Kielder Marathon 2022

My body tingling with nervous excitement (and a sudden need for a wee) Gem pulled up the van at the entrance to the carpark so I could jump out and use the portaloo while she went to park. It was a long walk down to the start and as we approached we could feel the buzz in the air, conveyed mostly by a Geordie with a microphone who was doing a fantastic job of feeding the crowd with his hilarious take on people who voluntarily decide to run around Kielder Water. He also assured us that the course was net downhill due to the elevated start. While this is true the bit in the middle more than destroys any benefit!

After a slightly delayed start, apparently due to some late runners who ‘didn’t read their email’ we got going. Heading uphill first along the tarmac and then round a bend back to almost where we started and crossed the finish line. If only!! It was nice to see where we were going to finish though, only 25.5 miles to go! The first 10k was nice gently undulating terrain, a forest track, suitable for my Brooks road shoes (I hadn’t managed to run enough in my trail shoes to feel confident wearing them for a marathon). I chatted to a few people who had the same run downhill/ walk uphill strategy as me, some had done it before and warned me that it was a tough course, not for the fainthearted - or untrained - oops! I felt like I was eating up the miles though and was positive that I would finish it with my strategy and previous experience.

I will digress slightly here and talk a little about my approach to marathons. To start with I always feel a little uncomfortable telling people I’m doing one, simply because I feel like they will assume that because I am a runner I will be running it all. I have never run a whole marathon and it’s likely that I never will. Just because of the commitment the training takes really- nothing more than that, I can’t imagine finding the time to do the long training runs required to get to the stage where I could run the whole 26.2 miles. I love running but I also love doing other things too! Damien and I had a discussion about this reticence to share my marathon plans and he promptly told me off for being too humble and quoted back my own mantra to me ‘it’s all relative’. When he's feeling despondent because he’s struggling to run a parkrun- a relatively easy feat for him pre-covid- I always tell him to stop comparing himself with others (or to his past-self).

So back to Kielder…. I covered the first 6.2 miles in 1hour 14 minutes. I felt strong and happy with my pace, not too fast but enough so I had banked some time to allow for more walking when I got tired. I was starting to feel hungry and was hoping that Gem would make it to the spectator point in order to throw a cereal bar at me. Unfortunately the map was slightly over simplified and she wasn’t able to decipher it in time to get there, causing more stress for her than me. I just ploughed on. In fact it kept me going just to imagine that she’d be round the next bend. I had an unknown ‘isotonic’ drink at 15K which was enough to keep me upright and moving forward.

Another slight digress now, to a hot topic with us runners - food! It may shock some people that I often don’t eat before a marathon. I have never been able to feel comfortable going for a run after eating. This wasn’t a problem when I started running, doing a 5k or 10k is fine on no food, especially as races are often in the morning and I always made sure I ate a bit extra the day before. This became more of an issue with half marathons and even more so with marathons! Don’t take this as advice for yourself through, everyone is different and I have friends who could run a fast 5k after a fry up. You have to experiment and see what works for you. At the moment if I can get away with it I just won’t eat at all until I finish but I'm still working on this as I do suffer low energy after 10 miles or so. I have found that I can tolerate a banana sometimes and a cereal bar if I know that I’m not going to be running too hard and I will keep trying different strategies. I love a post run pizza though!!

Back to Kielder forest - I felt a little bit better after the isotonic drink and although my body was tired, apart from a little niggle in my lower back that was coming and going, I was feeling positive that I’d make the finish. I had slowed down considerably, the second 10k was 1 hour and 25 minutes. I had a little boost at the halfway point, I was just on the other side of the lake to the finish and I heard clearly the excitement of the first finisher coming in! It was a treat to hear that it was 9 minutes faster than last year! I was awed and humbled by the knowledge they had run twice as fast as me. I consciously didn’t allow myself to dwell on the fact that I was ‘only halfway’! The next part was definitely the hardest, mentally and physically. They had run out of isotonic drinks at the 22K station and I knew that the cereal bar was now out of reach until at least the next road at the dam at 28K. I wasn’t feeling hungry anymore but I was tired and starting to ache a little. There was a lovely downhill bit which kept me moving, and a couple of very enthusiastic marshals who gave me a much needed psychological boost. Coming round the bend I could see the dam! Then I saw the path to the dam, and then I realised that the path was on the other side of the water. When it dawned on me that I had to run north along the inlet to then turn and run back down south the other side I could have stopped right there! I even contemplated a swim- apparently not encouraged! Just before the turn-around point there was a hill and at the top I saw a sign for a water station, I finished the water I had left and hoped they had some isotonic drinks too. As I climbed the steep hill approaching the sign I read it again. Someone had changed it! The sign now said ‘Steep Decline’ - how fitting! I guess I had experienced my first marathon hallucination.

Another aside now; the part from 15 to 17 miles was easily the toughest of the day, I was tired and knew I still had a long way to go. If you asked me at this point if I’d like to stop it would be a resounding yes. This is the part where I imagine a lot of people would give up and swear never again to attempt a marathon. Or, if they have a stubborn streak, continue even if their body is telling them to stop. I’m lucky in this sense that I have never got to the stage where my body has said STOP! I’ve been tired, achy, blister ridden and downright miserable sometimes but have always been physically able to complete the challenge.

At 17.5 miles I reached the dam and Gem!! I heard her and my nephew Rowan cheering my name before I saw them, and I think I managed to look like I was still going strong. There was a good station here with water, isotonic drink and digestive biscuits. I decided that I needed to refuel so I had a walking break with Gem across the dam while eating my biscuit and half a cereal bar, about 3/4 mile. I loved how Rowan asked if he could share my biscuit, and the horror on Gem’s face, the innocence of being only 8 years old!! (Of course I shared it with him!) I vaguely remember telling Gem that I had given up on my goal of under 6 hours, I didn’t think it was still in my grasp, especially given how tired I was feeling. I felt ok with that, it was only a pipe dream really, I just wanted to stay in front of the sweeper bus (Kielder has a 7 hour limit).

After this pleasant interlude I felt rejuvenated and the last 8 miles seemed like it would be more than possible. I actually sped up a little, I found that I was able to run a little bit faster on the flat and downhill while still sticking to my policy of walking up them. The final few miles of a marathon are the most inspiring, if you’ve taken it pretty easy like me you’ll be passing people who either set off too fast and exhausted themselves or have been injured. These people are so full of determination to finish, despite the pain or other difficulties. One bloke said he had an old achilles injury that had flared up and was completing it purely for bragging rights in the pub and another lady said that she would keep walking until she either finished or dropped! I’m lucky that I haven’t been in the position where I’ve had to drop out or risk further injury, I’d like to think I’d be sensible but in reality I feel like I would be dragging myself along the floor shouting at the sweeper… “you’ll never take me alive!!”

I realised at 20 miles that I had 1 hour 40 minutes to cover 10k and get under 6 hours. This realisation gave me a kick of motivation and I actually covered it in 1 hour 26 minutes, giving me a final chip time of 5:47:01. I was really happy with this and crossed the finish line with a big smile on my face! I would definitely recommend Kielder, maybe not as a first marathon as it's a tough one, the scenery and the happy Northern Folk make it an excellent day out!