Brockenhurst, Hampshire. Sunday 10th September 2017
I had wanted to run the New Forest marathon for some years. Around 10 years ago I had entered the half but never got to run it, as I'd come down with a fever the day before and didn't want to risk it. So there was unfinished business here in the New Forest. I've always liked this part of the world, and living across the other side of Hampshire made this race quite accessible for me.
Race day started incredibly early. The 'final instructions' from the marathon organisers had advised arrived a whopping THREE hours before the start, which for the full marathon was 9am. This had been worrying - how bad the traffic through Lymington could be, or how congested the parking would be?
I decided to compromise and turned up 2 hours in advance, which still meant getting out of bed at stupid o'clock, but sod getting to the start for 6am. I had an easy journey down the M3, and along the M27 heading towards the New Forest and the town of Brockenhurst. The start of the race was in 'New Park' adjacent to a hotel, just off the A337, so pretty easy to find. Some friendly marshals were directing the traffic and keeping things moving, so there was no issue getting into the car park.
Despite the warnings of impending doom should you arrive anything less than 3 hours ahead of time, I was still one of the first cars to arrive, and a team of friendly marshals directed me to park in the field next to the 'race village' and start/finish area. Not before I was relieved of 3 quid to park. Musn't grumble I suppose but seemed a bit much. It was good to be able to park so close to the start area though - always a bonus if you want to nip back to the car for something and of course you don't want a long walk post-race.
I had asked my running buddy Rachael to collect my race pack the day before, as she had came down for the weekend from her home in Kent. The 'final instructions' had advised not to pick up on the day, with more warnings of doom and gloom should you decide to 'packet pick-up' on the day. As I walked past the number collection gazebo, it was almost empty so I'm not sure what the problem was! It was a beautiful morning, the sun was out although slightly chilly it was a fine morning.
I poked my head around the registration gazebo as I had spotted a fluffy bunny rabbit which the organisers were trying to re-unite with the owner.
Looks like it was two years trying to find some poor upset child. I wonder if the rabbit will make its way back to New Forest for 2018? I gave Rachael a ring on her mobile, and we soon found each other, she was with a group of fellow runners. My race number and chip, and finishers t-shirt were handed over and I headed back to my car to pick the rest of my stuff up. On the short walk back I bumped into Jim from my running club. It was good to see a friendly face and we exchanged some light hearted banter.
A couple of minutes later I also bumped into my friend Lucy, who was with her daughters, so of course mandatory selfies just had to be done.
The 'race village' area had a stage, and some attractions for the kids, as well as concessions selling tea/coffee and various foody items. It was really nice to be able to have a nice posh coffee before my race. There were also masses of loos, strangely organised into male and female blocks. First time I've seen portaloos segregated at a race, I suppose they have their reasons!
By now time was marching on so I headed across the field and entered the large start pen.
They had organised the start zone in fast, medium and slow zones. Of course I know my place, so I dutifully headed to the back! There was a mass 'warm up' which I didn't bother to join in (I prefer to save my energy for the race), and then a race briefing. As usual with these things, I couldn't hear a word they were saying.
As I stood at the start chatting to my fellow runners, I bumped into Paul, the visually impaired runner I had guided round back in November in Kent, and her guide Liz from the 100 marathon club who makes the most amazing running outfits. It was great to meet Liz and to catch up with Paul, he was in good spirits and looking forward to the run.
There was just a small wait and the first wave of 'fast' runners set off. We started shuffling forward, chatting to fellow runners. Rachael and I were going to try running together as much as we could, she was nursing an injury and wanted to take it easy, and I was feeling a bit tired after my recent endeavours at the Andover Trial Marathon.
We shuffled forward and the crossed the timing at the start, and we started our gentle run along the New Forest. The first few miles were quite uneventful, they were along nice flat trails and perhaps lured me into a false sense of security!
We did some easy miles, although the two tail runners in yellow vests were worryingly in sight in the distance. The race had a cut-off of 6:30 and we were keen to avoid being timed out, so we tried to up the pace as much as we can.
Right from the start it was really clear that the race was extremely well marshalled and signed. You had sight of a marshal almost anywhere on the course, which I though was excellent, we were well looked after.
We ran for a bit with a lady who had just done London and we exchanged some stories about our experiences. Just before 3 miles, we had to cross over 'Highland Water' and there was the amusing option of Wet Feet or Dry Feet. I expect some of the speedy runners got their feet wet, but of course we chose the dry option!
