I thought I’d better get this written down before I forgot it – I will forget to add some people’s names, and I’m sorry about that.

Yesterday, I completed the inaugural Birmingham International Marathon (there was a Birmingham marathon in the 1980s – more on that later). I had signed up for it a year in advance, then my training hit a bit of a rock in the road when I had to have some medical treatment this May. I knew that I hadn’t had enough time to get strength and conditioning training in as well as endurance running training in, and right up until the day, I wasn’t sure I had the physical resilience to complete it reasonably comfortably. I was prepared to take walk breaks and do what I needed to in order to get myself round in one piece.

Thanks here to all the people who kindly trained with me even though they don’t run so far (some of them) or so slowly (some of the same, and others). I did quite a few long runs with my friend Trudie and was thrilled to see her and so many others achieve their first marathons.

Before the race

I travelled to the race with my clubmate and neighbour Claire – I think I surprised her partner, who I’d never met before, by announcing “I’ve been to the loo enough times”. Runners are like this. We picked up Karen from nearby and drove to Alexander Stadium in Perry Barr – this was not as bad as at the start of the first Birmingham Half but needed some expert local knowledge. Thanks to Sam for the lift and pre-race photo: Karen, me and Claire. The halo effect is my hair – I had it dyed in orange stripes for the occasion as our running club colours are orange and black.

Claire’s amazing ability to find a nice loo worked really well, we found some good ones in the stadium and then hung out there, gathering other Lions as we went, and saying hello to friends from other clubs.

The start

The start was on the running track at the stadium – where amazing people like Mo Farah have run, what a privilege. We saw the Red start (fastest people, starting an hour earlier than us) go off as we arrived. When we went down to the start there were pens for your predicted finish; although this couldn’t be regulated it worked pretty well and I slotted into the 5:30-6:00 with some friends.

Trudie, Sam, me, Helen Claire at the start (Trudie’s photo)

View as we queued to start (Trudie’s photo)

We shuffled forward in that way that always reminds me of the digestive system, sets of us moving then stopping, we saw 106-year-old Fauja Singh BEM who was starting us off (the world’s oldest marathon runner) and we were off! The bit on the track led to a narrow part that was fine, then a weird side-sloping path down to the main road which was a bit tricky to navigate. 

Into town and out of town.

The first section undulated over a dual carriageway which made it really hard to judge pace. At one point I thought I’d gone too fast here but I think I judged it OK as you always slow in the second half and I had energy for a sprint finish. I was overtaken by Scott Lucas, who I’ve known for around 25 years (who’d have thought, 25 years ago etc) who must have got there late as should have started in front of me. I was thrilled to see my friend Gill at the Barton’s Arms pub in Newtown, waving my orange and black bobble hat and cheering us all on – the support was low along here so that was very welcome, as was seeing parkrun mate Feargal walking along the side of the road. I enjoy a weird road section so this was all OK. I also saw my friend Lesley, who’d done the Loch Ness Marathon a few weeks ago! She was running with a 100 Marathons Club person and had a whale of a time. We kept encountering each other for a few miles.

Mile 1 12:16

Mile 2 13:01

Mile 3 12:24

Once in town, we went through Aston University Campus; the cameras from the Made in Birmingham channel were there and I shamelessly showboated and shouted the club’s name. I met a nice couple of runners from the Shropshire Shufflers and ran with them for a bit; I’d lost Trudie and Sam slightly behind me but they caught up with me here and we ran together until Highgate.

Mile 4 12:47 (this had a horrible out and back to make up the distance but I saw Trudie and Sam)

Mile 5 12:25 (down under the bridge into Digbeth)

Digbeth and Highgate

This was not very International Marathon. There was little support, such that we got thrilled when a man gave us a thumbs-up. We ran round where the skips live – hooray! The course was very wiggly and it had been hard to work out it in training, so that was easier. There was no line marked on the road to follow, which was a bit weird.

Mile 6 12:14 (what? This was UP Digbeth High Street, but a drop in elevation in total!)

Mile 7 12:54

After Digbeth it was into Highgate / Balsall Heath – quite a lot more support especially on this first loop, with clubmates out in force on Willows Road. At this point, Duncan from club overtook us. I thought he had started late then realised he was lapping us! He got an under 3 hour marathon, so this was to be expected.

