At the start of the year I set some goals, one of which was to get a sub 4 hour time for a marathon and today marked my first of 2 attempts to hit this mark, at Hermes Running’s Thames Meander Marathon.
The Thames Mender is a bit of a ‘Ronseal’ event (exactly what it says on the tin) for the course is a meander along the river Thames from the Hawker leisure centre near Richmond to Putney Bridge and back again. The leisure centre originally set-up for the employees of the famous Hawker Siddeley aircraft factory - which has long since moved and has now become an housing estate next door, where you register and gather for the start on the Thames Path.
The forecast for today was far from rosy, but at least it was supposed to be warm whilst it was to chuck it down with rain - which it certainly was on the drive there, during registration and just as we started!
The route is a very simple out and back along the river-side path, which is mostly a metalled surface rather than tarmacced and with it being next to the river, its about as flat as it gets! Due to a rowing race being held on the Thames, the authority in charge of the river had forbade the organisers to continue to the original turn-point as they did not want any issues with runners and spectators getting in each other’s way on the path, so rather than just heading downriver and back, we had to head upriver for a mile’s loop, which was to be repeated before we crossed the finish line at the end.
Killing time for the start of the run, I could see loads of runners gathering for the Saturday morning Parkrun in the field next to where we were… Part of me thought that this would make a good warm-up for the marathon as you could finish that before running the latter, but common-sense kicked in and made me realise that a fast-paced 3 miles before hitting another 26 and a bit would not necessarily be ideal so I knocked that on the head and waited with the other runners for the race to commence!
As the rain began to fall we all huddled together at the start, trying to stay out of this and the occasional cold gusts of wind before we were set on our merry way… The tempo at first was quite a fast one with the field stretching-out almost from the beginning as we went on the up-river loop, well marshalled by some army cadets, with the rain cooling us all off in a pleasant manner as we all warmed-up as our bodies acclimatised to running rather than standing.
Arriving back at the start-finish line I could see a familiar be-kilted figure standing there in the guise of local resident Rob Young, or ‘MarathonmanUK’ who after running the most marathons in a calendar year and winning the race across the USA, had recently set the record for the longest non-stop run of some 300+ miles. I stopped to say hello again and thank him for coming and cheering us all on in the rain before carrying on.
The rain was beginning to get heavier and with all the footfall on the path, the sections that held water were starting to churn-up noticeably, although with a fair chunk of the route being under trees it was not getting too wet everywhere and with the air temperature being warm, it was not at all uncomfortable to be out running, even when the wind did gust hard… That was until we passed through Mortlake and the exposed section of the course, where it began to hammer it down with a vengeance!
No matter what, we were all getting soaked so everyone had their minds on getting to the turn as soon as they could and get back to the start!.. Speaking of which, I made the halfway in slightly under 2 hours, which was bang on target for my ultimate goal, but I knew I would not be making it as the last couple of miles to the turn had been one of building pain in my knees from the constant hammering on the hard path. As I munched on a breakfast bar I necked a couple of pain killers and did the best I could, but from around the 16th mile onwards my mile times were beginning to lengthen through me just adopting a run/walk strategy to get to the finish.
Eventually, soaking wet and with aching knees I crossed the finish line in a decent time for me, but one which was pants in comparison to what it could have been with the pace I ran the first half in… Oh well, shit happens, but on the positive, setting a 1:56 for a half marathon time was a PB for me so there was a positive to be taken from today.
The course along the Thames path is unremarkable in its nature - there is not a great deal of sights to behold; the river is always on one side and on the other you always seem to have trees or a fence/ wall so your field of vision is not brilliant, so vista wise it was a bit ‘meh’ especially having been spoilt from running in plenty of testing trails in areas of outstanding natural beauty… There were plenty of people to chat with along the way and the atmosphere was very friendly. The aid stations were well stocked and were serving tangerine flavour ’Gu’ gels which I consumed along the way having disposed of my last batch of homemade gels from the adverse affect they had on me! They run the Meander a few times each year, but will I be back?.. I don’t know - perhaps when I am looking to set a good time for the distance, especially with it being one of the closer marathons to me, but it won’t become a race that becomes a regular in my diary as there are plenty of other races out there still to be run first!
Eat pies.
Drink beer.
Run far.
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