On we plodded and the miles flew by, all the time it was lovely and flat. By now the sky had gone from a lovely blue to a concrete grey, with little spits and spots of rain. A sign of how things were going to go!
On we went, and we were still in the forest. The paths were compacted gravel and there wasn't much mud around, or big stones or tree roots either, so it made for a nice running surface and we were able to rack up those miles fairly quickly. All the while of course, putting the world to rights as us marathon runners do.
As we got to around the six mile spot, our new running friend dropped back for a bit as she was struggling and we didn't see her again. We had well and truly lost the tail runners now, and we settled into enjoying the run as much as we could.
We passed a sign telling us we were passing the tallest Redwood tree in the UK. It certainly was a monster of a tree and this picture I took doesn't do it any justice at all. Great though that the organisers had put a sign up to tell us, it made the run interesting.
The forest was just a lovely place to run through and I was really enjoying it. At this point we had encountered the first real climb of the day, no problem we walked it out and just enjoyed it.
The New Forest marathon comprises several races; the full marathon, which I was running, as well as a half, 10K, 5K and a fun run. The half started a bit later than us and was on mainly the same route, by now the fast half runners had caught us slower marathon runners up. This made the course a bit congested at this point. We kept to one side and let them all past, but it was a bit off putting at times to see people fly past you. It also meant we had to pay attention to the route signs and stay on the right route! They were colour coded, with the full marathon being red so this was trivial.
By now we had caught up Paul and his guide Liz. She had a sign 'Guide' pinned on her back, and Paul had 'Blind Guide' sign. So who was guiding who exactly! It was good to chat to Paul and Liz for a bit, and we had a laugh remembering our time together back in Kent running at the Path and Downs marathons
This was a dead straight piece of road, and there were some cyclists coming the other way. One decided that he didn't like marathon runners and lobbed a banana skin at me, which whacked me in the face. I had a bit of a sense of humour failure at this point and decided to go on after shouting out a very rude word at the cyclist. Rachael had joined Liz and Paul so decided to push on and grumply run the rest of the race out by myself!
There was a right turn at the end of this stretch and I went through a small village and past some houses. Then started the first real uphill slog on the outskirts of Brockenhurst, and to be honest it wasn't very nice.
The organisers had coned off a piece of the road for the runners to try and run in safety but there was two way traffic, including lorries and white vans roaring past belching out diesel. I just dug in and did my usual speed walking up that hill, willing it to finish!
Eventually it did and there was another right turn. By now I had done 11 miles and the runners were heading along another dead straight piece of road. Mercifully this was flat, before we passed under a railway bridge. At this point there was a sign telling us what looked like left - and across the fields - this was the only point in the race where I was unsure where to go. I waited for the runner behind to catch up and he soon put me right, as he'd run it before.
There was now another uphill slog towards the village of Sway, and to a water station (I had already gone through several). These were well manned with loads of water available, although unusually there was only one or two stations on the race which had any sweets or gels. It's a bit unusual in a marathon to only have just water. It didn't matter really as I had my camelbak with a litre of gatorade in it, and I'd got 4 packets of mini cheddars and two mars bars. (Perhaps a full roast dinner and I'd be sorted!)
I stopped at the water station and made my usual 'dad joke' to the marshals asking about which cup had the gin in, before heading off and starting the climb to the next hill. This took us literally 'round the houses' of the village of Sway, before heading out again along the road. These roads were thankfully a bit quieter than the main road into Sway, and plenty of residents had come out to clap and cheer us on. This was really nice and I really appreciated it.
I spotted a chap in a Fleet Half finishers t-shirt and we had a quick chat about that race, which I've done many times. Suddenly there was a left turn off the main road and we were back onto the trail - thank god - this time through a caravan site.
It felt slightly odd to run past holidaymakers in their caravans and motorhomes, some of whom looked a bit nonplussed to see me plodding past at my snails pace.
I had spotted fellow running buddy Garry running here and we chatted for a bit, before he dropped back and I made my way on. The route went across some fields and back into a coppice, however the route was getting really hilly again. We crossed a river (Avon Water) and the organisers had constructed a makeshift bridge to avoid us getting our feet wet (no wet/dry feet option here!) The bridge was a bit slippery but got across in one piece without falling into the water.
By now I had done 18 miles and the legs were starting to complain a bit, but I was doing my usual run/walk and still had quite a bit of energy. I glanced at my watch and realised that I'd got up to nearly 19 miles in 4 hours, which I was quite pleased about considering the hills. It was raining hard now, but the forest was really pretty which made up for it.
It was also great to see some of the famous New Forest ponies, and I stopped to take a picture.
