Red Deer Marathon

The Red Deer Marathon wasn't really on my agenda for this year, but having received a phone call from the organisers a couple of months ago inviting me back to defend my title, I decided to go ahead and register despite the race being just 3 weeks post London. Although in the past, I would happily run a marathon followed by a 100k a month or so later, I don't recover as quickly as I used to do and I have creaks and groans in the old body that just take a little longer to iron out following a good hard race. Saying that though, since I completed the London Marathon at the end of last month, I've been taking it relatively easy running wise as I knew that Red Deer was coming up, and I have to say that the effects of London seemed to be in the distant past when I stood on the start line on Sunday morning.

Last year, I won the marathon in a time of 3.11 and in all honesty, all I wanted this year was to run a little quicker just to prove to myself that I was fitter and faster than I was 12 months ago. I knew that a faster time could possibly bring a top 3 placing if not the win, and with not being a target race, I would be happy with that outcome.

Unlike last year's event, the rain came on the Saturday rather than race day and by Sunday morning, things had dried up considerably with clear blue skies, although temperatures in Red Deer had dipped below freezing overnight, giving us a chilly but manageable -1 degrees when we started at 8am. I knew things would soon warm up though and opted for the vest and shorts rather than leggings and long sleeved tops that many other people had gone for.

Lining up on the start line, I started to feel extremely nervous about the race for some reason - far more so than I have done for a long time. Maybe I was putting pressure on myself, maybe it was the expectation of others with me being the defending champion, maybe it was something else, but I was extremely relieved when we eventually started and I was able to release that pent up nervous energy and utilise that adrenalin.

Start of Red Deer Marathon 2015

There seemed to be more faster ladies in the race this year, particuarly in the half marathon, and within the first kilometer, there were something like 8 ladies ahead of me, 1 of which was doing the marathon. The marathon runner went off at a fair old pace, and by the 5km mark, she already had a good 500m lead over me. I wasn't too concerned as we were very early on in the race so I stuck to my race plan and tried to knock out 4.15-4.20 km splits.

The Red Deer Marathon course is absolutely beautiful. There is no traffic whatsoever and it meanders along the pathways beside the Red Deer River giving an almost rural appeal to the entire course. It isn't a flat course either, and whilst you could hardly call it extremely hilly, there are some steep sharp inclines as well as sections that follow woodland trails beneath towering pine trees. You get to hear the birds singing in the trees, you get to see the Canada Geese and their chicks on the banks of the river and nesting beside the lakes, and you pass through the local dog park where numerous dogs stop in their tracks and watch as the runners pass by. There  are regular aid stations and the volunteers are absolutely amazing, and whilst the volume of spectators is very small, the few that do line the route are extremely encouraging and very vocal!

With the half and the full marathons starting together, I found I had company for the first part of the race and I was running in a small group of 5 men. It wasn't intentional and with me generally prefering to run on my own in races rather than having somebody matching me stride for stride, I found that I was speeding up at various intervals to get past them, eventually passing the last of the men in our little group just before the half way mark. 

I was hoping to go through half way faster than last year and with a time of just under 1.32 at the 21km marker, I figured that I was on for a 3.06 ish finish based on how much I tend to slow down in other marathons in the latter stages of the race. I was still in 2nd place in the ladies race with the gap at half way being over 4 minutes, but as I headed out to the golf course past the Three Mile Bend dog park, I was getting told that I was catching the leader and she was now only about a minute or two ahead. I tried not to think about it too much and just tried to keep my momentum going, but my legs were feeling heavy and starting to tire and despite my best efforts, I too appeared to be slowing down.

Riverbend in Red Deer - 28km in and feeling very heavy legged here!

Around about 28km, I was really happy to see Andy. It's always good to see a familiar face in a race and as ever, he said all the right things to keep me focused and to help me stay strong. He too informed me that the lead lady was now only a minute or so ahead, and with 14km still to go, I really thought that maybe I could catch her. The problem was that due to the nature of the course, I couldn't actually see her and yet she could only have been 150 to 200m or so ahead of me. I pushed on through the woodland trail section and overtook a couple of men, and yet I still couldn't see her despite being so close. 

