Belfast Marathon 19/09/2021

That was by the lake?, I saw him too,looked like he was being attended by paramedics doing CPR when I went by there, hope he is ok now.

Sounds like an absolute shambles, awful pity for anyone who put in a training block for this.

I’ve run many marathons but never bothered with Belfast as there always seemed to be some issues.

think one year they sent people the wrong way!!!

TbL

Long post, my apologies!

Firstly I hope that man that needed medical attention is ok. Fingers crossed for him.

As for the race, where to start? A tough tough marathon. My second marathon and had only got an entry 5 weeks beforehand. Had been running all year but not aiming for a marathon so it left it tight to fit the long runs in. I managed to do 3 x 20 mile LSRs on consecutive weekends with the last 2 weeks before race day but not ideal.

3 hours and 15 mins queuing for my race number which was the first black mark of many for Belfast. Second black mark was the rubbish "goodie bag", not even a bar of chocolate. Seriously poor effort from sponsors. Enough has been said about the fiasco handing out the numbers but seriously, for the price of the ticket would they not have organised sufficient staff and a few Ipads or something to speed it up?

I didn't like that the last shuttle buses were so early as it meant a good hour standing around waiting to start just overthinking things. However I will say the buses were on time and smooth.

I had previously ran 3:42 in DCM 18 after doing the first 4-5 miles with 3:50 pacer so the goal was to hang with the 3:45 pacer for 4-5 miles then pick it up and see could I get down around 3:35ish. Plan B was try sneak under 3:40, plan C was to be no slower than DCM.

Miles 1, 2.

3:45 pacer disappointingly did the first two miles in almost exactly 8:00 flat each. Maybe that was tactical given the hills in the second half but it put me under a bit of pressure starting at 3:30 pace right from the off. Definitely not what I was planning but you'll have that. I thought pacers were there to run a consistent pace the whole way through so was expecting 8:35mins/mile to start but maybe I didn't understand pacer tactics?

8:03, 8:15

Miles 3-13

These went by quite quickly, I fell into step with a guy from Belfast and we chatted away about hurling, the race number fiasco, he gave a running commentary on the local areas, other races we had run, the works. Great distraction as we sat in about 100-200m ahead of the 3:45 pacer who had slowed down slightly. Had a moment around City hall where I thought I had taken on too much water too quickly and might vomit but thankfully it passed. Quickly gave up on the pre-race idea of upping the pace significantly at mile 4-5 as I tried to figure out how badly the fast start would count against me later on. Told my new Belfast friend I would aim to up it at halfway instead.

8:26, 8:20, 8:12, 8:28, 8:23, 8:20, 8:18, 8:23, 8:33, 8:36, 8:23.

Miles 14-16

Gave a kick at halfway and pushed on. Felt pretty good overtaking people but could feel the breathing getting harder. My Belfast friend put on turbo jets and caught up with me around 14.5miles as he was running through his local area and it felt like every single person on the streets was cheering him on. We ran together for about 2 miles and then I got away as we started the drag uphill somewhere around the 16 mile mark. Not knowing the streets at all definitely a different story to racing in Dublin 3 years ago. Harder to just efforts when you just don't really know where the hills are or how severe they are.

8:15, 8:02, 8:18

Miles 17-19

This big hill that every one was on about sort of sneaked up on me. In hindsight I made a mistake here pushing too much up the hill, I think I was getting sucked into running faster as the relay racers were going by me and mentally I don't think I did a good job of ignoring them. Based on the strava elevations people showed me I was expecting a steeper hill, not a 2 mile leg-sapping drag. Kept a good pace up but definitely burned alot of energy. Probably should have stayed back with my Belfast friend who had the local knowledge! Once I hit the top of that hill just before 18 miles I didn't know what to do, I asked a few people around me was that the big hill of the race done but they were mostly dubs and weren't sure. We all opened up the legs on the way back down but the sun was heating up too. We went in through a park at the Waterworks around 18 miles and I really felt it on the downhill section and again the tiny upward slope coming out. This was the first big realisation that I was feeling the strain.

8:26, 8:20, 8:21

Miles 20-22

Absolutely lifting road on the downhill now. Breathing hard but thinking I can manage this as only 6 miles left. Legs are sore but no major malfunctions. Brief chats with other runners reveal I've fallen into a batch of runners all going for 3:40. We reckon we have to keep this pace up or close to it to make it. (In hind sight I definitely accelerated too much here, could have gone 20 seconds per mile slower here likely and made it if I maintained it). Another really steep downhill in a park somewhere in these miles absolutely had the legs screaming.

7:59, 7:51, 8:02

Mile 23

Absolutely feeling the pain now in the legs. Starting to realise I have overcooked the previous 3 miles and desperately trying to keep the pace above 8.20/mile here. The watch is set to only show average pace and is hovering around 8.19/mile so I know if it goes to 8.20 I've dropped pace significantly. Slight jolt going over a tiny humpbacked bridge where the 2 second uphill caused severe pain. The sun is hot now and I'm starting to suffer big time.