The route was now up and down, hill after hill and getting quite tough. I had been practising my speed walking for the Snowdonia marathon at the end of the next month, so this was helping keep my mile times down when I was walking so it was good to be able to practise that.
I got chatting to quite a few fellow runners as I plodded on and most seemed fairly happy, although some was suffering a bit with the hills and the rain was damping their spirits. There was also a really odd small piece of out-and-back section on this part of the course. Presumably there to make the course exactly up to the full 26.2 miles! I thanked the marshal who was manning the turn point, she had been stood their for hours in the rain and looked soaked and freezing but was still smiling and happy.
Almost all the marshals in this race were fantastic and really made the race.
The trail now finally finished at around mile 23, and for those last 3 miles we were back on the road. This time though, not coned off and with two lanes of live traffic roaring past this was a bit off putting. Although it was a slow road, there were lots of traffic calming chicanes, which you had to time the run around to avoid getting a face full of an angry impatient car!
Mercifully at mile 23 there was almost a mile of downhill, and I really went for it here. It was so nice to be able to just put my foot down and get some speed back up.
As I passed the mile 24 point I was back uphill, and speed walking again. I overtook a chap dressed as Fred Flintstone, it was his 50th marathon and he looked absolutely knackered! I don't think he was too pleased that I was walking faster than he was running. One of the downsides of speed walking in the later stages of a distance run is people are going to get really fed up with you going faster than them.
At last I was in the final mile and it was nice and flat. I could hear the finish area well before I could see it, with loud music and a chap on a mike talking loudly. There was a sudden left turn, and I was back on the same piece of track we had started on all those hours ago. At last! I could see the finish gantry and the timing mat. Not before fellow runner David from the 100MC did a last minute sprint finish and overtook me at the finish line! Git! haha!
I crossed the line and was handed my finishers medal. This was a really nice medal, and the lanyard had marathon written on it so it wasn't just a generic one for all the races. I glanced at my watch and I could see I finished in around 5:30. Given the hills and the gentle start, I was really pleased with that and it was about an hour quicker than I'd planned.
There was supposedly a goody bag but I never saw any, but I did find a bottle of water which was much needed as I'd drunk my camelbak dry.
It was a bit of a miserable old afternoon by now weather wise, with the rain tipping down. As I walked back to the car, I bumped into Lucy again and her daughters who were enjoying a much deserved post-race point!
I soon got back to the car and got into some dry clothes before starting the long drive home. The queue to get through Lyndhurst's infamous one way system was just horrendous, and so was the traffic on the M27 and M3. Never mind, I'd had a great race and really enjoyed it.
Shame about the weather - I can imagine on a sunny day this would have been really spectacular race. I really want to do this one again in 2018 - hopefully in the sun!
I had wanted to run the New Forest marathon for some years. Around 10 years ago I had entered the half but never got to run it, as I'd come down with a fever the day before and didn't want to risk it. So there was unfinished business here in the New Forest. I've always liked this part of the world, and living across the other side of Hampshire made this race quite accessible for me.
Race day started incredibly early. The 'final instructions' from the marathon organisers had advised arrived a whopping THREE hours before the start, which for the full marathon was 9am. This had been worrying - how bad the traffic through Lymington could be, or how congested the parking would be?
I decided to compromise and turned up 2 hours in advance, which still meant getting out of bed at stupid o'clock, but sod getting to the start for 6am. I had an easy journey down the M3, and along the M27 heading towards the New Forest and the town of Brockenhurst. The start of the race was in 'New Park' adjacent to a hotel, just off the A337, so pretty easy to find. Some friendly marshals were directing the traffic and keeping things moving, so there was no issue getting into the car park.
Despite the warnings of impending doom should you arrive anything less than 3 hours ahead of time, I was still one of the first cars to arrive, and a team of friendly marshals directed me to park in the field next to the 'race village' and start/finish area. Not before I was relieved of 3 quid to park. Musn't grumble I suppose but seemed a bit much. It was good to be able to park so close to the start area though - always a bonus if you want to nip back to the car for something and of course you don't want a long walk post-race.
I had asked my running buddy Rachael to collect my race pack the day before, as she had came down for the weekend from her home in Kent. The 'final instructions' had advised not to pick up on the day, with more warnings of doom and gloom should you decide to 'packet pick-up' on the day. As I walked past the number collection gazebo, it was almost empty so I'm not sure what the problem was! It was a beautiful morning, the sun was out although slightly chilly it was a fine morning.
