Stour Valley Marathon didn’t disappoint again this year. As always it was a sweltering day and swapping to the half was tempting but we all stuck with the 28 mile marathon. Lots of discussion about whether it counted as an ultra or not on the way round but it’s definitely a marathon for me! Long distance trail events are my favourite type of run, partly due to the opportunities for eating on the way round. There were 4 well stocked feed stations and I picnicked on flat coke, prawn cocktail crisps, Haribos and salted potatoes! Kitty took it slightly more seriously and ate more of the fruit supplied.
One of the best things about a long run is the chance to catch up and chat which Kitty and I did a lot of. At one point we were talking so much that we went off course and found ourselves behind the tail runner which isn’t supposed to happen. We reassured him that we knew the route and tried to pay a bit more attention and stay on course after that.
I can’t comment much on Steve and John’s races, they’d both left us behind within half a mile but both ran strongly. John completed the course in under 4 hours, a target he’d been chasing for a while and came in third overall.
If you are tempted to try a trail marathon I would definitely recommend this one. Great organisation, supportive marshals and trail runners are always friendly. I’m sure I’ll be there again next year.
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