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| Jason now on the right side of the fence.......so that's what anti climb paint looks like. |
Perhaps all marathons should be defined as "purgatory", I know I've always found something oddly pure about the 26.2 mile distance and yet always punishing.
None more so than at this weeks Liverbird Double Marathon.
A very simple marathon where you start on the promenade in Toxteth and run along it for 3.3 miles to where it runs out, touch the wall and run back to the start. Complete four laps and your marathon is complete. Every once in a while you start a marathon and your body says 'no'. It's not a "I'm injured and can't run" type no, it's more of a "if you insist on making me do this I'm going to make it really miserable for you. So, no drinks stations (we were pre-warned) a concrete running surface, out and back four times with a smattering of torrential rain and 35mph gusts made for day one to be 'purgatory'.
Day two started with the excitement of the gates to get onto the promenade actually being locked. Being unable to contact anyone who could open them it was decided we would run a mile along the inside of the fence through an industrial estate to a gap which would allow us back onto the promenade.
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| Fence installed to stop Jason falling in. |
The problem was when we got there none of the runners could find the gap.
The most direct route was to go straight up and over the 10ft fence which was the barrier between us and the race course.
So, whilst all the others searched for a route out of the car park I launched myself at the fence with all the enthusiasm of a 17 year old scouser being chased by police dogs, a move in which I obviously pictured myself leaping it in a single bound with maybe doing a 'par cour' style somersault for good measure.
In reality I'm a 46 year old man, who'd run a marathon the day before, was carrying a pack on my back and a Christmas worth of chocolate on my front and was now clambering 10 feet up a fence which unbeknown to me was coated in 'anti climb' paint. (didn't have that in my day!)
I paused briefly at the top to unhook my Lycra shorts from the sharp pointy bit of metal whilst pondering how I would explain any injury sustained to Jo before descending the other side and continuing my run.
By the time I returned 5 miles later there was a man stationed slightly further along the course directing us to the afore mentioned gap (but thankfully no police)
There was no rain on the second day but the wind was much more constant and much harder than the first. It was straight in our faces on each of the 3 mile homeward stretches which made it almost impossible to run.
I met up with some of the Cheshire Search and Rescue team who we'd spent time in Greece with which was good to talk with them and have a brief respite from the monotony of the race but in the end I was very relieved to get the two days finished.
The Liverbird Double is almost as flat as the Déjà vu but with the concrete surface, wind and barely changing scenery it makes for a very tough couple of days. I did however learn that 'anti climb' paint doesn't do what it says on the tin but does in fact take hours of scrubbing with a Brillo pad to remove from your skin.
And of course, being the only Strider there it meant I was the...
No... just can't bring myself to say it!!
For more information, visit the website.
Jason
(Photos courtesy of Nozza Wales)