Windermere Marathon – Amy Young

Opening the curtains to fog as low as my bedroom window on marathon day wasn’t the best start. I snuggled back under the covers for ‘5 more minutes’ whilst I checked the weather for Windermere from my dry, cosy bed. The Asics Windermere Marathon wasn’t due to start until 10:30 and I was staying only a 30 minute drive away, so my 7am alarm was a pretty good lie in given other races I’ve done recently. I forced myself downstairs for a coffee, some cottage cheese and an almond butter bagel (controversial pre-race food I know but it works for me!).

I arrived at Brathay Hall at 9:30 to see the 10 in 10 runners start their final of 10 laps in 10 days of the race I was about to embark on. They all looked of various abilities, ages and mental states after their last 9 days’ pursuits. Still, in so impressed and in awe of these people-particularly given that after 1 marathon I am looking forward to a few days rest!

After an hours’ milling around in the rain, the clouds parted just in time for the start. The race itself starts about 500m down the road from the Hall on the main road. The 800ish runners followed a band in a walking procession and then lined up at the start. I spotted Phil Hammond and his 100 Marathon Club buddies so had a quick hug and briefing from him, he’d done his first marathon here 7 years ago.

Soon after 10:30, we were off at the shot of a gun fired by a man in tweed in true Lake District style.
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The first few miles passed by in a delightfully undulating blur. I had a couple of conversations with some lovely runners who offered advice and compared notes on other races. One lady (who ended up 3rd woman) warned me about the hill at 7 miles which was quickly approaching so I decided to have an energy gel. Previously I’ve waited til about 10 miles before fuelling up but this one at 6.5 miles did me the world of good. After the ‘mega hill’ the run down into Newby Bridge and the half way mark ticked away in another undulatingly delightful blur. The scenery on this part of the run was stunning, lush green woodland with occasional glimpses of the lake.

Just before the half way mark a gentleman shouted that I was 4th woman which was both extremely mentally motivating and a total shock to me. Knowing my marathons are all significantly slower in the second half I knew it was going to be a battle to keep that up.

The next 7 miles were tough. Majority uphill with some downhill spots to maintain an okay pace, several glimpses of the beautiful lake kept me alert and i hit the 20 mile mark with about 2:35 on the clock. Despite some great crowds at Bowness i quickly realised that sub 3:30 wasn’t in my grasp today (500m of ascent had finally hit my legs) and settled in to 5km of walking my way up hills and running down them, I was overtaken by another female at this point who was looking so strong and definitely deserved her 4th spot!

The final 5km were along the main road between Windermere and Ambleside and then through back up to the Hall. I played cat and mouse with the lady in 6th position but couldn’t find it in my legs to gain much distance on her-the last 1km is uphill and the final nail in the coffin for my tired feet and legs. I had a serious word with myself as I entered the drive back up to the Hall and resolved to sprint finish the poor lady ahead of me. With all I could muster I pipped her to the post for 5th position and  a chip time of 3:36:49 for my 3rd marathon in 3 months!

A punnet of raspberries and a few stretches later I made my way back to the finish funnel to scream the final cheers at Phil, who finished in an extremely impressive 4:20.

All in all it was an amazing route, with great support and as much up as down which means the opportunity to maintain a fairly decent pace! Highly recommended.

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