Race Report. 2h34m MBNA Chester Marathon 2010 2nd Position

Behind every great sports achiever is a lot of support from others. Thanks to my beautiful wife for all the support throughout my hard training.

A big shout out to the organisers of the race, Chris & Andy. Everything went smoothly, parking attendants, registration, start off, marshalls, lead cyclists, finish goody bags, water, toilets, showers, I was really impressed by the organisation. The lead cyclist next to me did a great job of making sure everyone kept to the right side of the cycle path (it was a there and back race).

Next onto how I felt through the race. I had prepared to do the race so well that I was enjoying putting all the hard work of the training out into the race. Every mile was bang on what I planned. Every mile was a release of energy which resulted in a deserved fantastic pace. Previously I have completed 4 marathons and I think I smiled the most in this one. I kept thinking “This Race is What I've Wanted For So Many Training Miles – Now Do It Justice”. At the end I thought what I always think “I could've done better”. I look forward to the next one. Thanks to everyone who sent me messages including birthday messages.

I also beat the World Record for the mens marathon. In 1913 on this same day, 31st May, Alexis Malkolm Ahlgren broke the World Record with a time of 2h36m!!

If your put off by numbers then stop reading now, otherwise read on.

My Previous Marathons:
London 2007: 03:01:30
Blackpool 2008: 02:35:47 (short)
Anglesey 2008: 02:47:34
London 2009: 02:37:51
Chester 2010: 02:34:59

The statistics:
Gun Time: 2:35:01
Chip Time: 2:34:59
Elevation Gain: 550ft
Avg Pace: 5:53 min/mi 10.2 mph
A Personal Best (PB) for a marathon and also a WAVA PB. WAVA = World Association of Veteran Athletes. They collate world race times and give an equitable age related percentage for comparison purposes. Age grading is a way of putting all race participants on a level playing field, regardless of age or gender. Age-graded scores let you compare your race times to those of different runners, as well as to the standard for your age and gender.

Play through my race: http://connect.garmin.com/player/35211835

Splits:
5:47 5:55 5:51 5:40 5:52 5:43 5:47 5:58 6:03 5:52 5:56 5:56 5:55 5:55 5:54 5:52 5:53 5:54 6:03 5:50 5:55 5:56 5:54 5:44 6:03 5:56 1:58
Cumulative Splits
00:05:47 1
00:11:42 2
00:17:33 3
00:23:13 4
00:29:05 5
00:34:48 6
00:40:35 7
00:46:33 8
00:52:36 9
00:58:28 10
01:04:24 11
01:10:20 12
01:16:15 Half way 1:17:15
01:22:10 14
01:28:04 15
01:33:56 16
01:39:49 17
01:45:43 18
01:51:46 19
01:57:36 20
02:03:31 21
02:09:27 22
02:15:21 23
02:21:05 24
02:27:08 25
02:33:04 26
02:34:59 26.2