MK Marathon Reimagined

This was a hybrid virtual/real race on an EA measured course which had to be completed between 6th and 19th September using a mobile phone app (RunGo) to record your time and verify you ran the correct course. I ran it on Sunday 13th at 9am. The scenery was beautiful and the weather lovely, if a little breezy near the water. The course is a bit twisty/turny and undulating in parts but thanks to the MK red routes 99 percent traffic free.

My first half was great, under 1:30 although a slight discomfort from my Vaporflys feeling a bit tight on my right toes was starting to cause me some concern. Sadly I got cramp after at 17 miles which lasted the rest of the race moving between different muscles and contorting my legs onto new and unusual positions completely killing my running form. It took all my determination to keep running round but pace was not good. I made it round in just under 3:14 in the end which is a 6-minute PB so happy with that in the circumstances!

The app wasn't a huge success: fine for the first 10 miles but then seemed to start struggling with "weak GPS", patchy directions as a result and it gave up completely after 18 miles. Good job I have a Garmin! I lost nearly a minute going off route at one point due to the missing directions and poor signage in places. Still, the organisers were happy to take my Garmin recording as proof of my official time.