By now, things had defintely warmed up and not only was I feeling heavy legged, I really needed to drink. I'd been taking drinks onboard every 3km from the small paper cups provided, but I never find those cups to be enough and I needed more fluids. As I approached the next aid station, they accidentally dropped the drink as I went to take it which was extremely frustrating, but I didn't stop for another as I was in chase mode. Unfortunately, my pace gradually got slower and having looked back at my splits over the last 12km, I'd only been doing 4.45 pace which meant that the gap between me and the leader was getting wider. With 5km to go, I was once again told that I could catch her - she was about 2 minutes ahead - but whilst 2 minutes doesn't sound alot, when you only have 3 miles remaining, you really would need to come up with something miraculous in order to make up that time!

The hardest climb in the entire race is at around 41km, and as I shuffled up the hill with the finish in sight, it was only then that I saw the leading lady. She was indeed only a short distance ahead of me, and although she looked to be finishing strong, I honestly believe that had I spotted her so clearly earlier on, my racing instinct would have kicked in and I would have caught her in that last 12km - but then I guess that's easy to say in hindsight!

The last km is downhill to the finish and I pushed as hard as possible, still wanting a faster time than last year, and with extremly heavy legs and tightening glutes, I crossed the finish line as 2nd lady in 3.09.10 - 2 minutes quicker than last year but still very happy with how I'd ran. The winner had finished just over 2 minutes ahead of me in the end and having looked at the results, she had slowed far more dramatically than I had, losing 10 minutes in the second half compared to my 5 -  I know it's just numbers, but those numbers can make a huge difference when racing and sad as it sounds, I do actually find it interesting to see how other people's races have gone in that respect.

Almost finished and pushing for home :-)

Red Deer Marathon really is a fantastic event, and I'm so pleased that I got to go back again this year even though it was never in my plans. It's not a fast course but it isn't a bad course either, and I thoroughly enjoyed racing there again. I'm more than happy with my run - 2nd lady, 8th overall and 1st in my age group resulting in yet more bling, a $200 cheque, and this wonderful hand made tile that shows a section of the course along the river - yes, it was worth the drive, and definitely more than worth the effort.

Beautiful hand made tile showing a section of the course
and medals to match ;-)

A Trip Down Memory Lane - The London Marathon

It was a little strange landing at Heathrow Airport on the Friday morning. I expected to feel a sense of belonging and yet despite things being very familiar to me, it also felt foreign and unusual - a far cry from home.

The 8 1/2 hour flight had been ok except for a 3 year old boy sat on the row behind - he cried from the moment we took off until the moment we landed, at which point he nodded off in to a blissful sleep just as we were all about to disembark. With having the marathon Sunday morning, I desperately wanted to have a good sleep on the over night flight to get me on British time as quickly as possible, but with just 2 hours of broken sleep and with a 7 hour time difference, I wasn't feeling too lively when we arrived.

We'd decided to collect my race bib on the Friday which would free up Saturday for just lounging around and getting myself mentally prepared for the following day. By 3pm, we'd already battled the tube from Heathrow to our hotel at Greenwich, and having dumped our suitcases and freshened up, we hopped on the DLR to ExCel for the marathon expo.

With going on the Friday, the expo was far less busy than what I've encountered in the past and I collected my number pretty much straight away without any hassle. I was extremely surprised when the chap handing out the Championship numbers recognised me from previous years and with him already knowing that I had several sub-3 marathons under my belt, he told me about some research that was being undertaken into women athletes that had ran sub 3 marathons. Some of the doctors and students carrying out the research were at the expo and they were looking for volunteers to give blood samples there and then, where after they would be analysing the DNA to see if there is a common pattern in each sample. I've always been fascinated by science, and when I heard that they would share their findings with me sometime in June along with providing a personal analysis of my own blood sample, I willingly provided the 5 ml of blood they needed to help with their research.

