For most people, a marathon is a huge undertaking requiring thorough planning, hours of intense training and adherence to strict plans and nutrition to ensure the best performance possible.
With that in mind, I rocked up to the start line 10 minutes after the race has already begun with a sense of bemusement and odd unexplainable sensation that today was going to be a good day!
Maidstone is quite a special marathon for me, not simply because it is the closest of all 12 to where I grew up, thus making it the ideal candidate for my family to see exactly how crazy I am, but also because it is a return to my tester course as I undertook this familiar 26.2 mile slog last year to see whether I really could do a marathon (I probably should have given up at this point!)
It also presented an unmissable chance to see whether I had improved at all over the last 12 months or whether the cumulative fatigue of almost 850 miles had left me in a worse position than I started!
I set off in a cloud of embarrassment from the line, running over the all too familiar chip timing mats which marks the start of this scenic but painful in parts course and it wasn't long before I managed to catch up with some of the slower runners.
The beginning part of the course is run on narrow pavements which meant that I had luckily avoided the tailback and congestion that some of the middle runners usually experience, and its unlikely that I would have positioned myself near enough to the front to avoid it if I had started at the right time!
The first 5 miles or so went without much to write about. I had planned to stick to a steady 8 min/mile pace for the race in the hope of getting close to the 3:30 finish time I want to achieve this year, but the course is deceptively hilly in parts meaning that some splits were much slower than expected.
Luckily there are some steep downhills to recover lost time and it seems that my training has at least toughened my knees up to withstand the constant pounding of flying down the inclines.
I had a fair degree of support at the start of the race from my family and a surprise visit from Em at around the 5km mark which was very welcomed. Em did the customary trail round the course providing encouragement which spurred me on as I trotted round.
At the halfway mark I was still feeling strong and the possibility of a PB gave me a mental nudge to keep pushing forward at my current pace and it wasn't until mile 17 that the familiar clouds started to roll through medicating the wall was fast approaching.
Miles 17 to 20 on the course are predominantly up hill and so with a sense of relief I finally saw the 21 mile marker and whilst I knew I would run out of steam at some point, I had pushed myself further than I had achieved previously and I found myself grinning (like an idiot I'm sure!) as I plodded onwards.
Disaster struck just after I passed the 24 mile mark. I say disaster as a relative term as in retrospect I've had much bigger hurdles in previous marathons, but whatever mental drive had been pushing me so far suddenly seemed to evaporate leaving only a large dose of fatigue, hunger and cold in its wake.
Now, I don't know if its just my mum, or all mums, that have a sixth sense about these things but, as I pushed myself to walk/run and ignore the familiar ache in my legs, something unexpected happened.
My phone started to ring. It was mum.
"Hi mum! Erm, I'm a bit busy at the moment, can I call you back?" I asked somewhat strained! "I'm at the finish line, where are you?" She asked, quite oblivious to the laboured breathing and death wheeze that I thought would clearly demonstrate it was a bad time for a chit chat!
I explained that I was only a short way away and would be there soon, hoping that this would be a subtle enough hnt that perhaps we could talk a bit later, when I wasn't running a marathon for example.
And true to form, mums reply came like a jack hammer to my subconscious: "so, how're you getting on?"
The conversational tone as though I was taking a brisk stroll in the park brought everything in to perspective just as the 25 mile marker came into view and with it my legs seemed to find some previously untapped energy store as my pace picked up and carried me onwards.
There was another runner that I also have to thank for their help in those last few miles. We had been playing tag for about 7 miles or so and in those final few he really helped me keep going with words of encouragement, and he even waited when cramp set in 30 metres from the finish line. It's runners like him that set marathons apart from other sporting pursuits as the friendliness and compassion is second to none.
I crossed the line with a chip time of 3 hours 36 minutes and 18 seconds, beating my current PB by 15 minutes and my previous course time by 26 minutes, and earning myself a fresh £15 from Scott Harris who challenged me to beat his PB which I finally achieved.
With only one marathon left to go, my amazing journey is fast coming to a close and I can't believe that only 12 months ago I was preparing to undertake my first steps into the scary world of endurance sports.
Thanks for taking the time to read this write up and I hope you've enjoyed it.
The garmin report can be found here http://connect.garmin.com/activity/244781720
As always, if you want to sponsor me, please go to www.justgiving.com/tannerstwelve and donate whatever you can spare. From pennies to pounds it all goes to an amazing cause.