There was a water station before Willows Road – a lady shouting instructions called my by name (I had Elizabeth on my bib) and it was my old friend from the gym, Zippy! Lisa from running club was also at the water station, which I had expected, and it was lovely to see her, too.

Mile 8 12:48 (keeping nice and consistent to my 13:00 mm plan)

Cannon Hill Park and out past the cricket ground (1)

Coming into CHP I had lost touch with Trudie and Sam but could still see them. I knew the cheering station for KHRC was there, and also YES spotted my friends Ali and Meg outside the tea rooms! Fabulous and Ali took a lovely photo of me running through this park I seem to be always in. Then the cheer station – wonderful – a sea of faces so that I got anxious looking for Jenny and missed some people. Jenny had my fuel bag and got me gels and a bottle of lucozade sport out and took my salomon squash bottle off me.

Fuelling: I took a gel or food once every 45 minutes as planned. Around 400ml of squash in the first 8 miles then a 500ml bottle of lucozade sport that I topped up at water stations, and I also had a gulp of water at any water stations where I’d just had a gel. I didn’t use the loo or get dehydrated or thirsty, and, like last time, only hit mental, not physical walls.

Across the bridge and through the car park and then round the cricket ground car park … in last year’s half it was full of support and sound systems, this year, nothing. I tried to encourage someone from the red wave on who was suffering.

Mile 9 12:15 (Downhill and cheering station excitment!)

Coming out of the cricket ground, I was expecting more friends, I’d been chatting to a bloke running for John Taylor Hospice and telling him I was watching out for a daffodil, and just after a charity support bus there were Lis and Andy Yu, Welsh Lis resplendent in her daffodil hat. Andy took a great couple of pics of me here – thank you!

Mile 10 12:40

Now we were onto the Pershore Road and the real chance to see loads and loads of running friends, from club, other clubs and parkrun. This was wonderful and really gave me something to concentrate on. However, my bum and inner thighs were starting to pain me here. I did some extra hip stretches at yoga on Friday (entirely my decision) and I think this was a mistake. I started to drop speed from now.

Pershore Road Loop (1)

This was a hard part of the course. You ran all the way to Bournville down the Pershore Road (seeing other runners going back up the other side, until the zig-zag they took away from the road) then UP Mary Vale Road, down Linden Road, and down Bournville Lane, rejoining Pershore Road then going up the hill of Selly Park Road and down Kensington Road, rejoining Pershore Road (seeing fellow runners on their second loop) ALL THE WAY UP to nearly the ring road, then down through Highgate again.

But, I did see people I knew every half-mile or more. There were individuals outside houses, there were stray Bournville Harriers and Kings Heath Running Club folks, there were people from Run and Talk and parkrun, and this made it much more fun.

Mile 11 13:01

It got quite hard when there was no one going up the other side of the road. Still Up the hill towards Mary Vale then up Mary Vale. I told myself if I ran it this time, I could walk it next time. Fine. Made much better by seeing running club friend Sam yelling my name and encouraging me, then zipping back to Bournville Lane to cheer me again!maintaining my pace.

Mile 12 13:31 ()

Down Linden Road and Bournville Lane. This is where I saw a bevy of Kings Heath folks and Alan from Run and Talk which really spurred me on. It was much better supported here than other years, I felt. That was my last under 13:00 minute mile until Mile 22. I got to the 14 point (on my watch, which was out from the signs) in exactly 3 hours, so realised I had 3 hours to do 12 miles (15 minute miles) to get in under my PB. This seemed doable and it was easy to judge in 15-minute intervals how well I was doing against that.

Mile 13 12:33

There was a water table outside Masala Merchant along here. I asked the man serving people to pop some water in my lucozade bot

tle. All the while, my friend Louise was hopping up and down trying to get my attention. I turned, saw her: hooray!

Mile 14 13:31 (A mile of ups and downs, up Selly Park Road and down Kensington Road. See Mary Vale for my bargain with my future walking self. However, Bournville Harriers’ cheer station was at the top and my goodness they put on a good wall of sound, with cowbells and calling me by name – wonderful!)

Mile 15 13:19 (Picking it up again when I realised I was losing my pace, back onto Pershore and seeing others on their second loop.)

Mile 16 13:50 (Round again – we saw the sign, Marathon Loop or Finish, and obviously chose loop. Argh! A slightly dark moment.)

