Race Date: Sunday 27th April 2025

My last visit to Stratford upon Avon was for a school trip in 1995. The performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was entirely lost on me so I hoped that this time around my trip would be slightly more enjoyable. I decided to enter my first ever marathon in late December and after a very quick internet search I settled on this event in Warwickshire. The date worked for me nicely and coincided with both London and Manchester marathons, so I knew the training sessions I regularly attend would all gear towards a common goal.

Training

Training overall went well and I was lucky in that I managed to stay injury and illness free which helped build a good base and steadily increase my fitness over time. A typical week was focused on three hard sessions rather than lots of mileage, with plenty of rest in between. I had a couple of higher volume weeks (my max was just under 90k) but most were around 50-65km weeks, usually a Sunday long run and then group sessions on a Tuesday and a Thursday.

Sunday was typically a long run of 28k plus. I roughly managed around ten of these around some warm up races and a three week taper. Most long runs were ranging from 28-36km. I found getting up early on a Sunday and heading out to the Monsal Trail worked well for me (and the dog) and didn’t impact too much on family time. Whilst these sessions were a shock to the system to begin with, I soon found them enjoyable. Most of them were done at a steady jog but as my fitness increased I introduced some faster marathon paced efforts which also keeps them interesting and challenging.

The Tuesday (tempo, lactate threshold reps or hills) and Thursday (a bit quicker  on the track) sessions were absolutely key for me. Hard work, fun and all structured around a spring marathon. I found surrounding myself with a regular group made training less of a chore especially during some pretty bleak January and February weeks and there’s always someone there to push you on as well as the more experienced and knowledgeable runners to lean on for advice. Doing hills and intervals at faster than your marathon pace really worked for me.

Warm up races

I enjoyed the warm up races as it breaks up the training and it felt good to get some races in the legs and build confidence knowing that the training is working.

Bolsover 10k – 9th Feb

Stamford 30k – 16th Feb

Sheffield Half – 23rd March

National Road Relays 5k – 12th April

Taper

Whilst I didn’t get injured or ill I did feel a bit tired and felt my legs lacked energy with about 4 weeks to go. I opted for a three week taper, however this included the National Road Relays 5k with 2 weeks to go. I don’t really know the impact of this but it did ultimately give me a confidence boost that I could run a good 5k on tired legs. The last two weeks I then just spent eating a bit more, resting but also keeping my runs short and sharp. Even with a three week taper I only really felt good with a few days to go.

 

Race day

As with the rest of the country, that Sunday morning was scorchio and up into the low 20’s. I booked a hotel right in the town centre about a 2 minute walk from the start line. I didn’t go to the event village itself as it was a 15 min walk from the start line so fairly pointless walking there and back when I had the use of my hotel. Also, I didn’t want the extra steps and more time in the sun. I opted to warm up in the shadier side streets and kept sipping on the water, there were also plenty of coffee shops who were willing to let you use the facilities pre-race.

The race itself went well and there was a good crowd of around 3000 for both the half and full marathons. I was delighted with my debut time of 3:01:43 (chip time) to finish 38th overall (1161 marathon finishers) and 8th in MV40 category. I felt relaxed for the most part and concentrated on managing the heat with water and a gel every 7-8km. There was a 1:30 pacer for the half marathon so I stuck to him and didn’t get too fixated on my watch, I did notice he was a little quick at times so I dropped off a little and went through halfway in 1:29:41 so just had to do the same again for a sub 3.

The course was two laps and well marshalled/sign posted when the half marathoners split off after about 12.5 miles to their finish point. At halfway there was a group of 4-5 of us who all continued onto lap two. We stuck together I think until about 28-30k I then noticed I was on my own and overtaking a few people which helped keep the morale up. I also still had an eye on sub 3 hours which helped in keeping me motivated. At 37km I knew I needed to be hitting closer to 4.05min/km pace but it just wasn’t happening, I felt I held on well and was pleased with how the last 10km went overall (43 mins according to Strava) with no massive bonk. Second half was done in 1:31:14 (again Strava time).

Overall, the course was pretty flat (172m elevation in total) with two hills on each lap providing the elevation. It is a rural event so quiet out on the course, especially the second lap, which I didn’t mind. There is a 9k section on each lap on The Greenway, a gravel path on a former railway line, which was at least dry but sore on the feet. The last km of the race was a surprise with a couple of tight turns and a very narrow path into a park so you can’t really do anything other than manage carefully through the traffic. At this point I was trying to enjoy the last 500m and get over the line and into the shade.

Overall a nice race and well organised.  I would recommend it as an alternative to the bigger marathons if you miss out. The course is a little tricky in places so it can’t really  be described as a truly flat and fast course.