. We ran on for a bit more and before we knew it, we had finished that first 6.5 mile lap and was back at HQ to start the second 6.5 lap, and reach the full 26.2 mile distance.

Emine had sprained her leg and was hobbling a bit, and had decided to walk the final lap. I could have pushed on as I still had plenty of energy left and the legs were still co-operating. However I decided it would be nice to be sociable so joined the group, I was glad I did. I find these marathons are more about the journey than the destination, and being able to chat to fellow runners is one of these things I really enjoy about long distance runners.

At least this time we knew where we going although there was some debate and mild panic about taking a wrong turn! The dreaded hill now felt like reaching the peak of Everest, but the aid station once again did the business. Oranges, sweets, crisps, water and squash were our reward! By now Peter had caught us up and joined the group.

We fast walked the remaining few miles together and the time just whizzed by. Finally we approached the finish and we decided to cross the line altogether, hand in hand. Won't someone please think of the PB! This was a great moment and the race photographers did a brilliant job in capturing it.

The finish was great. A nice finish medal was hung over our necks and we were given a bottle of water. We took a few pics and the friendly marshals invited us to help ourselves to fruit, crisps, sandwiches and sticky buns. We also had a goody bag with a decent technical t-shirt. Can't ask for more, really.

The organisers had also made available free professional photographs from the race, how awesome is that. Just seeing the £59.95 price tag from marafoto for this years Liverpool Rock 'n' Roll marathon shows how much of a rip off they are!

The only criticism I can make it we were robbed on the finish medals! Earlier finishers received a different, much nice, finish medal that had a lanyard with the date and race name. If that's all I can moan about, then that shows what a fantastic race this was. I'll be back next year - just hope they can improve the signage a little bit.