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| Official Bolton Hill Marathon 2013 MEDAL - My TIME :- 6 Hours, 49 Minutes & 13 Seconds |
I ran my 33rd Marathon
at the FIRST 'Bolton Hill Marathon' on Sunday, 10th March 2013.... It sure was one of the most tougest Marathons I've
done to date. The route was approximately 30% country road and 70%
trail. Fully marked and signed posted.
The
race started at 9.30am and the runners had a time limit of 8 Hours to
complete the course.
I originally had a long sleeve top on with a short
sleeve over until I was told by all around me how cold it was going to
be up the highest hill. I then decided to put another long sleeve top
on just to be on the safe side. I also had a very thin wind-proof jacket
with me but knew it would not keep me warm at all, so decided to
exchange this jacket to my big black coat (It didn't sound a good idea
at first as I'd never ran a Marathon with a coat on before and I knew
how sweaty it would get after the first couple of miles)....But believe
me that was the best thing I did before the race.
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| First Marathon RUN in Sub-ZERO conditions |
The
temperature was freezing cold. It was around minus 2 first thing in the
morning. I've never experienced such severe artic winds on my runs and
to be hit in my face so hard at the highest peak point, believe me was
not good! My hands were constantly frozen and numb even with my gloves
on, I even had a bit of difficulty trying to breath when I was trying to
climb myself up to the highest gate. The high wind chills reminded me of
scenes from a movie, and at some point I could imagine myself trekking
up 'Mount Everest'...
The hilltops were covered in snow all around and there were occasions we saw Sheeps and Cows on the course.
Everytime I tried to run forward the wind would
just blow me few more steps back, it was BRUTAL. I had to keep both my
hands on my hat so that the wind did not blow it away. I couldn't put
the hood on my coat on as everytime I tried to put it on it fell back
off again, it was too big!
I was still suffering from a cold
which I'd had for over a week. Coughing and a runny nose did not help at
all, I kept lots of tissues in the right of my coat pocket and
everytime I finished with them they were placed in my left pocket as we
were not allowed to litter on the course.
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| Running BiB No. 65 |
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| The runners were standing around at the start in
the freezing temperature waiting for the countdown to START! Me and
Rebecca decided to have a HOT CHOCOLATE before we started our
expedition. |
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| Photos taken from the Bolton Hill Marathon Website |
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| At the START Line (Moss Bank Park, Bolton) .............. 9am - Sunday, 10th March 2013 |
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| Some of the SNOWY TRAIL Course we had to RUN along.......... There was a BIG Climb at the start and around 22 Miles! |
The Bolton Hill Marathon route follows some of the most beautiful scenic
trails and country roads on the West Pennine Moors taking us up and
over Winter
Hill, past Rivington Pike and Barn, through Barrow Bridge village and
down the famous miners 63 steps, past White Coppice and along the famous
Anglezarke Reservoir on our stunning 26.2 mile journey.
A very
breathtaking trek indeed. An experience I will never forget. I would say
in total we were about 150 in number and everyone was really friendly
and jovial. Met a few familiar faces. The running circuit gets smaller
every year - I think I'm probably quite noticeable now that I've started
on this drive to complete 40 marathons before 40.
Rewarding Views along the Trail Marathon
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| The hills were hard, but the views did not suck! |
I remember getting to the 13 Mile
mark at around 3 Hours and 30 Minutes, so I was pleased at the pace I was going at and was aiming to finish within 6-7
Hours. I was determined on the day that I should complete the 26.2 Miles within
the 8 Hour time limit, even with my cuts and bruises.
The fuel for the run: flapjacks, jelly-babies, energy gels and water
was available at each of the checkpoints. I found the water a little bit
too cold for me so I just had a few gulps before
departing each checkpoint, it was very refreshing and so were
the much needed treats. I always run a little faster when I see treats
up a head.
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| Karen Webber - Official Marshall |
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| Millie Brewer - Offical Marshall |
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| Route Elevation - (2997 feet ascent) |
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| Inside the Goody Bag.......... FINISHER Certificate! |
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| FINISHERS - Bill Kelly (An amazing Bloke I met along the way), Kate Jayden & Me |
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| Me and my Finish MEDAL |
I had to take it easy
around the hills as I'd injured myself running the last marathon in
Hong Kong around two weeks ago and I was afraid I might do some further
damage. I've been finding it hard taking showers and wearing tights
because of the scabs from my cuts and now that they are healing I don't
want to have to go through it all again, by opening up old wounds!
Overall
it was a very challenging with glorious scenery , imagine rolling hills
and rugged landscape - breathtakingly beautiful run, well worth the
pain! The organisation
from the directors, the Bolton Mountain Rescue Team and Marshalling Crew
was outstanding - A very well done job indeed! This is one I would do
again in better weather climate and of course plenty of hill trainings!
