Steve's quest to complete 500 marathons by the year 2010 continues follow his progress through 2008

I completed my first marathon of the year, a new event near to Gloucester with an undulating 3 lap course which finished in the village of Epney. It was a beautiful day, you couldn't have wished for better weather in January and I was pleased to finish in 3:15:55 for 16th position (8th Vet) out of 148 finishers. I've been training quite hard over the winter break, but you never really know what fitness level you're at until the first race. In fact, I picked up a bit of a hamstring injury over the break, which I'm pleased to say hasn't hampered my training to much and appears to be on the mend. So yesterday, I was keen on not striding out to hard until I was fully warmed up, which ultimately helped me to run even splits.  

I keep thinking that I now only have 53 marathons to go before I achieve my goal of 500 in under 3:30 and while my times remain at around the level they are, I would actually accomplish my goal with an average time of under 3:20. However, every time I get a little niggle, now more than ever before, I worry that it could be the start of a serious injury which would not only threaten doing the 500 by 2012, but also the average time I'm aiming for. However, I must remain positive and take each marathon one by one, the old cliché I know, but that is the only way.

I completed the Draycote Water Marathon yesterday in a time of 3:12:23, nearly 10 minutes quicker than last year, which was good enough to see me finish 3rd vet and 7th overall out of 100 starters. This 5 lap course has some undulations in parts, so you do start to notice them by about lap 4. Anyhow, I felt good at the start and probably set off a little quicker than I had planned, therefore I wasn't able to maintain my 1:35 first half pace in the second half, not that I'm complaining though, its a sub 3:15 and I was more than happy with that at this stage of the season. Another two marathons and it will be another landmark, 450, then 50 to go. Got to stay focused, keep training hard and try to maintain these finish times, I would dearly love to finish the 500 challenge with an average time of under 3:20, that would be sub 200 minutes!

Have just come back from a 460 mile round trip to Redruth in Cornwall at the weekend having run the undulating 2 lap Duchy Marathon. I completed it in a time of 3:13:26, which was more than 11 minutes quicker than last year, good enough for me to pick up the 3rd vet 45 prize and also finish 17th overall out of 154 finishers.  Despite having to battle against the usual strong headwinds along the coast road for 3 miles on each of the laps, I managed to run fairly even halfway splits which I'm always pleased about, but even more pleasing was running the last 6.2 miles in 45 minutes flat. Always a good measure of marathon fitness to see how long it takes after the 20 mile point!  So, although I had a couple of niggles leading up to this one, sore ball of toe on right foot and an ache in my left knee, it seems as though the regular icing with a bag of frozen peas has done the trick again. This was not only my 3rd sub 3:15 of the year, but another one well under the target finish time, fingers crossed I can stay injury free and keep this going. 

Another long round trip, this time 540 miles to the Dumfries Marathon which is held every two years. Having gone through halfway in 1:34 on this 1 lap course, I thought I was on for the 3:08 time I did 2 years ago, but alas, the strong freezing cold arctic headwind for the last 6 miles took its toll and I finished in 3:10. I was pleased though, it's another run well under the 3:15 barrier and I came 11th place (5th vet). It's also a significant landmark, 450, only 50 to go now!!

I woke up to 4 inches of snow on Sunday and wondered whether the race was on, but after a quick call to the organiser to confirm, was on the road to run marathon number 451. This was the usual 2 lap course with 2 good climbs on each lap, so I was pleased to run 13 minutes quicker than last year to record a time of 3:12:15 for 25th place and 3rd V45. I was also pleased to run equal splits of 1:36 for each lap and still feel good at the end. I can't believe what a difference a year makes, this time last year, I had a horrible niggling hamstring injury and my times had drifted lower. This year, I feel good, my times so far have been a lot more consistent and my averages are coming down slightly, I hope and pray this continues. I think that upping my training has also helped as I'm now running around 80 miles a week in preparation for this year's 10 marathons in 10 days challenge in May where I will attempt to break the combined time record that was set last year.  So, onto the big marathon next Sunday in the capital,  good luck to everyone running it, remember, if its your first time, start off steady!! 

I completed the London marathon in a time of 3:02:35 which got me 1276th place out of 35,044 starters and 142nd in the Vet45 category. So very happy to finish in the top 4% of the field and better last years time by 10 minutes despite running the Taunton Marathon only a week ago in 3:12. Having clocked 1:29:56 at halfway to give myself the slim chance of breaking the 3 hour barrier, I decided in the closing miles that I wasn't going to push too hard and risk injury which would have compromised my 10 in 10 challenge starting in less than 4 weeks time.  So, at 24 miles, I relaxed a little to enjoy those final minutes along the Embankment and into Birdcage Walk and really soak up that atmosphere. As usual, it was absolutely electric, even the heavy showers didn't seem to dampen the spirits. Afterwards, I enjoyed a thoroughly relaxing massage in the Spinal Injuries Association post race hospitality tent and got to meet Princess Anne who is the Patron of SIA.

I completed the Shakespeare Marathon yesterday in a time of 3:12:57, nearly 11 minutes quicker than last year's time,  which got me 47th place out of 748 finishers and 5th vet 45. Having gone through halfway in 1:36:50,  my plan was to try and do equal splits, in the end, I was actually slightly quicker on the second half, despite the warm 20 degrees weather. I felt good at 20 miles and pushed on a little to try and get well under the 3:15 rather than just inside, so i was really pleased in the end to run the last 10K in just under 45 minutes.  This was my last marathon (and long training run) before going up to Lake Windermere for my attempt to try and break the fastest combined time record for 10 marathons in 10 days of 37 hours 39 minutes (that was set last year). Just looking at my diary, I've run over 1200 miles in the last 15 weeks including 7 marathons, so now I will enjoy the taper period before the onslaught which begins in 12 days time!

Since breaking the record for the fastest 10 in 10, I've found motivation a little difficult over the last few weeks. Coupled with the fact I've had a bit of a hamstring niggle, training hasn't gone as well as I would have liked. So this marathon was going to be a good test for me and I'm pleased to say it went better than expected. I finished in 7th place out of 98 finishers with a time of 3:11:17, more importantly I picked up the 1st Vet 45  trophy to go with the 1st Vet 40 I got here last year.   Analysing the race afterwards, I'm a minute and half slower than last year, however the weather conditions were certainly not as good with strong head winds to contend with for 4 miles on each of the 2 laps. I went through halfway in 1:35:40 and continued this pace through to the finish with even splits. My last 10K was under 45 minutes and I felt strong enough to push hard in the latter stages to chase down and pass 3 other runners in the final mile, 2 of whom were in my V45 category!. So overall, I was happy with my performance, it's another sub 3:15 and another marathon towards the target.