Confessions of a Marathon Runner: Kent Roadrunner Race Report

Just six days after running the Liverpool Rock & Roll Marathon, it was finally time to run the fifth marathon of the spring streak of races I’d signed up for. The second of two back-to-back weekends of marathoning! And – my 10^th overall!

Liverpool was tough, and by this point my body was telling me it was having enough of the long distances, so it was obvious this wasn’t going to be a fast one and it was just about fun and finishing it. Oh, and the medal! Did I mention that? Kent RR has one of the biggest medals around – biggest I’ve heard of in the UK – very impressive! It’s very unique, as it’s round a 2.5km cycling track, of which you run 17 laps! My plan was just to finish in under 6 hours, and if possible, don’t get a personal worst! This meant I’d try to finish in 5.48 or under. Sounded easy, for a PB-potential road race, but not after running 104.8 miles of marathon racing in under two months!

I arrived at the Cyclopark in Kent, the venue of the race, early on the Sunday morning and made my way to the start. I picked up my bib, 16 wristbands (for counting your laps – once you’ve taken off your final wristband it means you are on your last lap) and others picked up their very cool tee-shirts that they had ordered. The venue was fantastic, really modern with a café, great changing rooms, lockers, showers, plenty of loos. I put my valuables in the locker and then took my bag to the area marked “personal drinks”. Here is a great aspect of the race – you can set up your own table with drinks and supplies, and you get to pass it every 1.7 miles. I’d brought a folding chair, and then a selection of different drinks, energy gels and snacks. The great thing about passing your station so often was that there was no need to carry too much, so although I’d bought my hydration pack with me, I just placed it by my chair as a backup and took my mini 330ml water bottle instead as it was a very hot day and I knew I would want to sip little and often. Some runners had really gone to town, with a huge range of snacks, drinks, all laid out in order and marked with the lap number they should be taken. The best was 17 individual water bottles with a parasol over them to keep them cool. There was also a normal water station just after the start/finish/lap line which had plenty of treats – including Clif blocks, gels, jaffa cakes, crisps, cake, energy drink, squash and water.

It was a small field of around 450 or so but very friendly. I recognised May Chan from Twitter and said hello. She introduced me to some of her friends. It was great to get to know them and have some company on the start line! There was an interesting mix of people, this is obviously a great “bucket list” race to do due to its atmosphere, excellent organisation, unique laps, and of course who doesn’t want one of those huge shiny medals! So there was everyone from newbies (I was definitely a newbie, even though this was my 10^th marathon) to members of the 100 Marathon Club. In fact I have never seen more of those blue and yellow club vests in any other race!

Off we went, and it was the first of 17 laps. It sounded better than 26 mile-laps, or 42 kilometre laps anyway. The first lap was a bit shorter than the next 16 to get the distance exact. It was warm already, and there was really no shade at all from the sun. The route was gently undulating, with some nice flat parts and gentle declines, but that hill just before the start/lap line was steep and I knew that after 5 or 6 laps it would feel like a mountain! A few minutes in I recognised another familiar face – Andy from the Race Your Pace Half! We’d chatted most of the way round Dorney Lake during that windy half marathon in February and he’d remembered I’d gone on to do another half (Brighton) the following day! We had a great catch up, but I had to let him go on when I realised I’d done my first mile in 11.20 - faster than marathon-PB pace, so too quick for a 5.40 or more marathon. I had to slow down, as I was still aching and tired from the previous Sunday.

