Abingdon Marathon 2010
Another year gone and I’m getting closer to that V40 category, in fact only a few months now! This is my third Abingdon marathon in a row and for me I think it is a fantastic marathon, if I am perfectly honest I prefer it to London.
My training had gone well with just a slight dip for a few weeks with ITB / knee issues....over training again! Apart from that I went in to the race on a high after running comfortably around the Solent half the previous weekend.
I arrived at Abingdon to a chilly frosty morning, but after the sun broke through the weather conditions were perfect. Again, I met up with a fellow runner from the RW Abingdon marathon forum and ran with him up to the 15 mile point when he was feeling good and pushed on. My target time was to go sub 2:50, after a 2:52 at London in April I was hoping I had set a realistic goal.
Anyway, we started off very disciplined and went through the first mile at 6:30 (a first for me I have always normally run the first mile of the marathon too fast!) We clicked off the miles between 6:20s and 6:30s and went through half way at 1:24:34. Up to 15 miles I was feeling good but then I started to feel fatigue in my legs and my running partner pushed on. I still managed to hold the 6:30s to about 21 miles, but then I lost just over a minute in the last 5 miles. I crossed the line in 2:50:42 I am still over the moon with the time another PB by over 2 minutes and over 4 minutes faster than the previous year.
Abingdon doubles up as the Army Marathon Championships and I took along 4 other runners from my Unit and we did very well. We managed to win the Army Team event and I was the second Senior Male runner in from the Army.
The race was won by Colin Paton from the Army in 2:33:48.
Full results http://www.chiptiming.co.uk/pdf/1017_Abingdon.pdf
If you are looking to do a fast flat marathon with up to a 1000 runners Abingdon is the one. Everything about the race is perfect, but be aware it sells out quick and its targeted from all over the UK with runners looking to go sub 2:45 for a championship start at London.(3-4 months before the start).
Tony Smith