We didn't spend too long at the expo - just enough to buy some gels and listen to Jo Pavey on the main stage talking about her European Gold Medal  and then we headed back to the hotel to relax. 13 hours later we woke up feeling much better although our body clocks were still on Calgary time which made it a struggle to eat a full meal at a respectable time!

I actually slept extremely well on the Saturday night and woke up on race day feeling relaxed and ready to go. My training had been geared towards achieving a sub-3 and whilst I genuinely felt that it was within my capabilities to run around 2.58 on the day, I had no idea what the physiological effects of a long haul flight and a 7 hour time difference would have on me. I'd already said to folks back home that things would be very close and I would either go just under or just over the 3 hour mark, saying to Andy that realistically I would likely finish between 2.58 and 3.03 if I had a good run.

With staying in Greenwich, we were only about a mile from the start up on Blackheath Common so after breakfast, we made our way through the back streets towards Maze Hill where we started to encounter the crowds already making their way up the hill.

It was a little drizzly and quite cool - perfect conditions for running, and although it was meant to be quite a windy day, it wasn't too bad at all.

We found the blue start area and with the UK and English Championship area being sectioned off and inaccessible to non-runners, it was time to say bye bye to Andy as we made arrangements for meeting up at the finsh. I missed my usual pre-race pep talk with him, but having done London seveal times before, I knew the drill and knew exactly what to expect.

The championship area was extremely busy, and due to the damp conditions, the changing tent was somewhat crowded and filled with excitable chatter as everybody got themselves ready. I hovered outside for a short while before changing into dry shoes and socks, and smothering my feet with Vaseline to avoid any unwanted blisters a few miles down the road.

Our kit bags had to be on the baggage bus by 9.40 and with them closing the gate to the start area shortly afterwards, we all started to line up on the road. Being in vest and shorts, it was certainly on the cool side, but as the number of bodies increased, they generated enough heat to keep us warm. It was when standing waiting around that I spotted old Team GB team mates Louise Blizzard and Karen Rushton both of which I hadn't seen for a few years and it was absolutely fantastic to see them both looking so well and happy.

One  of the star attractions for the 2015 was that Paula Radcliffe would be running her last marathon here in London. I remember briefly meeting Paula back in 2011 plus I've had the honour of being just a few steps behind her on the start line when the Championship women used to start with the elite women. This year she was starting with the champ athletes and whilst I didn't get to see her this time, the sense of pride and support for this amazing athlete was astounding as a massive cheer and thunderous applause followed her introduction.

Once we'd started, I got into my pace pretty much straight away, careful not to get dragged along too fast with everybody else and concentrating on doing my own thing. I was aiming to run around 21 minutes for each 5km split, hitting half way in around 1.28, and with pacing myself in kilometres rather than miles, I wasn't really paying much attention to the mile markers. Crazy as it sounds, when I first got into ultra running - particularly the 100k races - for some reason I always found it easier to mentally cope with the distance in kilometres rather than miles - 100k didn't sound as daunting as 62 miles - and because kilometres are shorter, they appear to pass by far more quickly and it feels like I'm covering the distance at a faster rate. My 5km splits were coming in pretty much spot on with my watch and I was comfortably running around 4.10 km pace which would give me the sub 3 I was hoping for.

The London Marathon was everything that I remembered - runners encouraging each other and sharing bottles of water at the aid stations, an endless stream of colour on the road ahead for as far as you can see, the constant pounding of footsteps on the tarmac, the deafening roar of the crowds that exists for pretty much the entire course, so loud that it makes you feel like you are winning the race and they are cheering you on to the finish line - the Cutty Sark and Tower Bridge with crowds 10 deep, whilst the numbers of people along the Embankment and lining the pavements on Birdcage Walk and The Mall are truly amazing. And yet despite the sheer volume of people on and around the course that day, I still bumped in to Paul Burslem of Trentham and spotted the wonderfully talented Sarah Johnson spectating at the 15k mark and managed a little chat as she ran alongside for a short stretch. I was passed by a couple of the sub 3 hour pacing groups early on, and the sheer volume of runners in the group almost caused a bottleneck as they pushed their way through, altering my stride a little as a couple of them bumped in to me and other runners or cut in front whilst trying to keep up with the pacer.

