Newport Marathon Race Report

Hi Everyone!

I hope you all have been keeping well and I have seen a lot of you read my race report on the Frenchay 10K, if you haven't please check it out. This weeks race report is about how I got on at the Newport Marathon, which believe it or not is my first official marathon! The marathon took place on Sunday the 5th May 2019 and is claimed to be one of the flattest marathons in the UK. It is so flat that 70% of people who run it claim a personal best (PB) and the record for the course was also broken this year. The guy that won ran it in 2 hours 31 minutes and 34 seconds 😲! he ran it so fast if he lived in Bristol he would have finished the marathon, got back to his car and driven home before I managed to get over the finish line. This year there were 6000 people taking part in the marathon and the 10k that is the same day. 

I was up at 6 am as I was being picked up at 7 to head over the Severn bridge and into Wales. I was feeling confident, I had followed a training plan (I have put a link to it here) and unlike me I was up in time to have a decent pre-marathon breakfast, porridge and a banana with a glass of water. The events organizers had put on a park and ride for runners which we took up. Last year when I went to watch my mum run this marathon and the park and ride was horrendous, there was road works just outside the car park which meant it took people twice as long to get in and the start of the race had to be delayed by about 40 minutes. This time however there was no sign of this happening, we arrived parked up and got straight on a bus that took us to the start line. The atmosphere around the start line was brilliant, there was the local radio station hosting the event and a few stalls to have a look at. The time the marathon was to start was 9 am, once that time came it was easy to find out starting pen. Me and dad were both in the blue pen which was for people who thought they would finish in a time around 4 hours and 30 minutes. We positioned ourselves just in front of the lady who was the 4.30 pacer and waited for the count down. As the count down started I was a little nervous but also really excited to get going as we had been training for this for the last 17 weeks. We heard the starters pistol go off and......... we didn't move! it took us a good couple of minutes of walking before we got to the start line, I hit go on my watch and we were off on our 26.2 mile journey around Newport city centre and the Gwent levels country side. 

Miles 1 - 5
This first bit was really packed with other runners and was all about settling in to a rhythm and sticking to the times I had practiced in my training, however, the pacer was going about 30 seconds a mile faster than what she should have been. Now this wasn't a problem as it wasn't much quicker than I had planned and I felt I could keep this pace up for 26.2 miles. Nothing much to report in the first couples of miles, dad was still running with me and he was looking good. Then came the first water station 3 miles in, this was absolute carnage! people were suddenly cutting across the road as they hadn't seen the water station coming, when they got there people were stopping to take the water off the volunteers so other people ended up running into the back of them. I lost dad at this water station and I didn't see him again until about 10 miles in. I managed to get passed this water station unscathed and picked up with the 4.30 pacer again and I remained stuck to her side for the next 18 miles.

Miles 6-10
We were now well and truly out of Newport and into the countryside which I have got to admit made it a bit boring. There was lots of chatting going on which was nice and kept your mind off of the distance that we still had to cover. The second water station was a lot easier to navigate as everyone had found their pace and knew what to expect. At about mile 7 I started to get a few little niggles, one being in my left knee and in my left groin. It wasn't anything to worry about but it was distracting me from concentrating on the race. These pains never really went away for the rest of the run, I managed to ignore them as I became more and more in pain the further I ran. At mile 9 there was another water station in a pretty little village in Magor. We had to do a loop of the village and I'm sure everyone that lived there was outside cheering us on which was amazing! at the water station we were also given some running gels, now if you run you will know how risky it can be eating these if you are not use to them. I decided that I would take only a little bit as I didn't want to end up with cramps and runners belly when I was out in the middle of no where and not a toilet in sight.

Miles 11 - 15 
Again nothing much happened in this stage of the race, I was still stuck to the pacers side and we were still running at to fast a pace. I think we were predicted to come in at about 4 hours 27 minutes at this point.

Miles 16 - 20
At around mile 18 I was starting to really feel the pace of the race, I needed to extend my stride as my legs were starting to stiffen up, I was now ahead of the pacer but I always knew she would catch me up I just had to try and get my legs feeling a bit better. I spent the next 2 miles telling myself that I can do this and I will stay a head of the pacer but this didn't happen! As I passed the mile 20 marker I was really struggling, my legs were all but numb and I had to start walking for a bit, this is when the 4.30 pacer went past me. I tried to pick up with the group again but I just didn't have it in my legs, the earlier pace had caught up with me.

                                                      Miles 21 - 26.2

25 miles 

Trying to pretend i'm not in pain

Just as I got to the 21 mile marker I saw a mate of mine from a running club I use to go to, he had set out with the 4 hour pacer so I was surprised to see him walking. He had said that the 4 hour pacer had also gone out fast and he was struggling. I got to admit this was what I needed, I was able to help pace my friend to about mile 24. I know it sounds selfish but he was being helped along and it distracted me from the pain I was in. We took up a plan of running 0.75 of a mile and then walking the remaining 0.25, at mile 24 he really couldn't run anymore so he was happy for me to carry on. The end was so close just 1.3 miles to go but I felt like it would take forever to get there. I still had to run and walk with the distance I was running be a lot shorter than before. The last 300 meters of this marathon was amazing. The noise and encouragement from the crowd felt like it had carried me over the line. I finished in a time of 4 hours 34 minutes and 17 seconds, which I am proud of but I am also gutted I didn't break that sub 4.30 time. I know what went well and what I can improve on. I am planning on another marathon towards the end of the year and I will finish that in under 4 hours and 30 minutes! Dad finished the Newport marathon in about 5 hours and 30 minutes, he did amazing and I am well proud of him.




The Newport marathon was very well organised and run, I can't fault the whole set up. As I sit here writing this on Monday evening my legs are hurting but they are in good shape, I am even thinking that in the morning I will go for a run and stretch the legs out a bit. I need to now start focusing on my training for the Conti 24 hour run. I am doing this run to raise money for Jessie May, please check out more about that run here and if you wish to sponsor me you can find the page here. I hope to have my new look blog out in the next couple of weeks so please keep an eye on Jessie May's Facebook page as it will be shared on there or you can follow me on Instagram, you can find me by searching jm_running-nurse.


Take care

Steve