Newport Marathon 2025
7:30pm, 13th Apr 2025 | Newport Marathon | 15 Comments
Blog by Sorequads
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Reflections the day before:
Excited for tomorrow. Am fortunate enough to be half way through the two week (and a day) Easter break and so have had a pretty quiet week in the lead in. Excuse the slightly self indulgent post; this has ended up longer than I intended.
First day off since late December yesterday as ended up doing quite a bit of walking round a castle and grounds either the family. Four miles very easy this morning and four strides at the finish. Walked back in between and it was noticeable what a difference this made to just doing mid run with jog recoveries.
Have been reflecting back on the training block @TippTop has so helpfully provided for me. A really useful experience to do so and has undoubtedly helped crystallise the confidence.
In the last 16 weeks I’ve averaged 70M, which whilst not vastly bigger than this time last year, has come from only one 3M double a week - so far longer per run on average. This has been at an average of 7:42 pace - and fitting in new ideas such as pick ups, easy vs very easy pace and more has really helped.
The coaching has been tailored to me, with a focus on long runs one day followed by hard sessions the following - with the aim of maximising muscle fibre the recruitment on race day. The plan has been built around my usual availability across a week and so has fitted well with life and work.
The mental battle of the various time trials has been a tough one, but to regular run at 6m/m pace following 18-22M the day before is an area from which to take strength. Some of the 10k and 5k efforts, though not all, have been at the pace or faster even than races in the last couple of years.
There was a point in mid-February when I questioned why the 20+M runs hadn’t yet started - and what did I know?! The following seven weeks had these without break and so I certainly feel well prepared for the distance.
Races have also gone well: Boddington 10M at the end of January (61:58) was a third fastest time over the distance. Pittville XC was solid, beating last year’s time and followed 20M the previous eve(!). And Wokingham Half (81:39) was a best result in six years in heinous wind conditions. The FoD Half (1:26) was strong with the hills and trails and I didn’t bat an eyelid at a 3.5M warm up beforehand.
A period of three 80M weeks in a row pushed me to the edge but the taper has been well planned and I now feel raring to go.
Race morning:
Kindly given a lift by clubmates, one of whom running the race. Easy 1h15 to get there and parking in a multi storey next to the start. Almost wished there was a longer warm up to loosen the legs but had a good 50 minutes or so to do my usual dynamic warm ups. A few drills and the most token of jogs, perhaps 100m total. Short but fun chat with @Forrest Jooligan and delightful to meet @OuchOuch - Jools had essentially set us up on a blind date 😆. Headed toward the start at 0850 marvelling at how easy the whole set up was, in spite of 2800+ runners. Walked just behind the 3h pacer thinking I would nip ahead of them before we got to the line. Then realised this was the 3h pacer for the half 😦. Jumped a fence and lined up 10 or so rows from the front. Ideal.
The race:
6:33, 6:38, 6:33, 6:35, 6:38
A loop around town for the first mile before returning through the start/finish area. Good support. I had obviously started a little further forward than necessary as being overtaken a lot, but most happy to stick to my pacing. Slightly punchy start but nothing to worry about. OO came past and we shared another chat (love a marathon of this scale vs say a London) before I wishes him well and he pulled ahead. Up and over the bridge and that is the elevation absolutely down until you return over it at the end. Ridiculously flat marathon! Mile three is a bit random with 300 round a running track, but a lovely surface to run on. Tried not to get carried away! The sun made an appearance from behind the clouds at this point and the glare felt remarkably strong. Fortunately we were soon into a narrower road with sufficient vegetation to provide shade.
6:34, 6:38, 6:38, 6:35, 6:39
Quite a long straight east before the only 180 turnaround of the race. Nice tailwind. The leaders came past and it was good to then see some racing friends a few minutes later. Squirting water of my head and neck to try to aid cooling.
6:40, 6:39, 6:33, 6:38, 6:35
Quite the headwind once we began 1.75 loops of about 5M. The group I had been with pulled away and I made the call to let them go. HR beginning to rise a little and thought catching them could come at too great a cost. Through an aid station (these were plentiful and excellent) and we were then (rejoined) by the slower half marathon runners. Not really a problem to overtake although there was the occasional bit of weaving. But they did provide good moments of wind break. The group ahead absolutely splintered at this point and I picked up half of them, staying with a few right to the end.
