Heartbreaker Marathon 28 February 2016

This event saw me back in one of my favourite parts of the country, the New Forest. I love it there, the open heathland is similar to our own South Pennine Moors but not just quite as bleak.

The weekend started off the Saturday in a very satisfying way, I drove down to see an old friend from my Rugby days who I haven't seen in 30 years. He lives within shouting distance of the Forest so we met up for a few beers and to watch England beat Ireland en route to their 6 Nations Grand Slam. Post match Dave and Hazel fed me up with the perfect carb loading pasta dish before I drove over to Fordingbridge which is only a stones throw from the race HQ at Sandy Balls holiday center.

The stupidly steep start.

The morning dawned and after a full English at the pub I went to register. The weather was clear but very cold and I went down to the start in three layers plus hat and gloves. I use the word down advisedly because the start was comically steep. "Just my little joke!" I was told by the event director, "and it also helps spread the field before you head out on the the roads."

The course is a 5km out to 3 laps of 10km before returning down the 5 km stretch and after the first 2.5k it's all trail running with some quite steep stretches. I had run the half marathon version of the course before as part of a middle distance triathlon and so I was somewhat familiar with it but I think this lead me to underestimate how tough it was going to be.

The road out was quite boring but once we left the tarmac and got on the trails we really got into the New Forest proper There was an aid station at the point where the out and back met the lap section and we were due to pass it 7 times. It was good to be able to dump my jacket and gloves at this point, the T-shirt went on the pile later and completed most of the run in just my base layer.

The first two laps went by and I was really happy with my pace even though the building wind was starting to become quite a significant factor. The course was quite crowded at this point as we had been joined by the half-marathon race but on our last lap the course was quite peaceful with the field now widely spread.

As I got the the aid station halfway through the last lap the old saying that "a marathon is only a 10k challenge you just have to run 32k before you start" came in to my mind as my legs started to hurt badly and 30 k in trail shoes was starting to have an effect on my feet as well.

Any way it was grit your teeth time and I completed the last upwind section of the lap, collected my stuff from the aid station and headed home down some very steep descents that really lit up my quads and hip flexors whilst wondering what enjoyment I actually get from this stupid game.

After the last 2k soen the boring roads I finally crossed the line in 2:18 although it seems from the finisher pic that I crossed in Disney Princess style!

I was really pleased with the time, not my fastest by a long stretch but the winner did it in 2:35 and he is a 2:15 man by all accounts and that shows just how tough the course and conditions were.

I was quite disoriented when I finished - I think I had got myself a little dehydrated and it took me a while to get sorted out and back to the pub for a shower, a pint and the long drive home stopping at just about every Costa between Hampshire and Yorkshire.

In conclusion it was a great event. The course is a good.one in one of the UK's most beautiful areas, the conditions were ok and I would recommend the race to anyone - but I don't think I'll be doing it again.

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