Sunday 4th May
will be a day I will always remember. My first Marathon, how did I get
talked into running 26 miles from Avebury to Stonehenge across country?
Personally I hold Ian responsible, his sales line was ‘Neolithic
Marathon, you up for it, it’s a doddle’. Having missed out on London
this was an opportunity to see and feel what running 26 miles would be
like.
My preparation as usual
was somewhat spasmodic, ‘Mad March Hare’, couple of 20 miles runs and
recceing three Wessex Ridgeway legs with Andy and Ian.
As race day approach I was
feeling somewhat apprehensive, what should I eat the night before, then
there’s breakfast, should I carry water and gels, what should I wear,
will it be hot, cold, wet? So I decided to take everything and look to
see what everyone else was carrying.
It was an early start,
Jerry, Ian and Pete were picking me up at 7am and on to collect Andy. We
met up with Shirley, Craig and Jon at Stonehenge. We boarded the Avebury
coach at 8.30am and joined several hundred other runners preparing for
the 10.30 am start. Neolithic was described as a run not a race, so why
chip timing? I was looking to see what other runners were wearing, the
answer was every combination, short / vests, jogging bottoms, water, no
water, one guy had a vest with 2 litres of water plus about 20 gels
tucked in his belt. Ian suggested we run together but as Ian has run it
before he knew what to expect, I did not want to get part way and have
to pull out.
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Craig, Jon, Jerry, Pete, Andy, Tim, Shirley and Ian at Avebury
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So we were off, through
Avebury across the main road and into the Wiltshire countryside, as
paths narrowed it was down to a walk, but as the route became a track
the runners started to open up. That was the last time I saw any other
Wacers until the finish but I was to get updated from other walkers
along the route. The first half went through open country up to Rybury
Camp with views for miles, onto All Cannings where the locals were
selling cakes and teas. At Redhorn Hill I had to walk it was so steep,
Jerry said he walked it as well so that made me feel better. The half
way point was near, we were skirting round the M.O.D. danger area on
Salisbury Plain, mile after mile of gravel tracks.
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The descent from Wansdyke towards Rybury Camp
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The steady stream of
walkers could be seen for miles ahead. One group of walkers said they
had seen four WACers running together, another asked if Debbie was
running. The lack of mile markers meant I hadn’t a clue where I was
until the drink station at 19 miles when a marshal said, ‘Only 7 to go’,
only to be disappointed to hear from another runner his GPS read 18
miles. I was running with a couple of others for the last few miles and
we were all tiring fast. I was looking for Stonehenge in the distance
but couldn’t see it. Another runner came along and could see we were
flagging, we exchanged our experiences of marathon running, it was the
first time for two of us, seventh for another, the general view was
‘what a marathon to start with’. We ran the last two and half miles
together through a belt of trees and there was Stonehenge at last. The
run in was fantastic, Andy and Jon running alongside, Ian, Craig,
Shirley and Pete at the finish line. The atmosphere was brilliant, the
scenery beautiful, organization first class. If next year Ian says.
‘Neolithic, you up for it’, sure am!
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Tim completes his first marathon
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Tim Box (virgin marathon
runner)
Results
15 – Jerry Shield
– 3:21:11
31 – Pete Lemon –
3:31:14
47 – Craig Dixon
– 3:40:30
56 – Andy Horsley
– 3:45:09
58 – Jon Braund –
3:45:27
168 – Ian Kennedy
– 4:32:06
178 – Shirley
Billinton – 4:41:57
212 – Tim Box –
5:02:03