6:36, 6:35, 6:41, 6:41, 6:41
Sun now out and headwind in force on occasions. HR starting to climb but nothing drastic. Beginning, however, to have what felt like out of body experiences. Either not concentrating, tired, or low blood sugar level. I stuck with the gel plan but had the final gel due at mile 20 half a mile early. Then got through the entire packet of emergency dextrose 😧. Started looking around for a gel station (they had been and gone) or even a dropped gel/half drunk bottle of lucozade. Clearly wasn’t in truly dire straights as the latter was an option on a few occasions but I thought the risk of bending over to pick one up too great 😂.
6:40, 6:41, 6:41
Away from the loop and now minimal overtaking of only the few 2h45-3h half runners. Wide roads but stronger sun. Having to work hard and pace seemingly slowing, albeit only a little.
6:48, 6:43, 6:51 and 6:07 for the extras
Up onto the bridge for a second time; it really is the tiniest of gentle drags but taxing enough at this stage. Tried to push on the down. Clearly getting close now but can’t actually see the finish. Could do with a x metres to go sign! Crowds starting to build and could see Deadpool just ahead getting plenty of cheers. Must get ahead of him! What had previously been the lead car (with timing clock) had parked up maybe 150 from the finish. Omg 2:53:xx might be on! Give it everything (pace above is probably generous) and cross in chip time of 2:53:40. Knackered, but delighted 😁.
Post race:
Very slow walk back to the bag and a blood sugar check (now very high high - possibly a rebound or didn’t actually need to extras in the latter stages). Love the euphoric chats at this stage. A beer with mates before heading to the Lidl car park. This turned out to be a genius parking move after the spectators drove out to the countryside bit. The multi-storey car park was still in exit gridlock 4h later 😣.
Best part of five minutes quicker than Abingdon last autumn and fastest time since 2019. Really pleased! Happy to have put in a performance to back up the solid training and excellent coaching, especially on a day warmer than ideal for me (although nothing drastic). 152/2846 finisher. A great result today from an excellent few months of running.
Excited for tomorrow. Am fortunate enough to be half way through the two week (and a day) Easter break and so have had a pretty quiet week in the lead in. Excuse the slightly self indulgent post; this has ended up longer than I intended.
First day off since late December yesterday as ended up doing quite a bit of walking round a castle and grounds either the family. Four miles very easy this morning and four strides at the finish. Walked back in between and it was noticeable what a difference this made to just doing mid run with jog recoveries.
Have been reflecting back on the training block @TippTop has so helpfully provided for me. A really useful experience to do so and has undoubtedly helped crystallise the confidence.
In the last 16 weeks I’ve averaged 70M, which whilst not vastly bigger than this time last year, has come from only one 3M double a week - so far longer per run on average. This has been at an average of 7:42 pace - and fitting in new ideas such as pick ups, easy vs very easy pace and more has really helped.
The coaching has been tailored to me, with a focus on long runs one day followed by hard sessions the following - with the aim of maximising muscle fibre the recruitment on race day. The plan has been built around my usual availability across a week and so has fitted well with life and work.
The mental battle of the various time trials has been a tough one, but to regular run at 6m/m pace following 18-22M the day before is an area from which to take strength. Some of the 10k and 5k efforts, though not all, have been at the pace or faster even than races in the last couple of years.
There was a point in mid-February when I questioned why the 20+M runs hadn’t yet started - and what did I know?! The following seven weeks had these without break and so I certainly feel well prepared for the distance.
Races have also gone well: Boddington 10M at the end of January (61:58) was a third fastest time over the distance. Pittville XC was solid, beating last year’s time and followed 20M the previous eve(!). And Wokingham Half (81:39) was a best result in six years in heinous wind conditions. The FoD Half (1:26) was strong with the hills and trails and I didn’t bat an eyelid at a 3.5M warm up beforehand.
A period of three 80M weeks in a row pushed me to the edge but the taper has been well planned and I now feel raring to go.
