The official UK entry

Although I'd aleady run four marathons in the UK before 2024, I decided to officially tick it off as part of the challenge. I chose Brighton Marathon as a fairly easy to get to race and one of the other big races on the UK circuit. Ciara and I got the train down the night before and stayed in a tiny little converted garage Airbnb in Hove.

The race

On the race morning we got the bus towards the start line and were expecting to face some road closures but hadn't seen any signs or heard any anouncements about route alterations. Unfortuately, we were slightly too ambitious and stayed on the bus one stop longer than we should have. The bus then took a long time to turn around and brought us back a 10 minute walk in the wrong direction. We were slamming the stop button not sure when we'd be off. Eventually we were on foot and moving fairly briskly towards the start in Preston park.

The race starts with a short straight, hairpin turn and uphill section. I started overtaking a few people round the soutside up the hill but slowed it down again pretty quickly. The majority of the race was along the main road following the coast. It's not too memorable a run as I didn't enjoy it too much. It was undulating, hot and windy and my face was covered in salt by the end from the sea and sweat.

The finish line was great though. It was a long straight along the promenade surrounded by a guard of honour from people drinking in the beach bars and just out supporting. My mum had also driven down to support me and after the finish line it was straight back in the car and on the ay home.