I was woken up around 02:00 by the people staying in the room above. It seemed like they’d come in drunk, and were now stomping around and bumping into everything. Eventually I drifted back to sleep until 05:30, when the thunderous sound of snoring from the room above woke me. It would soon be time to prepare for the day ahead…

Today would see somewhere around 90,000 people running a marathon with the Manchester and London events taking place on the same day. Carmen was in London, running the 26.2 miles supporting a young person she mentors. I thought I was done with Manchester Marathon, or the Greater Manchester Marathon as it used to be known by, but here I was again. Last year I'd done the Boston (UK) marathon instead, in some of the worst conditions I’ve raced in, and it just wasn’t pleasant. The part of the route that went through the countryside had large areas of flooding which meant getting wet feet, which for other road races I’ve done just isn’t as likely to happen. The constant strong wind didn't help that much either. I decided for this year’s spring marathon I just wanted one that was ‘easy’. That meant going back to Manchester this time, and then considering where else I could try some other time.

The last time I followed a generic training plan, I felt that having 50+% of speed work in runs per week was too much and wasn’t going to end well, so I’d abandoned it. This time though, I stuck to the advanced one Manchester provided and only made changes as I needed to for fitting in races I’d got planned. Maybe not every training run had gone to plan, but when do they? It’s better to have a bad run in training than it is on race day. Most had gone well, and the two ‘proper’ races I did during training went exactly to plan, and showed progress from where I was this time last year; so everything seemed fairly positive. Unfortunately though, the logistics of race day were not so straightforward.

To start with, I had difficulties booking a train to reach Manchester the day before the race, and getting home after, as planned strikes meant a limited service, and this needed booking last minute. The accommodation though was even worse.

15th April - Booked a place to stay via booking.com, 4th October - Place cancelled without explanation, so I book elsewhere on AirBNB, 13th April - Paid for AirBNB place in full, 15th April - I get a random message from the AirBNB owner asking how I'm doing, and then nothing more, 25th April - I contact the AirBNB host, asking for check-in details... several hours later they contact me to say they've sold the property and can no longer host me... asking me to cancel!

A few points to consider for that last cancellation:

1. they can't have just sold it, so they just hadn't had the decency to tell me my reservation needed cancelling until the night before I was due to check-in,
2. I would not cancel it, as I'd then receive £0.00 in refund, the host MUST cancel it.

I did find somewhere else that was fifty minutes out from the start with some of that being a tram journey, so it was an earlier start today than expected. It was still essentially like an AirBNB though, so I wouldn't be able to leave my bag behind for collection later as I normally would. A few weeks before the race they announced that this year they will only allow bags that fit inside a 55cm by 45cm waterproof bag they’d provide on the day at Manchester United Football Club stadium. This meant unnecessary concern on the day as to whether or not my backpack would fit into a bag I’d not been able to test.

I’d got over twenty minutes of walking to reach the tram stop, and then a shorter walk from Pomona to the bag drop. My bag barely fit in, but it did well enough for them to accept it. I left my cap behind in my bag as it’d clouded over, so I felt I wouldn’t need it. I headed to the start, thinking about what laid before me. I’d been planning all along to aim for between 07:20/mi - 07:30/mi average pace, and ideally wanted to run the majority of it without walking. My sister recently shown me a screenshot from 2016 when I’d first done Manchester in 3:19:31, so ideally that was the time to beat today.

My goals for this race, using my usual categorisation, were:

Bronze: Sub-3:25 (beat fastest post-pandemic time) Silver: Sub-3:19:31 (beat my first ever Manchester Marathon time) Gold: Sub-3:15

I knew with the forecasted warm weather there was a very real chance I might not even meet my Bronze goal: an attempt at beating my post-pandemic times so far. Maybe it being a close-call would be the push I’d need to actually achieve it.

The start did actually feel very well organised with how each wave was moved into a pen, and then led to the starting area. They advised us that we should take a bottle of water from every water station today due to the forecast. When it was my turn the clouds were looking quite dark and I wondered if it may rain, but by the time the wave reached the starting area the clouds were gone, and it was getting quite warm in the sun already.