Race morning:
Kindly given a lift by clubmates, one of whom running the race. Easy 1h15 to get there and parking in a multi storey next to the start. Almost wished there was a longer warm up to loosen the legs but had a good 50 minutes or so to do my usual dynamic warm ups. A few drills and the most token of jogs, perhaps 100m total. Short but fun chat with @Forrest Jooligan and delightful to meet @OuchOuch - Jools had essentially set us up on a blind date 😆. Headed toward the start at 0850 marvelling at how easy the whole set up was, in spite of 2800+ runners. Walked just behind the 3h pacer thinking I would nip ahead of them before we got to the line. Then realised this was the 3h pacer for the half 😦. Jumped a fence and lined up 10 or so rows from the front. Ideal.
The race:
6:33, 6:38, 6:33, 6:35, 6:38
A loop around town for the first mile before returning through the start/finish area. Good support. I had obviously started a little further forward than necessary as being overtaken a lot, but most happy to stick to my pacing. Slightly punchy start but nothing to worry about. OO came past and we shared another chat (love a marathon of this scale vs say a London) before I wishes him well and he pulled ahead. Up and over the bridge and that is the elevation absolutely down until you return over it at the end. Ridiculously flat marathon! Mile three is a bit random with 300 round a running track, but a lovely surface to run on. Tried not to get carried away! The sun made an appearance from behind the clouds at this point and the glare felt remarkably strong. Fortunately we were soon into a narrower road with sufficient vegetation to provide shade.
6:34, 6:38, 6:38, 6:35, 6:39
Quite a long straight east before the only 180 turnaround of the race. Nice tailwind. The leaders came past and it was good to then see some racing friends a few minutes later. Squirting water of my head and neck to try to aid cooling.
6:40, 6:39, 6:33, 6:38, 6:35
Quite the headwind once we began 1.75 loops of about 5M. The group I had been with pulled away and I made the call to let them go. HR beginning to rise a little and thought catching them could come at too great a cost. Through an aid station (these were plentiful and excellent) and we were then (rejoined) by the slower half marathon runners. Not really a problem to overtake although there was the occasional bit of weaving. But they did provide good moments of wind break. The group ahead absolutely splintered at this point and I picked up half of them, staying with a few right to the end.
6:36, 6:35, 6:41, 6:41, 6:41
Sun now out and headwind in force on occasions. HR starting to climb but nothing drastic. Beginning, however, to have what felt like out of body experiences. Either not concentrating, tired, or low blood sugar level. I stuck with the gel plan but had the final gel due at mile 20 half a mile early. Then got through the entire packet of emergency dextrose 😧. Started looking around for a gel station (they had been and gone) or even a dropped gel/half drunk bottle of lucozade. Clearly wasn’t in truly dire straights as the latter was an option on a few occasions but I thought the risk of bending over to pick one up too great 😂.
6:40, 6:41, 6:41
Away from the loop and now minimal overtaking of only the few 2h45-3h half runners. Wide roads but stronger sun. Having to work hard and pace seemingly slowing, albeit only a little.
6:48, 6:43, 6:51 and 6:07 for the extras
Up onto the bridge for a second time; it really is the tiniest of gentle drags but taxing enough at this stage. Tried to push on the down. Clearly getting close now but can’t actually see the finish. Could do with a x metres to go sign! Crowds starting to build and could see Deadpool just ahead getting plenty of cheers. Must get ahead of him! What had previously been the lead car (with timing clock) had parked up maybe 150 from the finish. Omg 2:53:xx might be on! Give it everything (pace above is probably generous) and cross in chip time of 2:53:40. Knackered, but delighted 😁.
Post race:
Very slow walk back to the bag and a blood sugar check (now very high high - possibly a rebound or didn’t actually need to extras in the latter stages). Love the euphoric chats at this stage. A beer with mates before heading to the Lidl car park. This turned out to be a genius parking move after the spectators drove out to the countryside bit. The multi-storey car park was still in exit gridlock 4h later 😣.
Best part of five minutes quicker than Abingdon last autumn and fastest time since 2019. Really pleased! Happy to have put in a performance to back up the solid training and excellent coaching, especially on a day warmer than ideal for me (although nothing drastic). 152/2846 finisher. A great result today from an excellent few months of running.
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