In May this year David Wilkinson (Lancaster and Morecambe AC) and Nadine Parsons (Garstang Running Club) decided to train for the Chester Marathon. Nadine was not satisfied with her time of over 5 hours at the London Marathon in April due to the extreme heat. At the time David was recovering from a broken left heel, but due to Nadine’s power of persuasion he went along with the idea.
After getting permission to run again in June, David started a 16 week training programme with a view to being fit for the October event.
Nadine’s training consisted of mainly hilly 20 mile runs in the Caldervale and Scorton area, with David joining her when he could.
With 3 weeks to go David decided to do Lancaster Marathon as a warm up as he hadn’t done a Marathon for over 3 years. A time of 5 hours 5 minutes gave him the confidence he could still complete the distance.
On the morning of Sunday 7th October David and Nadine lined up on the turf of Chester Race Course and at 9 am they were off, running in perfect cool conditions. David ran a consistent pace until 100 metres from the finish line when he pulled up with severe cramp in both calves. After 30 seconds stretching with the crowd cheering him on, he got moving again and crawled over the line in a time of 3 hours 58 minutes and 48 seconds.
Nadine’s main aim was to run the whole race at a relaxed pace without stopping and she achieved this goal crossing the line in 4 hours 48 minutes 27 seconds, a new personal best.
David and Nadine decided that this event was friendly and well organised, it would definitely be one to consider if you were looking to do your first marathon. The event is run on closed roads with frequent refreshments provided and with over 2000 competitors you always have someone to run with.