Cannon Hill Park and out by the cricket ground (2)

It was hard going round again. Although some families and kids were still out in Highgate, I saw Zippy and Lisa again at the water station and the lovely blokes from the fruiterers on Willows Road were there, the club supporters had gone into town to see people to the end (fair enough!) and when I got into Cannon Hill Park, it looked like Ali and Meg had also gone (they hadn’t, they had missed me by believing when I said I’d be coming through again. Finding out they did try to see me was a big boost, weirdly, afterwards). But I did see the Boldmere Bullets and Swifts cheering stations and had a sweet from Richard Swifts which helped get me to the KHRC cheering station.

At the cheering station, it was just as amazing, lots of people had gone to run the half marathon, others into town to catch people finishing, but one fast marathon man had come back to the park to cheer others on – how wonderful! Jenny leapt out at me as I shouted “Banana and hot cross bun!” She’d got the banana peeled by the time I reached her and although I had a horrible feeling I’d chomped it out of her hand, I did in fact break it off politely. Emma rushed up to check I was OK, I wailed, “I’ve lost my pace!” and pressed on.

Through the MAC car park, past people singing Crazy In Love which had to be joined in with, along by the abandoned ghostbusters car and I encountered my Shropshire Stumblers friends again. In the wastes of the cricket ground I came up behind an older chap in a “People’s Marathon 1982” vest – yes, he’d run the original Birmingham Marathon, how wonderful.

Mile 17 13:54 (Uphill, a bit lonely.)

Mile 18 13:39 (Downhill, a pause by the cheer station, then willed on by them.)

Pershore Road (2) and the half-marathon catches us

Onto the Pershore Road and bloody well along it again, however there was a couple singing an Erasure song which really cheered me. still seeing friends on the other side which was the lift I needed. Far fewer spectators now but as we were so spread out, a lot calling my name. This helps so much! I saw lovely Allie Livesley and husband Tim, who I’d cheered through the red start, which was a huge bonus.

Mile 19 13:55

I’d told myself I wasn’t allowed to walk until after I’d walked in the Reykjavik Marathon, which I thought was mile 14 and was actually Mile 12. Things were hurting now – bum, inner thighs, hams, calves – and when I got to the 19 mile marker I collapsed briefly into huge, racking sobs. I walked and two lovely ladies from Bromsgrove talked me through it. They were amazing and I am very grateful to them. I got going again, but that was hard as every single person in front of and behind me seemed to be walking. I tried to get people to run with me, to no avail, but set off again, slightly grimly.

Mile 20 15:12 (slowest mile. Slowest mile in Iceland was 15:38 and I had two over 15:00 minute miles.)

Then, two motorbikes zoomed past on almost the narrowest part of Pershore Road, flanking what looked like Will who often comes first at parkrun, the front runner in the half-marathon which started at 1.30. Then a bicycle with a rider shouting Keep Left. I immediately moved to the left and tried to tell other walkers / runners to do so, unfortunately many of them had headphones on. I was in marshal mode then I was all do your own race, Liz, so thought, but somehow shouted, “Not my circus: not my monkeys” and just carried on.

As we went round the Bournville Loop, the half-marathoners came thicker and faster. It was quite scary, and got more so as they rushed down Bournville Lane and onto Pershore Road. I want to emphasise here that it was not good for us OR them, and I felt for them as they had to negotiate people who were often right across the road, going slowly. Even people like me keeping well left could present an obstacle. But for me, I was running my race, trying hard and had people zooming past, almost running into me, and I was very scared at this point. Thank goodness, the lovely Becks from running club raced across the road, resplendent in her orange hoody, and ran beside me to keep me safe – she’d done this for a few of us who all came through one after the other. Amazingly timed and hugely appreciated.

Mile 21 14:31 (Up Mary Vale Road. But hooray, my friend (and fellow-runner) Daisy was on the corner with a cheerful shout!)

Mile 22 12:57 (Not bad for Mile 22! Down Bournville Lane. I was with a chap running for Macmillan who had a stress fracture: hope he did OK.)

Along Pershore again and Louise again – slightly less energetic this time:

Also, not many spectators!

