Robin Hood Marathon Race Report
Grantham Running Club's Gav Meadows completed his first marathon on Sunday - the Robin Hood Marathon in Nottingham. Gav, 34, only started competing in races in December last year. However, he has been running fairly consistently since he began training for his 4 year stint in the army at 18 years of age.
He has put in a lot of hard training since committing to this race in March, clocking up a total of 525 miles. This included several preparation races & events both locally & in the challenging hills of the Peak District. He also cross-trains by swimming once a week & lifting weights regularly at the gym.
He completed the 26.2 mile course in 3 hours 23 minutes 4 seconds finishing 139th in a field of 1238 competitors. Gav said 'Considering that this was my first marathon, I'm very happy with my performance overall! I wanted to finish quicker than 3:30 & managed to achieve that goal. However, this was definitely a learning experience! I made some mistakes & I will be making some changes for my next marathon.'
'For the first 18 miles I felt like I was running at a comfortable pace that I would be able to maintain for the whole race. I was averaging about 7:15 per mile. Then, at mile 19, fatigue hit me like a punch in the face! It was so unexpected! The last 8 miles were incredibly tough & my pace dropped right off. Although I did manage to pick it up again for the last mile! I need to learn to curb my racing instincts & pay more attention to my watch!'
'I will also be making some significant changes to my training next time around. My longest training run was 20 miles &, in hindsight, that's definitely not enough! In future I will be training up to 23 miles.'
On completing Sunday's race, Gav made the decision to commit to a spring marathon in 2016 & he also intends to complete one later in the year. He has already entered the Barcelona Marathon in March & plans to travel around Europe & the rest of the world incorporating marathons into his holidays. He said 'Now that I have this unquenchable thirst for competing in races & events I can't think of a better way to travel & see the world! After all, most major cities have a marathon so I can pick & choose my destinations! I just wish that I'd decided to do this ten years ago!'
Gav ran Sunday's race for Dementia UK & you can still sponsor him at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/gavsmarathon So far he's raised over £200 & is hoping to clear £300 in the next few weeks.
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