Looks like it was two years trying to find some poor upset child. I wonder if the rabbit will make its way back to New Forest for 2018? I gave Rachael a ring on her mobile, and we soon found each other, she was with a group of fellow runners. My race number and chip, and finishers t-shirt were handed over and I headed back to my car to pick the rest of my stuff up. On the short walk back I bumped into Jim from my running club. It was good to see a friendly face and we exchanged some light hearted banter.
A couple of minutes later I also bumped into my friend Lucy, who was with her daughters, so of course mandatory selfies just had to be done.
By now time was marching on so I headed across the field and entered the large start pen.
They had organised the start zone in fast, medium and slow zones. Of course I know my place, so I dutifully headed to the back! There was a mass 'warm up' which I didn't bother to join in (I prefer to save my energy for the race), and then a race briefing. As usual with these things, I couldn't hear a word they were saying.
As I stood at the start chatting to my fellow runners, I bumped into Paul, the visually impaired runner I had guided round back in November in Kent, and her guide Liz from the 100 marathon club who makes the most amazing running outfits. It was great to meet Liz and to catch up with Paul, he was in good spirits and looking forward to the run.There was just a small wait and the first wave of 'fast' runners set off. We started shuffling forward, chatting to fellow runners. Rachael and I were going to try running together as much as we could, she was nursing an injury and wanted to take it easy, and I was feeling a bit tired after my recent endeavours at the Andover Trial Marathon.
We shuffled forward and the crossed the timing at the start, and we started our gentle run along the New Forest. The first few miles were quite uneventful, they were along nice flat trails and perhaps lured me into a false sense of security!
We did some easy miles, although the two tail runners in yellow vests were worryingly in sight in the distance. The race had a cut-off of 6:30 and we were keen to avoid being timed out, so we tried to up the pace as much as we can.
Right from the start it was really clear that the race was extremely well marshalled and signed. You had sight of a marshal almost anywhere on the course, which I though was excellent, we were well looked after.
We ran for a bit with a lady who had just done London and we exchanged some stories about our experiences. Just before 3 miles, we had to cross over 'Highland Water' and there was the amusing option of Wet Feet or Dry Feet. I expect some of the speedy runners got their feet wet, but of course we chose the dry option!On we plodded and the miles flew by, all the time it was lovely and flat. By now the sky had gone from a lovely blue to a concrete grey, with little spits and spots of rain. A sign of how things were going to go!
On we went, and we were still in the forest. The paths were compacted gravel and there wasn't much mud around, or big stones or tree roots either, so it made for a nice running surface and we were able to rack up those miles fairly quickly. All the while of course, putting the world to rights as us marathon runners do.
As we got to around the six mile spot, our new running friend dropped back for a bit as she was struggling and we didn't see her again. We had well and truly lost the tail runners now, and we settled into enjoying the run as much as we could.
The forest was just a lovely place to run through and I was really enjoying it. At this point we had encountered the first real climb of the day, no problem we walked it out and just enjoyed it.
The New Forest marathon comprises several races; the full marathon, which I was running, as well as a half, 10K, 5K and a fun run. The half started a bit later than us and was on mainly the same route, by now the fast half runners had caught us slower marathon runners up. This made the course a bit congested at this point. We kept to one side and let them all past, but it was a bit off putting at times to see people fly past you. It also meant we had to pay attention to the route signs and stay on the right route! They were colour coded, with the full marathon being red so this was trivial.
By now we had caught up Paul and his guide Liz. She had a sign 'Guide' pinned on her back, and Paul had 'Blind Guide' sign. So who was guiding who exactly! It was good to chat to Paul and Liz for a bit, and we had a laugh remembering our time together back in Kent running at the Path and Downs marathons
This was a dead straight piece of road, and there were some cyclists coming the other way. One decided that he didn't like marathon runners and lobbed a banana skin at me, which whacked me in the face. I had a bit of a sense of humour failure at this point and decided to go on after shouting out a very rude word at the cyclist. Rachael had joined Liz and Paul so decided to push on and grumply run the rest of the race out by myself!
There was a right turn at the end of this stretch and I went through a small village and past some houses. Then started the first real uphill slog on the outskirts of Brockenhurst, and to be honest it wasn't very nice.
The organisers had coned off a piece of the road for the runners to try and run in safety but there was two way traffic, including lorries and white vans roaring past belching out diesel. I just dug in and did my usual speed walking up that hill, willing it to finish! Eventually it did and there was another right turn. By now I had done 11 miles and the runners were heading along another dead straight piece of road. Mercifully this was flat, before we passed under a railway bridge. At this point there was a sign telling us what looked like left - and across the fields - this was the only point in the race where I was unsure where to go. I waited for the runner behind to catch up and he soon put me right, as he'd run it before.
