I had two goals for this race: 1) get under 2hrs for the first time, 2) try not to wreck myself for the rest of my training.

My pacing plan was fairly conservative to try to ensure I could achieve both goals. According to my Vdot I should be running 8.37/mile, but that would have left me ruined, so I decided to aim for 9min/mile which gave me a margin for error, while not killing myself at the same time.

I planned to take the first two miles at 9.20/mile to allow for a warm up period. The first mile was very congested while everyone spread out over the course and it was also incredibly windy. The wind had me worried that I wouldn't hit my target, but although there were some very strong gusts at times, the course was largely sheltered, so it didn't have the impact it could have done.

I was told that this course was flat, which isn't entirely accurate. I'd say more "undulating". There were no steep hills, but there were a lot of steady up and downs.

After the first two miles I tried to stick to my 9min/mile pace as closely as possible, allowing for the terrain. I felt really good and relaxed, and was surprised at how easy the pace felt. Once I got to the half way point I tried to pick the pace up a little. Mile 10 was slow because it was quite hilly.

I got to about 10.5 miles feeling pretty good and then it started to get a little harder. My legs pointed out to me that they had been working harder than they're used to. Fortunately I only had 2.5 miles to go, so mind won over body and I managed to keep the pace up. The last mile was at 8.28/mile pace, which I was pretty happy with.

Overall I managed a negative split and beat my previous best by 9.5 minutes.

Drink less before. I needed to pee all the way round, which was distracting!

They had free massages at the end, but the queue was massive and I was getting cold, so I skipped that. The Stadium of Light is next to Sunderland Aquatic Centre, so I went for a swim to cool down. It was a really good decision as I was starting to really stiffen up and the swim loosened me up nicely.


I didn't push myself as hard as I could have because of goal #2. I was really pleased that I got such a good time and felt comfortable for most of the race. I could probably take a couple of minutes off if I really pushed it harder, but for what I wanted to achieve on this occasion it was spot on.


The Marathon of the North was new last year. This year they added the half. There's also a relay and a 10k run, so it's a good selection. I'm not sure I'd want to do the marathon - with a small field I'd be running on my own a lot, but the half had a good number of people (not too many, not too few). It was well organised, with everything running to time, and it was chip timed which is always good. Overall a good event, and I'd definitely consider doing it again.