Great Langdale Marathon

[Wed 26th Sep]

Now this one is as per its website description: Very Scenic but don’t bother with a time, enjoy the run!

You are warned about the hills, and there are plenty and big ones they are too. When you have a hill which the vast majority in either the half or full marathons have to walk up and it starts half a mile from the start, then its going to be a hard run!

Both the half and full marathons run the same route, the full marathon runners go around twice. There seemed to be a very good turnout for this established race, possibly due to the challenge of it, also due to its friendly nature, great views and good value for our hard earned money.

Both races start at 12 pm, so it’s not too much of an early start for us from here. Although once again I underestimated how long it would take on the narrow roads closer to Langdale. Susanne and I arrived with about 20 minutes to spare though.

It was sunny and warm, the massed start seemed to work ok, the slower the better seemed the idea for most in front of us. Obviously they knew what was coming up!. Shades were on and we were off, to be met by what seemed to be a tarmac wall within a few minutes. We ran up most of this on the first lap, but once walkers were as quick as you that was it, a tactical walk was needed. It certainly was a very scenic course, hills and lakes galore, weather was sunny and a tad warm to be honest. The rest of the lap was lumpy in the extreme with another wall or two to run/walk up. We did run most of them on the first lap. What was really nice was that the half marathoners really encouraged us on, when they realised they were running with marathon runners. The roads were not closed to traffic, normally this wouldn’t matter but a four wheel drive and a motorised caravan home found out the road isn’t really wide enough to pass each other at certain points. That caused about 10 of us a good few minutes of standing around, in the end we pushed wing mirrors in and went through the middle. Great driving there gentlemen, many thanks indeed!

Same again second lap, but no traffic hold ups this time, a bit more tactical walking and together with David and Kerry Logan who were going the other way in the car at 20 miles we made it to the end.

I think both Susanne and I agreed that this was the hardest road marathon we have done to date, and probably just behind the Keswick Trail Marathon we have done recently.

At the end the winner Steven Prentice from the North East Marathon Club, was waiting at the end cheering everyone in. Now that’s a great sight for us lesser mortals! Steven broke his own course record and had a 26 mile pace run by himself I believe.

Not to be outdone Susanne was a great 5th lady, and won a really nice prize. They give you the better prize between your finishing position and age grouping. For your entry fee (£ 16) you got a technical t shirt with the entire marathon runners names on, a really nice paper weight of a running shoe engraved with the marathon details, a certificate and the usual water and biscuits etc. The leading lady was about a sub 3 hour flat marathon paced runner I worked out, so the standard was high even for an established race.

Overall this is an excellent marathon to do. But not one if you are looking for a fast (or in fact any time!) but one rather to run hard, (trust me it will be hard work) and be prepared for a lot of pain, tempered by a great experience and fantastic views.

Iain

PS: Full results HERE