Brighton Marathon
Four Harriers made the journey to Brighton to take part in the Brighton Marathon. On a beautiful, if hot, day for running all four had excellent experiences and super performances.
Veteran Marathoner Bob Dolan was impressed by the organisation of the event and the opportunity to explore the backdrop for Who Rock Opera based movie, Quadrophenia. Bob set out with his plan sensibly based on his training block and was happy enough with his 3.26.42 finish. He warns of 3 significant hills and a few switchbacks but amazing crowds particularly in the centre of the town and especially along the prom side finish.
Lynne Fulton had set herself a target for her significant borthday to run ans complete her first( and last) marathon. She has trained consistently throughout the winter months and reaped the rewards on the day, completing the course in 5.32.30. Lynne, as she should be, is incredibly proud of her finish(as are we all) especially the last few miles where she found the going tough. However, boosted by the surprise appearance of her family at mile 19 she pushed through to a strong finish. Sharing the weekend with Lynne was cousin, Elaine Medinelli, who also had a great run on a tough warm day. Elaine has completed the marathon distance before and was able to walk away from Brighton with a shiny new PB to show for her efforts, completing the course in 4.51.10.
The final Harrier to take part in Brighton was Lauren Boyce. Lauren, just a year ago only ran her first continuous 20 minute run of 2.5km, on 6th April 2024.Fast forward a year and with her own determination and the support of her fellow GGH members she completed her first(I am reliably informed) marathon. She is delighted to be able to call herself a marathon runner and completed the course in 4.52.54.
A superb weekend of running from all four Harriers in the English Riviera. Dedication and consistency bring deserved results.
Newport Marathon Festival 2025
On 13/4/25, father and son, William and Elijah Taylor headed South to take part in the Newport Marathon Festival. While there both took part in a fairly unique parkrun, the Severn Bridge event. This event starts in Wales before crossing the border into England before finishing in Wales. After a tough winter training block William was ready to smash his marathon PB at the Newport Marathon in Wales, If things were to go according to plan it would just be a case of by how much. The forecast was to be hot during the day with the clouds coming and going giving some relief. The marathon route was a pretty flat one with runners starting in the city before heading over the River Usk via the main bridge and out into the countryside, a couple of loops later then back over the bridge towards the city where the crowds lined the streets. The marathon field consisted of around 3,000 runners. William set off with the 3 hour pacer only for him(the pacer) to pull out with an injury about 12 miles so William just kept ticking off the miles at roughly the same pace until it got tough around 20 miles. The sun had burned through making the last 6 miles difficult. The sub 3 hour dream had gone but using his ultra experience he kept moving whilst others were walking. Crossing the finish line in a time of 3:07:01 and a 16 minute PB definitely made the long journey worthwhile. William keeps his streak of PBs going for the year with every distance raced so far bringing career best times. Fantastic running William.
Meanwhile in the Future Challengers Mile Race young Elijah set off with other athletes ranging from 9-15 years old. The course was a tricky one using a long straight road as an out and back with 3 dead turns. Elijah finished 3rd under 11 and 14th overall out of 47 with a time of 5:56. That ended up only being one second off 2nd place in his category. Another great run from Elijah.
Paris Marathon
Trying something a wee bit different for Olivia Devine’s experience at the Paris Marathon. A brilliant performance!
Name & Date: The Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris 2025, Sunday13th April
What was the weather like on the day?
I was nervous that the weather was going to catch me out after training through the winter season, but it was pretty perfect for Paris. It was a cloudy morning, and it had rained through the night before so there was a slight chill in the air which was perfect. It was still around 13 degrees, and I did feel that pretty quickly as the run started, but it was much better than the 21 degrees the day before!
How was the course?
I was warned that Paris wasn’t a ‘PB’ course, with a good mix of elevation (269m), cobbles (for pretty much the full first 10km!) and tunnels to deal with, but I surprisingly enjoyed it. I studied the elevation, so I knew when to conserve some energy and with most of my training runs taking place in Edinburgh (talking loops of Arthurs Seat and the 20 along the Forth!) I was really prepared for it – I actually didn’t find it that hilly at all but I don’t want to run on cobbles or through smelly tunnels ever again!
I only recently just found out that Paris Marathon is the biggest in the world, 56,950 people ran on the 13th April – beating both London and New York! I ended up running close to 43km as it was really busy, and hard to overtake at times, a lot of weaving was required. My support crew also said that it was just a constant stream of people!
How were the crowds?
The race was super friendly, the support was unbelievable to the point I couldn’t hear any music when I put in my earphones around 37km. The crowd were so loud, particularly in the last 2km! Everyone was checking for your name on your bib and cheering you along too!
In terms of runners, it felt like a very serious marathon. Not many people dressed up for charity and I barely saw any walkers.
Bling? Was the medal/ t-shirt worth it?
Very cool medal, definitely my favourite to date! It has the Arc de Triomphe on the back with all the major landmarks that you pass along the way mentioned on the front. We also received a t-shirt and a running hydration vest at the expo which was a nice touch! I haven’t been to an expo before, but it was really cool – so much to see and do, lots of photo ops too!
How was your training block?
I think it has been well documented that my training didn’t go to plan. I ended up with piriformis syndrome which resulted in sciatica mainly down my left leg. I had around 4-5weeks off altogether which was at a point where my long runs >21km. This made me nervous as I knew I could run 13 miles, but anything over that distance I hadn’t touched since my last marathon 3 years previous. It was very frustrating as my training up to this point had been going extremely well and I was feeling confident in my running. During those injury weeks I emailed to defer my spot to 2026 as I just didn’t see me getting through 42.2km. However, I stuck to my rehab, physio and regular sports massages and managed to work my way back up. The Alloa half marathon(+11km) was a really important run for me, as it was the decision maker for if I could run Paris and I had a great run that day which was amazing! I did have to be careful with my training from that point and forget about doing any speed work but getting to the start point feeling good was the main goal.
How did your race go?
I was really proud of my performance on race day, everything went as plan for around 35/37km. I hit all my paces for the first 30km, and fuelled well. I was on track for sub 4 (which I really wanted) and I was feeling really strong. Once I hit 35km my stomach started to turn, I tried to slow the pace at 35 & 36 to see if it eased off as I was worried about taking on any more gels at this point. I also stopped for a toilet break which was probably the worst decision as my legs cramped up and I then struggled to get moving again for the next few kms – at this point I had a feeling I had probably lost the sub 4 (although I still wasn’t sure – top tip, don’t wear a fairly new garmin on race day, mine started lapping and I wasn’t sure when this started so I had no idea how long I had been running for!) but I gave it everything in those last 2km which made me realise just how much my running has come along recently as I was hitting a sub 5m/km at the end of a marathon!!
