By Helen Thomsit.
After qualifying for Boston, London and Chicago marathons way back in 2019, then losing all places (Boston twice) in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid, travel restrictions and a stress fracture, there was a lot riding on Chester on 2nd October! I'd chosen it because of its reputation for being fast, flat and friendly. I hadn't factored in the 8+ hour round trip or 4am hotel fire alarm the morning of the event but any nerves soon faded when we got to the racecourse where everyone seemed calm and excited.
Having never been to the city before I hadn't been able to envisage the course at all but experience has taught me to just focus on the miles and break the distance up into various chunks so off to the start line I went (which was less than 2 minute walk from the car, perfect!).
The first couple of miles wind out from the racecourse, past LOUD crowds, up (yes, up) and down through the city centre. We were soon in the countryside, and I settled in to listen to a chatty group of runners. I even found someone from my old club back in Essex, Little Baddow Ridge Runners, and seeing the familiar vest was a real boost although I did realise after an hour or so that in my excitement I'd gone out too quickly. I paid for it later. The course is absolutely beautiful, mostly rural and heads into Wales before looping back into Cheshire, through villages with incredibly loud support, bands, and rolling hills. Yes, hills. This event is NOT flat and I'm very glad I spent so long running up and down Wick Hill this year! Luckily I spent 21 miles with Mike from Caistor who was doing his 10th Chester, 84th marathon and really appreciated his support, especially when it got tough at 16ish and the following undulation. The running community is fantastic and he did a fab job of holding my water when I was taking my gels, keeping the conversation flowing and telling me I was well within goal time every time I wobbled (a lot). The hard work really started around 17 or 18 miles when it felt like we were in Paradise Hill territory, and I made the difficult but sensible decision to walk the water stops and the most brutal of the elevation.
At 25 miles the organisers kindly had the course climbing something akin to Kilimanjaro which hugely tested my patience, but there's an incredible organisation of volunteers called Race Angels who were bouncing up and down in bright t-shirts, almost pushing and pulling anyone who needed encouragement. And then suddenly, there's only a mile or so to go. The final part of the route took us back into the centre and briefly running alongside the traffic before turning back towards the river and along cobbles (seriously painful!) for the last half mile before finishing in the park and sobbing on more volunteers and my new friend.
I regret ignoring experience and making the error of going out too quickly, but I had a great time in Chester. It's the friendliest and one of the prettiest races I've been too, and I really can see why it's an award-winning event, and it will always be special for allowing me to achieve my goal. Hopefully I've got an exciting couple of years coming up!