Manchester Marathon in 2022 was supposed to be my first spring marathon since I'd messed up there in 2019. I'd got my training in, it was feeling promising, but there were other issues going on behind-the-scenes in the last few weeks before the race. At first it seemed like I may not get to run it, then it was 'definite', but then ultimately on the Saturday I was due to travel to Manchester, I had to back out for family reasons. It meant that if I couldn't improve this time around, it would be five years since I last set a marathon PB. If I ever want to run Boston marathon then I know I have to improve quite a bit yet.
On the day of the missed marathon I ran by myself in far from ideal conditions, on a route that had more than twice the elevation of what Manchester would have had. Without water, I was tiring quicker, and I started to take walking breaks from mile 16-ish onwards. Somehow I still managed 3:21 which was faster than either of my autumn marathons from 2021. It wasn't a waste though, it was still a step towards running Guernsey Ultra 36. I also booked Manchester for 2023 early, and in doing so was able to get a decently situated hotel at a decent price.
One thing I have found is that the times when my long runs in training have been at or around target marathon pace, I've gotten a PB. When I've been running them up to a minute slower than target pace, I've fallen short.
My PB from 2018 was 3:12:26, so initially I set the following goals:
- Bronze: 3:12:00
- Silver: 3:05
- Gold: 2:59
The idea was that at best, even a minimal PB would do, just to make some progress, but ideally I'd want to improve by a few minutes. Looming on the horizon as my 'gold' goal was a reminder of the time I want to one day achieve. In reality though, training has been very haphazard and I've struggled to do consistent long runs, and I've also ended my runstreak after 1,000 days mid-training cycle. Tempo runs have been limited to parkrun mostly, which has meant Sunday long runs have been on tired legs every time. In Limassol I wasn't even close to a sub-90, which is a time I've gotten used to getting. I can't really find any positives from training unfortunately, so now going into this race I see this as one without any goal other than to finish it, and to let this be a training run for Guernsey Ultra 36 in May. I think having no pressures for this race might just make it enjoyable.
Pre-race Day As always, I travelled by train from Leicester to Manchester Picadilly, but unusually this wasn't via Birmingham New Street. Strangely I could only get a train that went via Sheffield which meant the Trans-Pennine train that was a little more scenic even if it took a little longer. Upon arrival it was just a short tram ride to Salford Quays where I'd be staying overnight so I'd be nice and close to the race start in the morning.
With the exception of 2021, the previous Manchester races I've done have involved a meet-up of many runners the night before for some pasta carb-loading. This time I wasn't really that aware of many others running, and there was no meal arranged. So, just as in 2021, I ordered food to be delivered, knowing that the remainder of the day could be spent relaxing ahead of tomorrow's effort.
Race Day My first spring marathon since 2019. Four years. It seems like such a long time, yet being awake and getting ready to run it also seemed like no time had passed at all. Today there would be no pressure at all, but it would also be a nice benchmark to see where I currently am ahead of Guernsey.
I wanted to be at the race start for 08:20, so I decided I’d be up at 06:30 to give myself plenty of time to have breakfast, as I’d need to get a cup of tea from reception due to the lack of kettle in the room. I’d not slept that well as the room was so hot and had left me feeling a little dehydrated, but I felt a short warm-up jog to the start pens would help. As with the last two years, the start times for Manchester would be spread out over about two hours, and my pen would be starting at 09:10. I was probably further forward than I should really have been based on training.
The organisation at the start felt a little chaotic. What they wanted you to do was walk from Chester Road down a side street and round to a holding area next to ASDA, but there were no barriers on Chester Road which is where the start was so you could actually join any wave you wanted at any time. After a ten minute delay for the course being checked, the race had begun.
Not even one mile into the race I saw the usual pause from people going toilet on the side of the road. I kept on going though, I was off at a reasonable pace, not sub-3:00 pace like previous races, but a pace that would help me get a PB if I could hold it. The first 5 miles headed into Manchester City, and at a sharp turn this then headed back out, back towards Old Trafford. My pace so far had been pretty consistent, and it felt like I’d be carrying on with this for some time. I actually though that maybe if I could hold it for the first 20 miles it wouldn’t matter too much what happens after that.
At around 10K is the first opportunity to see runners on the other side of the road. I always find this is a nice distraction to look out for people I know. There was bound to be some, and in keeping an eye out I missed the water station there, so realised I’d have to get some at mile 9 instead. I didn’t actually spot anyone either.
What followed was a bit I didn’t remember from 2021 - it going out past the Manchester City stadium before then continuing on for the long road in the direction of Altrincham. This feels like a long road that never ends, but I kept my pace consistent, but this was not to continue much longer. I’d not fuelled so far as I’d not wanted to risk needing the loo like I had done on so many long runs since last July, but at mile 12 I had to stop and use one at the water station. It meant losing a minute, and having to try and get my legs going again.
Getting going again was not easy, but for the next mile I more or less managed it until I crossed the halfway point, but now my legs were feeling like they couldn’t keep it going, so I walked. At this point I figured I may as well fuel using jelly babies, and had a couple after every couple of miles.
When I crossed the railway bridge in Timperley I was expecting the scenery from Altrincham, having forgotten what the course looked like in places. When I finally did the bridge in Altrincham I knew there was a hill coming, but the one that goes up through the centre seemed a lot steeper than I’d remembered. So far the course had been flatter than normal and to suddenly get the hill so far into the race does come as a bit of a shock. It’d rained a little on the way there as well so was now feeling a bit cold as well.
For the most part I was running half a mile, and then doing a combination of running and walking for the remainder of each mile. The jelly babies however had an undesired impact on me though and I needed a second loo stop before mile 19. After that my run/walk strategy had fallen apart and I was struggling to run for very long at all. A #teamwhite #visorclub member gave me a nudge from behind to get my attention, but all I saw was the back of their head so had no idea who I’d encountered.
Around mile 21, which I think was in Stratford, I saw Frankie, and then a few minutes later I saw Carmen. This was a bit of a boost and it got me running for that little bit longer. The last 5K however was quite a slog getting through Trafford. It’d become hard to keep the motivation going as I knew I couldn’t PB, and wasn’t sure I was even going to get a particularly good time. I’d told myself now that as long as I finish, it’s training in the bag for Guernsey.
I crossed the finish line in 03:39:19 in position 5,241 of 18,577 finishers. This was my slowest spring marathon ever. It was slower than when I did London Marathon in 2015, so it seems like a major setback. My finish times have been getting slower and slower, and it looks on the surface like I’ll never get to my pre-pandemic times. However, in the last few weeks the ten month long issue that meant the interruption at miles 12 and 18 has improved massively and it feels like within weeks or months I could probably start doing long runs again without them being interrupted to. This combined with having ditched the run streak, I think concentrating on setting small goals on a path back what my previous PBs had been will be a starting point. Maybe next year, if I do one, I can start to see improvements to my marathon times again too.