Then it was up Selly Park Road – and BVH again, thank goodness. Stacey and Emma cheered me through and I ran up their bit of hill after walking up the main bit. Down again and more Pershore Road. But soon enough though we reached the split off point! I was however running in the left-hand gutter all the way, stepping into drains regularly, to keep out of the way of half-marathon runners. This took a real toll on my left knee and ankle. I did encourage (boss) half-marathoners who had stopped with a cheery, “I’ve run shedloads further than you and I’m old enough to be your MOTHER, come ON!” I was playing tag with a fellow KHRCer here (Ken?) who was working hard, too.

Mile 23 13:49 (Up and down, so not bad. At this point I knew I had my PB if nothing bad happened.)

Mile 24 13:33 (Last time, too, I felt stronger in the last miles, and enjoyed them. Apart from running in the gutter.)

Splitting off and the end game

Having seen the sweeper van going down Pershore Road (not on the same side as me), we pushed on to the gantry and this time took the Finish direction – straight on into town. This was a slower mile as I did tire a bit and was aching and still in the gutter. I kept saying it was OK to walk but I didn’t, I just kept trotting slowly on.

Mile 25 14:08 (This was slightly downhill so hm.)

Then it was time to finish! Well, I knew by now that my watch was coming up with the mile marker about 0.3-0.4 of a mile before each physical mile marker, so I’d be doing over 26.2 miles all told, so I kept pushing. Town came up fast, up through Digbeth and then eeeech up a tight slope by Selfridges onto Moor Street. I was gritting my teeth but enjoying it, big crowds, lots of shouts and I RAN up that bit, amazingly. Then there was a downhill and I was cry-laughing and got lots of shouts for being that kind of cry-laughing person finishing a marathon.

Except it didn’t finish. It went up again. My watch registered 26 miles. 26 miles showed up, still we went and went. I shouted “Where’s the effing finish?” sorry, I did. I think it might have moved on the map when they changed the route slightly at Balsall Heath Road. It went up. I checked my watch – coming up for 5:50:00 so all OK (previous PB was 6:01:12}. Push push, don’t cry, look for Matthew. I felt like I was flying and my last half-mile was a very good speed for me so I think I judged it OK in the end, even though I slowed for the second half. I saw Matthew, hooray, and didn’t shout any weird requests at him (last time, I asked him to take a photo of a random Alaskan … ). Couldn’t see the end, then there’s the end, showboat for cameras, look up as you come through the finish for the video, press the button on the watch, done!

Mile 26 13:47 (But a GAP of 12:50, a pace that allows for hills. Yo.)

Mile 26.4 11:57 (26.48 miles on the Garmin. Pleased I did have a kick at the end.)

You might be able to view a video replay of the route here.

Finish

The finish was quite well-organised. We were corralled into Marathon on the left, Half-Marathon on the right and I got my goody bag (plastic bag with water, Randoms sweets, a Trek bar, the usual leaflets and some seed cereal topping, a foil cape and a medal and tshirt). I then found Trudie, Dave, Sam and Helen, Trudie, Sam and Helen had come through together a few minutes before me. I went off to find Matthew and inhaled my banana and banana milk then we picked our way round the crowds (very tall man: “Did you do the full? Congratulations!”) and got the bus home.

There was a curry that night that we hobbled up to – lots of chat and “Did you see” and well dones. Everyone did so well and it was a privilege to see so many people achieve their first marathon. I have raised over £500 so far for the Birmingham Women’s Hospital charity which I’m very pleased about, too.

Result and thoughts

My time was 05:52:23 so an almost 9-minute Personal Best. I came in position 4769 out of 5203 marathon runners, which put me at the 91.65% of finishers (up from 1279 out of 1306 or 97.93% last time).

I had little chafing, thanks to the amazing product, Body Glide, and no blisters. My ankle and knee are a little sore, but not swollen or damaged as far as I can tell. I have inexplicable bicep and elbow pain in the arm that was not holding my drink.

Would I do another marathon? Yes. Would I do this one again? Not with this route or organisation between marathon and half-marathon.

It was MUCH easier doing my second marathon. I had my fuelling and hydration sorted out already and knew I could do it. I ran up more hills and did more yoga this time, and ran more in general, and all this served me well.

It was less scenic than Iceland of course, but the local support was aMAZing. Thanks to all who sponsored and supported me in whatever way. And sorry to anyone I’ve left out of this account!