From Petra Bijsterveld…
I travelled to Llanberis for my sixth time running Marathon Eryri (the English version of the name, ‘Snowdonia Marathon’ was dropped in 2023). It was the 40th staging of this iconic race and the Welsh weather obligingly showed its best face, giving us dry sunny conditions with only a light breeze and a perfect running temperature. The favourable conditions may have helped the winners: Andrew Davies (Maldwyn Harriers) set a new course record of 2:28:41 (the first time 2:30 has been broken) and Louise Flynn (Les Croupiers) ran 2:59:27 (only the 3rd female ever to go under 3 hours).
Having written five previous race reports and a blog I won’t go into all the details of the race here, but I will just remind the reader that there is 2674ft of ascent squeezed into the 26.2 miles! It is generally held that elite runners will run 20 minutes slower here than on a flat course, mid-pack runners 30 minutes.
I have become gradually faster on this course as the years have gone by, last year I ran 4:33:01. This brought the sub 4:30 goal potentially within reach and I made that my aim. I could see two aspects in last year’s race that I could improve on and shave time off with: starting nearer to the front so I would not have to spend the early miles endlessly weaving around steadier runners, and avoiding having to make a toilet stop.
Training had been as good as I could make it, having run the SwissPeaks 100 in early September. I took two weeks to recover and then had five weeks left to focus on road miles. In fact, that is four weeks and a sharp one week taper. Anyone who thinks that my running lots of ultras translates into finding a road marathon a mere breeze would be gravely mistaken. Road running is so much harder!
I had written my 5k splits and my timing point splits from last year on my forearm, with the plan to be just ahead of them, and progressively increase the difference over the race, hopefully without overcooking it. As we lined up for the start I pushed my way forward until I found the 4:30 pacer. I had a brief chat with him, he was really nice and did exude confidence but at the same time I noted that he had a wrist band with a standard pacing chart, and I did wonder how useful this would be on such a hilly course, especially with two out of the three main climbs coming in the second half you cannot split this race anywhere near even. I assumed he had lots of experience on this course but didn’t really want to ask for fear of appearing rude. I decided to stick near him or go marginally ahead, but mainly rely on my own plan, as I know the course well enough. I overtook him in mile 6 and did not see him again until the finish. (He did make it just inside 4:30 but seemed even more broken than I was, which you wouldn’t expect from a pacer!)
I spent some miles yo-yoing with Matt Podd from Otley AC which was nice. Lots of people said ‘hello Croups’ to me as our Ilkley vest is the same as that of Les Croupiers AC in Cardiff. Someone asked if I was Petra and she said she had read my blog. But other than these little exchanges I just worked hard. I managed to occasionally enjoy looking at the views, autumn colours in the sunshine and all that, but this race was largely about digging deep, keeping on top of my fuelling and hydration, and going at the fastest pace I could maintain for four and a half tough hours.
Having had cramp on the finishing straight last year I took two electrolyte capsules with about four miles to go, but I still got a sudden severe cramp in my left hamstring at the top of the last climb, which is particularly steep. It settled down again quickly, but was a warning sign. I hurtled down the two-mile descent (the first mile of this is off road and tricky, but thankfully relatively dry this year). I knew my goal time was in the bag barring a fall or cramp disaster. And I saw at least two runners crumpled at the side of the path, but they where being helped by others so I rushed onwards. With about half a mile to go I felt as if my legs were going to give way but I sped on downwards into Llanberis and the wall of sound on the finishing straight. I could hear people shout my name and ‘Ilkley’. About ten meters from the line my almost Olympic sprint came to an abrupt halt due to the agony of more sudden hamstring cramp. I could hear the roar of the crowd go ‘Oooohhh’ as if they were living it with me. Thankfully I had enough time in hand so I hobbled over the line in 4:28:04 to receive my sixth slate coaster. Absolutely over the moon. I had hoped to be in the top three of my age category (F60) having been fourth last year, but the field was even stronger this year, making me seventh out of 55. I think I can be happy with that!
I do intend to return to this race next year, ballot permitting, but I don’t think I can improve on this time. No more marginal gains available and I couldn’t have gone any faster. Maybe I will jog round and enjoy the scenery a bit more!
(1 2:28:41 Andrew Davies, Maldwyn Harriers)
(26 2:59:23 Louise Flynn, Les Croupiers)
945 4:28:04 Petra Bijsterveld
2342 ran