I started off at a steady pace and made no effort to weave to maintain a pace, I let the space in front of me dictate the pace I was going at. My legs felt a little heavy to start with, so this was giving them chance to warm up ready for their task ahead. Despite this, I got the first mile done in 07:20, and it wasn't long before two 3:15 pacers passed me. Someone ran into the back of me at that point, even though I wasn't weaving or drifting. After checking it was clear to do so, I quickly moved to the side though so I'd be out their way. The pace group was moving quicker than I wanted to be going, as even at 07:20/mi pace as I was doing, if I could maintain that it would have been just over 3:12. No doubt they just hadn't settled into a steady pace yet.

Sure enough, as I got closer to the mile 3 marker, I'd caught them up again, and whilst maintaining speed I was gradually moving through the pack on the left-hand side where there was plenty of space. I then saw a sign for the first water station being 400 metres ahead, so started to keep an eye out for it. When it turned out that the water was only on the right-hand side, I found it was too congested to safely get across to the water, so reluctantly carried on without any. I felt it was better that than lose time from having to stop and wait for a chance. I'd just have to be ready to go in either direction when I reached the next one at around 10K instead.

Around mile 4 I slowed down a little into my planned pace range, and around this time I started to pull ahead of the 3:15 group for a while as well. This lasted for maybe a mile or two before I started to fall behind again, but very very slowly. The sun was beating down, and I was happy with the pace I was going at running along the dual carriageway. I as conscious though that there was very little shade about, and I was starting to feel quite warm. The usual shaded bit under the flyover had music that was thumping, but to my surprise not one person shouted the usual chants of "Oggy Oggy Oggy!"

When I saw the sign for the water station at around 10K in, it was fortunate it was in a shaded section where the road was lined with plenty of trees. It was nice to get out of the sun for a while. I started to drift to the right-hand side again, expecting the water to be there. This time I thankfully managed to get some, and tried to figure out how to open the bottle as I ran. I took a few sips, emptied the rest onto the floor, glanced over my shoulder, and then threw the empty bottle into the bin without slowing. I noticed the sign was on the same side of the road as the water station, so wondered if that would be true for all. I made a mental note to check this out at the next one in about another 5K time. Sure enough, it was!

At 8 miles I ate a jelly baby for fuel, and did so at every mile marker after that for a good few miles. Everything seemed to be going to plan! As I ran through Timperley I thought about last time I did this race, I'd been struggling here, and was determined this time I'd reach at least 20 miles before walking. This part of the course lasts a little longer than I remember. "You're almost done!" someone shouted. I had no idea what they were thinking as we weren't even at the half way point. It's amazing how much distance you can cover whilst not thinking about the actual running though. There were moments though when I'd ask myself, "am I tired?" as I started to feel warmer. The 3:15 pacers were now a couple of hundred metres ahead of me, and I hoped I'd be able to keep them in sight for a bit longer.

Eventually I reached Altrincham, and was doing well enough that I ran up the hill without any trouble at all. The shade around the shopping area certainly helped, as did the downhill part after the turnaround point. The middle of the road was a little bumpy there, but it meant I could maintain speed without having to weave. I was feeling positive knowing that every step now would take me closer to the City of Manchester, where the finish is located. I passed the halfway point in 1:37:36, and felt if I could get to 20 miles without losing too much time, then it'd leave me with close to 50 minutes for doing the last 10K. Perfect.

I checked my watch at this point. Carmen was running London Marathon with one of the young people she mentors, and at 11:00 I knew she’d be about to cross the start line. Now, the sooner I finished, the sooner I could cheer her on from afar. The weather had other ideas. There was no hiding from the sun now, just the open road as there was very little shade ahead, and not a cloud in the sky. It didn't take long, maybe close to two more miles, before the heat started to get to me. My stomach started to feel uneasy, and I slowed to a walk without even thinking. I realised what I'd done and it felt like I was giving up too easily. Several steps later I pushed myself to get back running again. Even though I'd not had a jelly baby since about mile 12, I decided I couldn't risk eating any more now if I wanted to finish. I'd need to hope that water would be enough.

