Sandbach Striders

My Chester marathon story by Caroline Brockbank 

Heather and I dashed from the portaloos to the start and wished each other good luck and after a short wait we were off!!  I seemed to get into a good rhythm right from the start and hoped to see my friends who had planned to be at one of the villages along the way - I was disappointed not to see her as I passed through Pulford, Lavister, Rossett, etc but after 19 miles I looked up and heard her!  There she was as  I climbed that hill, she dashed forward with my little goddaughter and had all the crowd cheering me
along with  "Go Caroline Go!" - that was just the boost I needed and I was determined to keep going.  I was quite surprised by the ups and downs in the last stages of the race miles but toddled on past a load of runners who looked like they had just had enough and were walking.  Once I came into the racecourse there were all the gang cheering but could not see my beloved husband (was he in the pub I thought?) then I saw him right on the finish line to capture all the joy of me finishing my second marathon and a new PB.  

For more details go to www.chestermarathon.co.uk

Caroline