Race Date: Sunday 14th April 2024
Race report by Matt Rimmer

I hadn’t done an official marathon since London 2019, so when I got offered a place in Manchester I thought why not.

Training started going well, hitting the times I wanted and training at 3 hour pace. Until 3ish weeks before the race when I picked up a cold/bug. So not much running done at all. During those 3 weeks all the usual (for me) nerves, anxieties, worries started to creep in and I was very tempted to pull out, or just do the 1st half.

On race day I woke up and just thought see what happens, so off I went to the start. It was really easy getting to the start and conditions were good. I had a quick chat about the race with another Sheffield runner who was also going to start at 3:15 pace. Then off we went.

It was all going well, I was feeling good and kind of enjoying it. Until about mile 17 when the thighs started to ache. I stuck with the pace till 19 miles then had a word with myself about what I wanted out of the race. All my previous marathons have never gone well and I’d not enjoyed them, especially towards the end when I’ve always walked (there’s nothing wrong with walking during marathons it’s just I don’t want to) and afterwards when I always ended up vomiting a lot and feeling really bad for a couple of hours after finishing. So I put my music on, never done this before in an event, let the pacer go away and slowed down.

My aim now was to get to the next mile without walking and maybe get on the tram back. Mile 20 came, I had another chat to myself, and kept on going. From now on it was a bit of a game with myself to not look at my watch and just keep trying to run. The other 3:15 pacers passed me, but I really didn’t mind, “just slow and don’t walk” was my message to myself. When the finish got into sight I turned the music off and even managed to speed up, a little. After crossing the line I did start to feel a bit emotional and pleased with myself. That has never happened after a marathon to me.

There was a bit of a walk back to the tram. I had a sit down and a quick chat to a couple of other Striders who’d had mixed outcomes. Looking back on it now I’m ok with what I did. I think I’ll always be frustrated that I can’t equate my times from shorter races into marathons, but I at least now I have a new PB and can actually think to myself that I’ve run a marathon.

The men’s marathon was won by Rick Weston of Guernsey AC in 02:28:18. The first lady over the finish line was Caitlyn Harvey of Roadrunners AC in 02:44:23.

There were plenty of Striders in attendance. Here are their results: