Fleetwood Marathon Report - By Pete Mulleady

It was a nice early start for me, 5.45am, on Sunday as I got up for the Fleetwood Marathon. Usual pre race breakfast of porridge with loads of other random bits thrown in, Ginger, Raisins, Coconut, Banana, Nuts. Gordon Ramsay, no contest. Bit last minute, for a change, and off to pick up Alan Steeple in Salford. I didn’t actually know where Alan lived but luckily I had an address and Satnav. Then it was off to Fleetwood. The Satnav was getting a bit upset with me as I promptly headed off towards Yorkshire down the M62 (I missed the M61 turn) but we were soon back on the right track and despite the minor detour we still managed to take 15 mins off the satnav journey time to Fleetwood. At 8.30 we met up with our fellow Marathon runners Michaela & Steve Coleman. Dan was also there just deciding whether to run the half or full marathon. 13.1 miles or 26.2 in sweltering heat? What would Dan , typical hard as nails A&T stalwart, never say die attitude, choose? What do you think!
26.2 miles is along way to go and every bit of weight makes a difference so we headed off to get our weight down at the local amenities. While we were there we discussed our race tactics and picked up some tips from a Guy who has the UK record for the number of Marathons, 700 and something! Then it was off to the start and after the usual A&T handshakes and “have a good one” we were off at 9am.

It was a glorious sunny day, not really what you want for a Marathon, so you know you have to keep drinking a lot. The first drinks station was well manned with half a dozen scouts who were very friendly but didn’t have any drinks! Mine and Alan’s tactics were to run at 3 hour pace for as long as possible. I think perhaps I subconsciously remembered Dan’s comment from the Edinburgh Marathon "If I had to summarise a marathon I would say prepare yourself for a steady, well paced 20 mile run with the most horrendous 10k imaginable thrown on top."

So I decided to ditch the 20 mile bit and ran 10K at perfect 3 hour pace! Basically my dodgy knee let me down, started hurting a lot after a couple of tight corners. At first I thought it would go away, then at 6 miles I thought I’d better slow down and perhaps pace Michaela round, by another 0.1 mile I’d decided I’d stop when we looped back to the start area and after another 0.1 mile I thought stuff it I’m walking! Have to say the friendliness of the other runners was brilliant. Of the 30 or 40 that went past me about half asked whether I was alright. Saw some more friendly faces a bit further along, Michaela’s entourage! Mum, Dad, Brother, Sister, Niece. Walked a little bit further and I was at a drinks station being manned by Bacon Man! It seemed he was asked by a lady to just cover for a minute and then he never saw her again. I got changed and then helped out at the drinks station with him. Soon got over my disappointment at stopping after seeing some of the suffering faces coming through. Even managed to get some butties for helping out. The drinks station was at about 16.5 miles in the race so we saw everyone come through. Dan finished the half in 1.38, excellent time and a pb. Alan was still on 3hr pace when he went past us but eventually the heat got to him. Still beat his pb by 3 mins in a time of 3.09 and 16th overall. Steve suffered in the heat and came in at 3.35. Michaela did brilliantly in her first Marathon, especially in the heat, coming in at 3.47 and 11th lady. Scott, Tracy and the twins were also down supporting so we had a really good A&T feel at the finish. 149 runners completed the marathon and 135 the half. Well done to all who ran. Fast course but a very tough day for distance running.

I’m now looking forward to joining the Pete Chan marathon training club, unfinished business for next year!