New Forest Marathon

From Jo S

Well I'm back... At last... 3hrs there and 4 hours back. Got lost in Bounemouth trying to find my hotel yesterday and again trying find my way out of Bournemouth this morning. Not enough parking so having got there with just enough time for the mile ish walk to the sports centre and then the very good 10 min walk to the start I also had to find somewhere to park... Made it with 90secs to spare...

Lovely run, well marshalled and an abundance of drink and sponge (not of the cake variety) stations. Surprisingly well supported all the way round for a smallish rural marathon and the supporters were very encouraging to everyone! I sort of got 'adopted' by a family whose daughter was obviously running about the same pace as me and they cheered me on at about 6 points through the race and then met up with me at the finish. Stunning scenery and, yes, ponies! Sound good so far? I haven't mentioned the hills... Not big but unrelenting. Up and down and up and down and up and down. For 26.2 miles. Yes I walked. A lot. So I think did most other people. At one point everyone I could see ahead of me was walking and everyone I could see behind me was walking!

Anyway I finished in 3.47.21 which all considered I am pretty pleased about and probably means I did not walk anywhere near as much as I thought.

Next problem - no water in the showers at the leisure centre so with a 4 hour drive ahead of me I had to wash in the sink under a very slow running cold tap... And then retrace the mile-ish walk back to my car before the, yes, 4 hour drive home.

Last year I did Mablethorpe as my British Autumn marathon and comparing the two, New Forest wins on scenery and on-course support but overall there is no contest - Mablethorpe definitely gets the thumbs up!