8:17

Mile 24

Just about hanging onto the pace required to sneak in under 3:40 until I hit the uphill ramp onto the bridge just coming off of the towpath. My brother is at the top of the bridge but I hardly recognised him as the uphill was killing me. My calf completely seized up just as I got onto the flat of the bridge. I took a wobble and the crowd gave an audible groan. The worst cramp I have ever had set in. I looked like a lunatic, I kept going, stamping my right foot off of the ground with every step, slapping my thighs, cursing then finally running with my knees straight and toes upwards like a fawlty towers goosestep to try get the cramp out of the calf. It started to ease after the goosestepping. I finally reached a water station about 200m from the bridge and remembering my old GAA days, sprayed the magic water bottle on my calf and it helped. The uphill here was brutal. I knew there was a slight climb left but it felt like a mountain. I was nearly in tears as I turned the corner at mile 24 marker and hoped it was downhill from there.

8:43

Miles 25-26.2

Trying desperately to keep the pace up. Legs are burning. Really sickened by the relay runners now :) I know it's for charity but they were driving me cracked the last few miles. Have never had to work so hard to keep this pace. Just after the bend at 24 miles, a runner catches me from behind that I had ran briefly with around 22 mile mark. I was sure he was ahead of me so this actually gives me a boost and we egg each other on and convince each other we can still make 3:40 if we just keep a moderate pace. Everything is screaming at me now, my hips are sore, my right calf is still gnawing at me, but we plug away and try survive. I notice for the first me in a few miles that the runners going by me are wearing blue Marathon numbers now, not just relay runners. That's bad news. I'm trying to figure out how much my watch distance will be so that I can judge when to throw the kitchen sink at it but I can hardly think. People are cheering us on and giving conflicting advice as to how far is left, 300m, 500m, 400m, anybodys guess :P Finally I notice the big finish line arch in the corner of my eye and know it's going to be around the next corner. The two of us battle on as two guys in green athletics club vests overtake us and I resent them but can't speed up. That corner is still far away. We plod on and reach the corner just as another runner overtakes us, I see and hear my brother cheering me on again fair play to him. I decide that's it, sprint finish no matter what and absolutely let fly. The crowd are loving it as I start the make up ground over the last 150m. The guy who just passed us on the bend starts sprinting too. I get around the two club guys in the matching green singlets and feel estatic, I think I was just behind my fellow sprint finisher by a nose(photo finish results pending :D ) but it doesn't matter I'm across the line after a big finish despite the pain. Absolutely delighted and congratulate my new rival on his sprint finish. I think we passed out 5 on the home straight, what a feeling! Worse than children I know!

9:04, 8:43, 8:06(0.4miles according to Strava)

Official time 3 hours 40 minutes and 17 seconds. Absolutely delighted with that. 2 mins and 2 seconds faster than my only previous marathon.

Overall a very tough marathon, having the first half downhill and then such a long drag in the second half was very hard. The real killers though were the short sharp up and downhills especially in the parks. I have never experienced a cramp like I did on that bridge. Whether that was from insufficient training, poor race management, the queuing the day before, or the steep bits I don't know. I'm delighted I was able to stay going through it and finish the last 100m strong. Stubbornness is something I pride myself on! The crowd were great but obviously not as big a crowd as in Dublin. It was a bit isolated out around the 14-18 mile mark. The relay runners are not for me. Being able to get a roasting hot shower immediately afterwards was sensational I must admit. I don't know if there would have been a queue if you finished in over 4 hours though. People walking dogs etc on the paths in the park around the 19 mile mark seemed a bit daft also. Surely they could have closed the park or picked a route that stuck to roads? The lack of a race tracker was poor in my opinion. For the price they charged for the ticket I felt they should have included live tracking for our friends and families. Also I don't think there are any official race photos or FinisherPix which I'm disappointed with. Maybe that's down to sponsors/private companies etc I don't know but I would have liked a picture of the finish line at least!

I learned alot from it about race management, pacing etc. Overall I 100% would tell anyone to avoid Belfast City Marathon based on the annual mess ups they seem to have with race numbers, race measuring, bag drops etc combined with a tough tough course. I don't know if they will every redeem their reputation after this year. It really was a missed opportunity to gain new runners with Dublin cancelled but they missed their chance. Glad to have it completed and get a new PB but in hindsight would have chosen any local marathon over that. Hopefully back to give Dublin another try next year with my 2020 entry!

Sorry about the long report. Perhaps this is the wrong place for it! If so apologies! Fair play to anyone who read this far!

Edit: I actually found a photo in a newspaper of the sprint finish and checked the race times(not chip times) of the other guy in the sprint finish and I actually pipped him on the line. It's the small things in life :P

My first ever marathon, it was tough but ultimately enjoyable (in a sadistic way I guess).

