Oulton Park Running Grand Prix Marathon
07/08/2022
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result"
Taking full advantage of my little one being on a caravaning holiday with the Grandparents, I decided to camp close to Oulton Park the night before to avoid a rushed and panic driven morning.
I stayed at Hadley Park in Whitchurch and may I say, what a totally relaxing and chilled evening I had!
A really peaceful and welcoming, adults only site with a curfew on noise from 11pm until 8am. I peacefully bbq'd some burgers on my fire pit whilst chilling out by the lake. This is the way forward now for events, I felt totally and utterly relaxed.
I arrived at Oulton Park with good time to spare ready to collect my race pack and join in the atmosphere of a pre-race. Having done a few of these events now, I noticed that the "atmosphere" was a little quieter than usual, but I carried on regardless. Oulton Park is my first marathon event since the Dopey Challenge so I was unsure if reduced numbers were a thing now post Covid.
10 minutes before race time the marathon runners were called forward.
"Any sub 2:45 runners?", 1 lean, althetic and superfit bloke walked forward to a smattering of applause
"Any Sub 3 hour runners?", again a couple of runners joined the starting corrale
"Any sub 3:30 runners?", 1 more
I started thinking, well at least I will have a decent pack in the sub 4:30 running group if there are only a few elite.
"Ok, here's the popular one, any sub 4 hour runners?" 2 people, not that popular then....
Finally, my bunch
"Any sub 4:30 runners?" I looked around and no-one moved forward, then I saw one chap moving towards the start line so joined him. There were now no more than 10 people between the sub 2:45's and the sub 4:30 runners.
The small bunch of runners remaining joined the sub 5 and sub 6 hour running groups
Mick, my fellow 4:30 runner was ticking his bucket list with his first marathon, he advised of a calf injury and not much training but would see how things went. I wished him luck and we walked to the starting point on the track.
Minutes later we were off.
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| What an atmosphere! |
The Oulton Park Grand Prix Marathon is based on a Grand Prix Curcuit at 2.62 miles long. To complete the marathon is a mere 10 laps of the course. As the day progresses groups of new runners would join the fold, those running the 20 mile, half marathon, 10k and 5k.
My goal for the first lap was to assess the course, understand the terrain, undulation and know when to take advantage or ease off.
The first 1.2 mile of the course is pretty steady, a nice down hill to start, a long straight towards a camber turning (make sure you don't go too high, stick to the bottom) and then round towards the first gradient. This was were I would make my good ground, now on to the second part of the course.
The first hill was a cheeky one, not too long but a good short burst of a climb, this then had a long sweeping corner with the view of the next, longer climb. The second climb was a lesser incline but a long way to the top. This would be were I eased off to save the legs for the next lap. A plan had formed in my head and I was ready to go again.
The only crowd support was a mute bunch of spectators at the starting positions, the rest of the course was earily silent. Thankfully, I had my AfterShokz OpenMoves on with some funky run beats.
On to lap 2 and it was exactly as I had planned. Starting with the downhill and long straight at an increased pace, bending round the camber at the bottom and out towards the first hill. Take it easy, out towards the long hill, nice and steady. Passed the mute crowd and towards the checkpoint.
On to lap 3 and it was exactly as I had planned. Starting with the downhill and long straight at an increased pace, bending round the camber at the bottom and out towards the first hill. Take it easy, out towards the long hill, nice and steady. Passed the mute crowd and towards the.....Wait a minute, this looks very similar to the last paragraph!
Lap 4, I looked down at my watch, I was just short of 8 mile in feeling physically awesome.....and then realisation hit me....HARD!
"I have over 3 more hours of this, I have 7 more laps to do including this one, my god I am so bored"
I can't really say much about lap 4, the 20 milers had started running so there were at least more than 20 of us on the race track now. I did the down hill, ran the long straight, did the camber, first hill, long hill, mute crowd, check point....
At the start of lap 5 I knew that I would hit my half marathon at the end, so decided that I would DNF the marathon and at least take home a medal. This lap was a real struggle, not physically, but mentally. I stopped for a chat with a couple of the marshalls, making sure they were ok. The 10k runners and half marathon runners where now on course, but this did nothing to spur me on. As I approached the final long hill, a runner passed me with an Ironman tattoo on his calf, slowed and seemed to struggle up. I ran along side him and said "Come on Ironman, you can do this". For the next few minutes, I chatted with the Ironman who had just recovered a couple of weeks ago from Covid and felt like he didn't have the lung capacity prior to the virus. We ran at a decent pace, but when we got close to the finish filter point, I bade him farewell, wished him luck and headed towards the finish line.
The thought of doing a further 5 laps out there made my soul ache. Absolute Kudos to anyone who endured that marathon event.
This was the most boring run I have ever done.
Mick - if you completed the marathon and ticked it off you bucket list, please do another one and you will see a massive difference. If you didn't complete, please do not take this as a hit and enter a full marathon with a full course.
Post Edit - I have checked the race results and cannot see a finish time for Mick - Please enter another marathon, please
Finish Time: DNF
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