Race review: #44 Thames Meander Winter Marathon

Kingston on Thames, Saturday 4th November 2017.

The Thames Meander marathon was my second Hermes Running event. Back in May I had run the hilly Bewl Water marathon in Kent, also organised by Hermes. I was hoping for a bit of an easier ride from this race compared to Bewl, as it was an out-and-back along the Thames Path, so promised to be fairly flat.   I was a little bit dubious though, only a week earlier I had run the Snowdonia Marathon which was a real slog fest. My legs were feeling fine but I was a little worried about how much I had recovered.

This race was being held on a Saturday, that's a bit unusual but it suited me.  The start time was 10am, which meant I didn't need to leave home until about 7.30 - it was defnitely a 'Brucie Bonus' getting to spend a little bit longer in bed.

Race HQ was at the YMCA Hawker Centre in Kingston upon Thames, not far from the centre of town. I had driven over and there was loads of free parking on-site, and also lots of space on nearby residential roads.

This was a great HQ as we were sheltered from the elements, it was nice and warm and there was a coffee bar and toilets available. 

I made my way to the registration desk where I collected my race number and attached timing chip. As I was pinning on my number onto my t-shirt, I bumped into Costas who is regular marathon runner and a top bloke, it was good to catch up and have a quick chat. I also saw running friends from the 100 marathon club Emine and Theresa, and we had a quick chat before wandering outside to see where the start line was, and also to use the facilities.

There organisers had provided a few portaloos outside. I didn't see much of a queue but can imagine it got a bit busier later as lots more runners appeared. As well as the full marathon, there was a half on at the same time, although the half marathon started 30 minutes later.

After a quick sneaky latte from the coffee bar, the runners made our way over to the Thames Path behind the centre, and assembled at the start line. The first part of the course was a regular parkrun course (Kingston) so we needed to keep off the path and wait for the parkrun tailrunner to come through around 10am. It wasn't too cold, but it was raining a little. As we stood at the start I was shivering a bit and hoped that we could soon get off.  I was chatting to Martin from my running club, as well as some of the folks from the 100 marathon club and the time ticked by very quickly.

The race director, David Ross, gave all us marathon runners a quick briefing. As usual with these things I can never hear a bloody thing as everyone is chatting around you and whoever is briefing never speaks loudly enough. I knew there was a fairly generous cut off to this race of 6.5 hours, with a turn around point at 13 miles. I just needed to get on with it.

There was a short further delay and then the start horn sounded, and the runners streamed over the start line and across the timing mat. I was well toward the back but there weren't load of runners - maybe around 250-300 of us.

The first mile of the marathon we started running "in the wrong direction", heading west along the Thames Path. To add the distance in, the organisers had put an extra little loop in at the start.   We came off the path and went down a short section of quiet residential road, before entering Canbury Gardens. We passed a nice looking pub called the Boaters Inn on our right. I remember going in here many years ago with my friend Russell after going to the Great British Beer Festival, so that bought back a few memories.  I was running and chatting with Jo, who I'd first met at 'Top Run' earlier in the year. She told me she was planning to run her 100th marathon at London 2018. Good luck Jo!

On reaching the far end of Canbury gardens, and almost reaching the centre of Kingston, we did a u-turn and then retraced our steps back to the start. A very friendly marshal gave us lots of encouragement at the turn around point, she was also there to make there was no bandit short cutting!

We got back onto the Thames Path where we were going to spend the majority of the race. It was quite wide, there was the odd puddle but it was mainly hard compacted gravel and not at all muddy. It was a really good trail running surface, and I was glad I had worn my normal road shoes.

As we went past the Hawker centre and the start again, there was lots of support from the half marathon runners who were now assembling for their race. My watch told me I had done just under 2 miles, I now needed to head east, and towards central London, before hitting that turn around point.  By now I had gone on ahead a little from Jo. The course was still solid and I was still running. I was planning on 'Jeffing' this marathon, with a 90 seconds run, 30 seconds fast-walk ratio.  However I wanted to use the first few miles as a warm up and when it's so busy, it's not fair on fellow runners to keep slowing down right in front of them.

I got chatting to a couple of ladies, who I found out were called Ekua and Frances. Ekua was running her first marathon, and Frances had done Yeovil earlier in the year (which was one of my few DNS races). We chatted for a few miles, which really helped take my mind off the rain!  There was plenty of scenery to look at though. On our right we passed Ham House and then the Old Deer Park (where I had run a half marathon the previous January, also famous for a YouTube video with a dog called Fenton). On our left we passed Eel Pie Island. I recognised this part of the Thames Path from the Old Deer Park half marathon, as we went under some of the bridges and headed up towards Kew Gardens.  We passed our first aid station here, which was well stocked with water and sweeties, as were all the aid stations.