By my watch, I passed half way bang on target in around 1.28 and was still feeling confident that I would get very close to 3 hours, but the half way marker on the course was some 2 minutes further down the road which did surprise me somewhat. I wasn't able to follow the "blue line" as closely as I have done in the past, but I really didn't think that I had strayed that far away from it. I picked up the pace at that point as we started our journey out into Canary Wharf and the docklands area but tried to slow things down again when my km splits were showing 3.50 pace. It was only when one read 2.22 that I realised that the GPS on my watch was getting confused due to the high rise buildings in the area. I passed the 30km marker and yet my watch was saying I had already done 32km so it was clearly way over distance. There was no way that the London Marathon would have been measured incorrectly, so having lost track of what pace I was actually running, I just had to knuckle down and push on, focusing on getting to the finish.

I passed quite a few people over the last 7km - 258 according to the statistics - and as I made the right turn at the Houses of Parliament with just over a mile still to go, I had 6 1/2 minutes to go under 3 hours. There was no way that was going to happen - I was feeling good but undoubtedly fatigued and I was already giving everything I had - and as I made the final turn into The Mall, the clock had already gone over 3 hours. I attempted to sprint the last 300m, pushing as hard as I could in the closing stages and not wanting the clock to go too much over the 3 hour mark. 

Last minute surge along The Mall to the finish

My official finishing time was 3.02.21 - it was my fastest marathon since 2009 and I was over the moon and very happy with the result.

The long walk down The Mall towards the meet and greet area is always an emotional one - you see other people that are over the moon with their result, you see some that are devastated, you share your story with other runners, you shake hands and hug complete strangers, you thank the volunteers who are so enthusiastic in congratulating you for finishing and show an interest in how you've got on - it's just one of the reasons I love the London Marathon. This time though it was even more special as I got to see some old running friends at the finish, all of which to me had had amazing runs. More importantly I found Andy amongst the thousands of people in Horse Guards Parade - he'd not spotted me during the run, but he was there as ever at the finish to give me a hug and look after me.

Happy happy happy - The Mall

The days following the London Marathon were pretty awesome and our time was crammed with meeting up with as many people as possible. I got to see my brother and his family and we managed a walk up the moors, I saw my Auntie Sheila and Uncle Phil on the farm and was very thankful that my cousins Karen and Dominique were there at the same time, I went for a meal with old school friends and running friends and crazy friends, we had a day out at sunny Blackpool which was fantastic having not been to the seaside for at least 3 years, we got to see most of Andy's family and I even won a game of bingo, and I got to have a magnificent run around my old favourite  running route in Hanchurch Woods with my fabulous friend Julia, and Louise who I hadn't seen properly for over 25 years when we ran together as young and innocent 10 year olds at Stoke AC. 

BLACKPOOL!!! :-)

A walk at the Goyt Valley with my big brother Carl

True friendship lasts forever - Louise Dawson - last seen 25+ years ago

It was certainly strange being back in the UK and much as we enjoyed our time there, we also encountered a few things that more than justified our decision to move overseas over 3 years ago, and it was nice to be going back home to Calgary which really is a world away from how we used to live.

Now that London is complete, my focus has shifted to my next goal which is the TransRockies Run in August - 6 consecutive days of racing in the mountains of Colorado, covering 120 miles in total. I'm really excited to be getting out on the trails again, especially with summer around the corner which gives greater access to areas for running over here and I can't wait to get stuck in. Recovery from London seems to be going well and thanks to my amazing coach Laura, the prep for TransRockies has already begun - I'm ready to embrace the challenges along the way and hope to put in a great performance in August.