The Bolton Community Half Marathon

Whilst on the 10k Pie run in Wigan, I was chatting with a fellow runner who mentioned an inaugural event in the local calendar.  Since 1986, there has been no official marathon/half marathon in Bolton, but this year, 2016, it was starting all over again.

Highlighting a fantastic support crowd throughout, as they are used to disruption from the Bolton Ironman, taking in the glorious Lancashire sights and then a winners finish at the Le Mans Crescent (again, the finish line for the infamous Bolton Ironman)

All I needed now was a training plan and a few run buddies.

Thankfully, run buddies were not hard to find as two of the Malta Legends, Lynne and my Marathon Angel Emma were quick to accept in an attempt to recreate the final stages of our Maltese venture.  I had ran with Lynne earlier in the year whilst on a business trip to London, but Emma was feeling left out.  Being the runner that she is, there was no stopping her from signing up in an instant.

Traipsing the local hills, I thought I had an advantage over the more flatter runners, but Bolton hides some secret mountains on it's horizon.

As we set off from Le Mans Crescent and I was feeling confident.  A home turf run and terrain I was familiar with.  A fellow runner grabbed my attention by adorning an Ironman tattoo on his calf, with my brother recently completing this monstrous event in this very town, I had to make contact. Thankfully, I was wearing a full Marvel Iron Man outfit, so sparking up conversation was quite easy.  The Ironman was also quite thankful as the rambunctious crowds were shouting "Hey Iron Man" or "Go Iron Man" towards myself, but he was happy to take some of the praise.

Once out of the main streets of Bolton we descended a half mile sheer drop towards a canal bank. Near enough vertical, I almost threw my hands in the air and screamed "Weeeee" all the way down, but I conserved some energy for the remaining 10 miles.

At the 5 mile marker, we seemed to climb, and climb and then turn a corner and climb some more. This climbing sensation seemed to last forever.  The crowds were still out in force and shouting me on, although a few people got a little too excited and shouted random super hero names at me, but I again accepted the encouragement and plodded on.  At the 8 mile marker, my sense of humour was failing, another long incline with no end.  My legs were burning but I had so far to go.  From behind I heard a shout, "Come On Iron Man", it was my Ironman run buddy from the start line, still going strong he gave me the boost I needed to conquer the climb, but alas, with my legs on the final stages I bade him farewell as we returned to the canal bank for the final journey.

9.5 miles in I really began to slow down, I had gone out too hard on the opening 5 mile with my uber confidence and that had been detrimental to the final 5.  I was alone, demoralised and thinking about the vertical climb back into Bolton that I had so giddily descended only an hour earlier.

Then the voice of a friend came from along side me, one of my Malta angels, Lynne had been happily running not too far behind, had seen me in my ridiculous attire and known I needed support.  My spirit was lifted almost immediately and with it the pace increased.  As we hit the mammoth climb, Emma was not too far behind as well.  At the summit, we three merry Malta Marathon Champions rejoined for the final couple of miles.

The closer we got to Bolton, the bigger the crowds, the louder the shouting and more "Go Iron Man". Out of the crowds pounced an old swim buddy with a gratuitous supply of Jelly Babies, Kathrine, I cannot thank you enough for this!  Her husband was running his first half marathon and was a fair few minutes ahead, but she had seen me earlier in the race and must have seen I needed the boost.

Entering Le Mans Crescent for the finish was a truly epic event, I grabbed Lynne and Emma's hands, just as we had done at the finish line in Malta, raised them high and bounded across the line.

Hitting seconds under 2 hours, Bolton Community Half is a great event, but not one to be taken lightly.  I had originally been aiming for a personal best (1:49:48) but that will have to be for another day.

Another day also for a meeting with the two Marathon Angels, who were already planning the next event


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