There was a short section where we  had to leave the Thames Path and run on a pavement along a busy road. The organisers had put up lot of route marks (little yellow chevrons) to guide us, and somehow managed not to get lost ha! I ran for a little while with Theresa and Emine, and of course we had to stop the mandatory selfie! At last the rain was beginning to peter out, and the sun was even beginning to peek out. That was pretty much the last of the rain for the entire race, which I was very grateful for.

By now the front runners of the Half marathon had caught us up. There were now a few really awkward miles with shouts of 'coming through' and 'on your right' and being constantly overtaken. I tried my best to keep out of the way but there were a few narrow sections where I couldn't squeeze or jump out of the way. I found this off-putting and a bit tiresome after a while, and it must have been annoying for the fast runners too.


We finally reached the half marathon turn around point, which also doubled as an aid station. Leaving behind the faster half runners, the course now got much quieter and I was able to find my pace again and get a bit of breather. 

Shortly after running under a bridge the lead runner came steaming past us, he was already on his return leg and was way over an hour in front of me!

On we plodded, through a nice garden area and then up off the Thames Path through Richmond and a narrow section of pavement.  Fortunately this was only a brief deviation from the main Thames Path, and we soon rejoined.

As we came running under Chiswick bridge, I could see on my left the BSI building and I knew I wasn't far from where I used to work at Disney. It felt odd to see those familiar buildings from a completely different angle.

We were now heading past the London Wetlands centre, and getting really close to the turnaround point. As I looked across the river I could see Fulham Football club, so I knew we were getting pretty close to central London.  

At last, here was the turn around point, near the Barn Elms Rowing Club. A marshal was stood on the path holding up a large sign saying 'turn around point', he jokingly told us we had to run behind him or he'd DQ us.

So a quick shuffle behind the turn point, and I started heading back exactly the same way I had just come. Now the river was on my right hand side, giving me a different view on the way back. I much prefer an out-and-back to laps for this reason, you know what is coming but there is different scenery to keep you motivated.

As I approached Chiswick bridge for the second time, Ekua came past me. She was having a great first marathon and still looking strong. I was beginning to fade a little by now, I was keeping the run/walk going but it was getting pretty tiring and I had slowed down a bit.  We exchanged some motivational banter and she went off, soon off into the distance.

Now we passed Kew Pier again, and again along the little pavement section in Richmond before heading back onto the Thames Path. It was just a matter of keeping the run/walk going and getting the job done.  

As we came back into the Buccleuch Gardens section I had a bit of a wobble. There was a section of path where I could either turn right or go straight on - and there was no helpful Hermes Running arrow to tell me where to go!  So I chose to go right, of course this was the wrong way.  I realised after a few minutes that this would let me taken a short cut back onto the Thames Path, but I chose to retrace my steps and get back on the course.  I saw my running friend Davo as I was about to rejoin, he had seen me go the wrong way. There was some banter about reporting me to the Race Director for cheating, ha! 

A little further as I went past the Old Deer park for the second time, there was another sign which I got confused with, and ended up staying on the towpath a little longer than I should have. It didn't really matter though, as I cut back across the bank and back onto the wider Thames Path.

A little further on I passed the aid station near Eel Pie Island, and the River Thames had risen a lot. There was now just a little strip of land available on the path to run on, and the Army Cadets manning the station were desperately moving the aid station higher up onto dry land.  I counted myself as lucky, as I found out the runners behind me ended up wading through ankle deep water on this section, I had just missed it.

Looking down at my watch I was doing alright, I was up to nearly mile 23 and I could see the finish line in sight. No such luck of finishing just yet though, a little sting in the tail of this race awaited - I had to do another agonising two mile loop of Canbury Gardens and come back to the finish.  Oh the injustice of making us run past the finish line. It stood there, just taunting us. "You've got 2 more miles left, suckers! hahaha!"

My legs by now were really very tired. I just wanted it over and done with.  As I entered Canbury  Gardens I saw Martin come the other way (he was in front of me) and said hello, so I knew I was doing alright as he's a faster runner than me.  After what felt like an eternity of slogging along that path, I went round the turn around point for the final time (and thanked the same marshal again, she was a star, and had stood there for hours) and headed back towards that finish.

This last mile really seemed to go on forever, and that little trot on the residential road was mental torture. But I just clung on and kept doing the run/walk. As I went up the little hill back onto the Thames Path, I could see the finish line now and upped my pace a bit.  At last!  I came sprinting (actually more of a comical shuffle!) over the finish line, with a reassuring beep from the timing mat.  I had finished but I was seriously knackered. Glancing at my watch I had finished in 5:12 which was much faster than I had ever hoped for, and my fastest time of the year so far.  I was really pleased with that! I had been doing some speedwork during the week for the past few weeks, so that work was paying off.

I was handed a very nice Hermes Running marathon finishers medal, and given a bottle of water.

I made my way back inside the centre where I bumped into Ekua and her husband, we had a chat about the race and I congratulated her on finishing her first marathon - good job Ekua!  So Thames Meander marathon was meandered, and I'd had a great day out. 

Hopefully I will be back to give this course another shot and get sub-5 hours (in my dreams!)