Great Welsh Marathon

OK, so Llanelli is certainly not Vienna! That was the marathon I was supposed to be running until volcanic disruptions curtailed my travel plans. Last minute frantic phones calls got me into the inaugural Great Welsh Marathon along the south Wales coast, and what a beautiful sunny day it was. The course is fairly flat(ish) and has quite a number of sharp twists and turns, doubling back to reach the starting area at 20 miles, before continuing onto a somewhat gruelling final 6.2 miles there and back along a paved track through coastal dunes. The race was excellently organised and is set to expand next year up to 2000 entrants (only supposed to be 500 this year, though just 330 took part perhaps due to more volcanic disruptions?). Definitely a good alternative to London if you like smaller events…though I still want to go and give Vienna a try!

PS for those of you who knew Chris Nellins (Ex HRR), he was there and in good form, even coming back and shouting encouragement to me at 26 miles - just enough to get me under the 3.40 mark! Thanks Chris!

NB - Official times on website so far only for gun time not chip time. My stopwatch said 3:39:48 and is usually pretty accurate so I'm hoping it will be similar to that!