There was now another uphill slog towards the village of Sway, and to a water station (I had already gone through several). These were well manned with loads of water available, although unusually there was only one or two stations on the race which had any sweets or gels. It's a bit unusual in a marathon to only have just water. It didn't matter really as I had my camelbak with a litre of gatorade in it, and I'd got 4 packets of mini cheddars and two mars bars. (Perhaps a full roast dinner and I'd be sorted!)
I stopped at the water station and made my usual 'dad joke' to the marshals asking about which cup had the gin in, before heading off and starting the climb to the next hill. This took us literally 'round the houses' of the village of Sway, before heading out again along the road. These roads were thankfully a bit quieter than the main road into Sway, and plenty of residents had come out to clap and cheer us on. This was really nice and I really appreciated it.
It felt slightly odd to run past holidaymakers in their caravans and motorhomes, some of whom looked a bit nonplussed to see me plodding past at my snails pace.
I had spotted fellow running buddy Garry running here and we chatted for a bit, before he dropped back and I made my way on. The route went across some fields and back into a coppice, however the route was getting really hilly again. We crossed a river (Avon Water) and the organisers had constructed a makeshift bridge to avoid us getting our feet wet (no wet/dry feet option here!) The bridge was a bit slippery but got across in one piece without falling into the water.
By now I had done 18 miles and the legs were starting to complain a bit, but I was doing my usual run/walk and still had quite a bit of energy. I glanced at my watch and realised that I'd got up to nearly 19 miles in 4 hours, which I was quite pleased about considering the hills. It was raining hard now, but the forest was really pretty which made up for it.
The route was now up and down, hill after hill and getting quite tough. I had been practising my speed walking for the Snowdonia marathon at the end of the next month, so this was helping keep my mile times down when I was walking so it was good to be able to practise that.
I got chatting to quite a few fellow runners as I plodded on and most seemed fairly happy, although some was suffering a bit with the hills and the rain was damping their spirits. There was also a really odd small piece of out-and-back section on this part of the course. Presumably there to make the course exactly up to the full 26.2 miles! I thanked the marshal who was manning the turn point, she had been stood their for hours in the rain and looked soaked and freezing but was still smiling and happy. Almost all the marshals in this race were fantastic and really made the race.
The trail now finally finished at around mile 23, and for those last 3 miles we were back on the road. This time though, not coned off and with two lanes of live traffic roaring past this was a bit off putting. Although it was a slow road, there were lots of traffic calming chicanes, which you had to time the run around to avoid getting a face full of an angry impatient car!
Mercifully at mile 23 there was almost a mile of downhill, and I really went for it here. It was so nice to be able to just put my foot down and get some speed back up.
As I passed the mile 24 point I was back uphill, and speed walking again. I overtook a chap dressed as Fred Flintstone, it was his 50th marathon and he looked absolutely knackered! I don't think he was too pleased that I was walking faster than he was running. One of the downsides of speed walking in the later stages of a distance run is people are going to get really fed up with you going faster than them.
At last I was in the final mile and it was nice and flat. I could hear the finish area well before I could see it, with loud music and a chap on a mike talking loudly. There was a sudden left turn, and I was back on the same piece of track we had started on all those hours ago. At last! I could see the finish gantry and the timing mat. Not before fellow runner David from the 100MC did a last minute sprint finish and overtook me at the finish line! Git! haha!I crossed the line and was handed my finishers medal. This was a really nice medal, and the lanyard had marathon written on it so it wasn't just a generic one for all the races. I glanced at my watch and I could see I finished in around 5:30. Given the hills and the gentle start, I was really pleased with that and it was about an hour quicker than I'd planned.
There was supposedly a goody bag but I never saw any, but I did find a bottle of water which was much needed as I'd drunk my camelbak dry.
It was a bit of a miserable old afternoon by now weather wise, with the rain tipping down. As I walked back to the car, I bumped into Lucy again and her daughters who were enjoying a much deserved post-race point!
I soon got back to the car and got into some dry clothes before starting the long drive home. The queue to get through Lyndhurst's infamous one way system was just horrendous, and so was the traffic on the M27 and M3. Never mind, I'd had a great race and really enjoyed it.
Shame about the weather - I can imagine on a sunny day this would have been really spectacular race. I really want to do this one again in 2018 - hopefully in the sun!
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