Just after mile 15 I spotted a sign for toilets, so decided it was worth the stop. Perhaps I’d be able to run properly after that. For a time, I did, it felt easier, and my pace wasn’t too bad at all. It was short-lived though, and before I knew it I was walking again, and hoping that it wasn’t too far to the next water station despite having not long left one. It just felt so hot. I was now starting to see people stretching on the side of the road, and this became a familiar sight for the remainder of the course. There was one point when we had to move aside for an emergency vehicle to get through as well, though this wasn't until a few miles later.

At every water station now I'd jog slowly into it, take a bottle of water, and then once past the tables I'd walk on the pavement out of the way whilst having a few sips of water, and would then pour the remainder over my head. What I hadn't expected though was that I'd be completely dry before I'd even left the drop zone for the bottles. It felt ridiculous. It started to feel like I was barely running at all now, with the majority of each mile being more walking than anything. When my stomach allowed me to, I ran: my legs didn't actually feel too bad, but I did however feel hungry.

As I could see mile 18 coming up, someone a little ahead of me was moving forward in a sort of crouching position with there legs wobbling like jelly, reminiscent of Jonny Brownlee in that famous triathlon finish. Before they could collapse, a paramedic swooped in and helped them. I kept moving, hoping I could get this race finished soon. I knew I couldn't achieve my silver goal now, but thought maybe the bronze goal was still possible, but it needed me to keep on running. It wasn't long though before it felt like I needed another break, and thankfully there were toilets just before mile 22.

I got running again after that, but it really didn't last long at all. Even my bronze goal was out of the question now. I saw people on the side of the road being attended to by paramedics, and people laying on the ground being sprayed with water to try and cool them down. A few of the local residents had hoses out, but of the three of them I saw, they brought little reprieve from the heat as it got closer to midday. I felt like I was done now, and would likely be walking the remainder of the course. Calculating an average pace of 15 minutes per mile I realised that meant I'd likely still get sub-4:00 but it wouldn't be by much. I needed to keep getting in some running when I could and perhaps I could at least beat my time from Larnaca. That seemed ridiculous though, now it was going to be just about finishing the race. A runner I passed started shouting and swearing, and not long after he overtook me another runner asked him what was wrong. "My f---ing legs!" he shouted. He screamed again, and kept on running. Hopefully he managed to finish okay.

The crowds though, whilst they were very present throughout the race, started to build up and by the time of about the mile 25 marker they were now constant with so much noise from them cheering on every runner. Normally it'd be enough to get me running again, but I ran so little in these last couple of miles. I just couldn't focus on anything other than the sun beating down on me. The buildings were getting taller now though, and in places there was the occasional shade once more, particularly after crossing one last bridge.

There was a sign ahead that said it was now the finishing straight just around this corner, but I didn’t want to start putting in too much effort too soon. I know Manchester’s finish is always deceptive and is further away than you think, and as I’d not even reached the mile 26 marker yet I was sure it'd be the same on this new course. Just before the turn there was a runner flat on the floor with a few paramedics helping him. It must be so gutting to be so close, yet know you’re not going to finish. Health has to come first though.

Once I reached the mile 26 marker I started to speed up, and when I felt the finish was in sprinting distance I sped up to the point it was making my eyes water. I crossed the finish line in position 5,355 of 23,828, with a time of 3:44:13. I had no doubt at all that this was my slowest spring marathon ever. I’d not just missed every single goal I’d had, but missed them but a considerable distance too. It felt like I’d just wasted the last five months of training, and after five years of getting slower and slower times there was going to be nothing I could do to turn them around. The only positives were I’d finished my 24th marathon in some unexpected heat I wasn’t prepared for, and had made some improvements to my post-pandemic half marathon times in training for it. It’s unlikely I’ll get to do an autumn marathon this year due to having Rwanda marathon next month, and then focussing on Valencia Half Marathon for October, so the next step now will be deciding what to do as my next spring marathon, and to just keep working at pace and endurance before then. Maybe getting more training in over the summer would help in the event of another unexpectedly warm race next year.