I got seriously lucky re the race number collection - I had asked my friend in Belfast to pick it up, when she got there and realised what a disaster it was she did a Twitter call-out to her mates, and managed to find someone who was at the top of the queue just in time! So she had my race pack in less than 15 mins. Very jammy, but I'm so relieved that she didn't have to queue for 3 hours for a race she wasn't even doing.

First half was great, I felt strong and relaxed. I was planning for somewhere between 4'00 and 4.15, so I started out with the 4'00 pacer with the intention of dropping back a bit when the going got tough. Around the 13m mark I got a really bad cramp in my left calf, and spent the next 3-4 miles trying to loosen it / relieve the pain / cursing loudly (to the confusion of those near me). I really thought I'd messed up and was going to have to pull out. I've never had an issue with my calfs (calves?) during all my training, and I still don't know what I did wrong to cause it.

My wife (seasoned marathon runner and PT) was waiting to cheer me on on the Falls Rd, so I had a good whinge to her, she helped me with some stretches and told me ( basically) to STFU and get on with it. I then met a lovely lady (Annamarie) who had a couple of spare Solpadeine , so I necked them and honestly I believe if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have finished. Thank you Annamarie whoever you are!!

From mile 20 the painkillers must have kicked in, and I had a great final 6 miles. Honestly, the most enjoyable bit of running I've ever done. I felt strong again, and could sufficiently ignore the leg pain enough to settle in and kick up the pace a bit for the home stretch. The atmosphere, the chats, the mutual encouragement with other runners, the spectators, the sunshine, all made for a really memorable finish.

When I saw the first timer gantry near the finish it said ~3'58, and I realised I might just make it in under 4'00. So I let loose and crossed the finish line at exactly 4'00.00. I am absolutely chuffed with that result.

The calf is still in a bad way (masking the problem with painkillers on the day is obvs not the smartest idea, but you do what you have to!), but I'm still buzzing 2 days later.

To me the organisation on the day itself was pretty good. Plenty of water stations, lots of first-aiders along the route, and the pacers were great. I'd love to see some solution to the sea of plastic bottles that such an event generates however.

Right now I doubt I'll ever do another marathon, the long solo training runs are zero craic, and I'm more of a cyclist than a runner. Also I doubt I'd ever improve significantly on that time (I'm not built for speed as a 5'7 short-arse). I really enjoy the half-marathon distance so I reckon I might just stick to that distance from now on.

Interesting to read the reports of the cramps by folks who generally never got them - I was one too, also my calf and also on that short steep ramp up from the cycle path to the ormeau bridge and also got the groan from the crowd as I nearly fell into some of them!

btw, the results show that only 2,950 marathon runners started

When you allow for the pre race collection points, it really puts the Saturday mess in perspective

I know of 2 people who got their number and realized later that there was no chip on it. I wonder how many numbers were missing chips. Probably not 2000 though.

I'd hope the registration fiasco is addressed next year. I would like another crack at the course again another year however the whole relay thing would put me off. Having fresh legged people belting past every six miles was very offputting for me. In previous halfs I've found a bunch of runners around my pace and just stick with them but that just wasn't possible in Belfast with the marathon runners being outnumbered by the relay runners.

That said maybe if I was quicker I'd have left the majority of the relay teams behind by mile six 😋

I think the problem is in 2015 it might have been a small local marathon but they have tried to step into the leagues of big city marathon without increasing the logisitics and management team by the looks of it. I enjoyed the race itself despite finding it tough and not enjoying the steep segments in parks which probably were unnecessary. I understand every marathon is different and this is probably an effort to put their Belfast signature on it so fair enough in hind sight. They did a good job of finishing in a part of the city that gave them maximum crowds cheering us on coming to the line when you really really needed it.

I will say the lack of apology on their website about the race number fiasco is poor. I also was disappointed they just dumped 2200 photos of the race into one facebook album a week later. No FinisherPix or way to type your race number in to find your photo. Lack of a tracker or breakdown of your splits was disappointing too. This may sound petty but I just want to document it for people reading this thread next year when thinking of which marathon to do. I'm not an experienced marathon runner, this was only my 2nd but I think for the price they charged for the entry their logistics, race t-shirt, use of technology and management was more like a small local 5k than the big city marathon they are claiming/trying to be. Their entry price is only just shy of the Dublin Marathon. Night and day.

On a different note I was really impressed with the buzz around the city on the Saturday night when I went out for dinner. Would love to go back to Belfast to go out for the weekend. Down in the cathedral district it was absolutely hopping. Briefly considered just going out and skipping the marathon haha

I'd say they are getting some "interesting" feedback to that survey they sent out in the pack collection section..

I can understand that any marathon would prefer to go back to the Expo style pack collection, I assume the advertisers prefer that system. So I guess that is their reasoning.

But I certainly won't be going anywhere near them again.