The laps passed by, slowly but surely. Every time I went through the start line, I took off a wristband and threw it into the bucket, and then when you passed “go”, your name and how many laps you had done flashed up on a screen. The collection of bands never seemed to get any smaller though! I thought it might be mentally hellish, but in fact I found the laps quite reassuring. After 3 or 4 laps, I always knew where I was, what was coming up next, when I knew there was a decline, and when I could plan a walking break. The views were nice too, out over the countryside – although we did get a prime view of the A2 and a huge traffic jam, the Eurostar trains, and the Dartford Crossing in the distance. I would not help but notice one of the overhead road signs that stated a particular town being 26 miles away and thought we were running the same distance round and round this track! What was good was the water station and personal drinks area. With just my small bottle, I was able carry that instead of the hydration pack, and refilled the bottle every 2-3 laps. I got quite practised at this and soon the marshals knew I was about to stop by with an unscrewed bottle top, and they kindly refilled it for me. The snacks were a welcome treat too, especially the crisps. I don’t really eat crisps, but the saltiness was much needed on this really hot day. About half way through, I was thinking about taking my electrolyte drink. The problem was that I had not mixed the drink up before hand as I was not sure I would want that or the powered energy drink, and there was only do many bottles of water I could carry. So on the next lap, I stopped and dropped the electrolyte tablet into the water bottle, and then carried on running. By the time I had come back round, it was all diluted and mixed in nicely! So I could now take a swig every lap. Might sound like a lot of faffing, but it wasn’t too bad (it was just like sorting our your transition area in Triathlon!) and I was not looking for a decent time anyway so could afford to do this. The only things I could have improved were I will bring a bucket of water and sponges next time to cool myself off at each lap, and I could have worn a racer-back vest as I was not wearing the backpack (which sometimes rubs my back if not protected by a vest covering all of my upper back).

I did run really slowly, and ended up walking a lot of it too. It was really, really tough, and at one point I was not even sure I’d make it in under 6 hours. Everything hurt – my hip, ankle, calves, all sore and more and more painful. I was walking nearly every hill and a when I did run I felt slow and my legs like lead. The heat and lack of shade was not great either. I just kept thinking about the medal at the end, and listened to my music. Kate Perry’s Tiger song was on repeat for about half an hour after the half way point, as it was the only song that I seemed to keep me motivated! The other runners really did a lot to keep my spirits up though, as for the first 3-4 hours there are still loads of people out on the course so you are always with someone, and see the same faces over and over. One guys even ran the race backwards, and was continuously saying well done to everyone his passed! Awesome work!

After about 4.5 hours, it did get quieter, but finished runners were all gathered along the 500 meters or so by the start line so they were now providing support as spectators. The weirdest thing is that normally, if you are at the same point in a road race as someone else, it’s highly likely they have done the exact same distance as you. But not here. At one point, I think I had done about 18 miles, and I chatted to a guy as we both took a walking break. He said this was his 24^th mile. This was really bizarre! Both on the same part of the course, but he was 6 miles further ahead of me! I couldn’t get my head around it (although the sun and generally weariness was stopping me get my head round a lot of things!). When I had almost finished my 14^th lap, I got really confused about how many laps I still had to do. I knew I had to run my 17^th lap with no wristband, and was on my 14^th lap, so I must have 4 to do. But this did not add up as that meant I had 10km to do, but I had done over 21 miles, so that did not add up to 26.2. Bear in mind my marathon-maths goes out the window especially after 5 hours of running in the hot midday sun!! It was only when I realised I had almost finished my 14^th lap and had to drop one wristband that I was relieved to discover I only had 3 more laps to do! Because I did not wear the wristbands round my wrist like most people, but tucked them into my running belt, some people assumed I was always on my last lap! It was a bit demoralising to keep saying, “ah, still have 3 to go”!

Finally though, I was on my last lap. I had been walking so much by this point, but with less than 2 miles to go I wanted to try and run as much as I could. There was nothing more to lose, so I went for it as well as I could. I can’t say the last lap was fast, but it was a lot quicker than any of them after about lap 8 or 9 at least! At long last, I was allowed to bare to the left, for the finisher’s funnel, rather than to the right for the last lap, and the spectator support was great! I was given a beautiful, chunky medal, a box containing some great goodies (mostly food, which is the best), and some water. The box also contained a ruler, to measure the size of your medal which I thought was a great idea.

After the race, I said goodbye to the others, hobbled over to the personal drinks station to collect my chair and water bottles, then watched some of the final finishers for a bit. Some people were having cake to celebrate someone’s 100^th marathon! I went and had a shower, which was bliss after being so hot and sweaty since 9am! I found out my time – 5.45.02. This was my second slowest (after Eden, in 5.48!) but hey I did it! I was slightly annoyed about those 2 seconds as a 5.44.xx sounded better than a 5.45 but never mind! I was just glad to have finished my 10^th marathon in about 18 months and 5^th marathon that year! I would also like to say thanks to the tzruns team and the fantastic volunteers who put on such a brilliant event! Needless to say I am already signed up for next year!

Me on the course!