Final time I bore you with Karrimor Marathon stuff

Honestly.

So how come I couldn't complete London Marathon in April but then managed to not only finish, but win a marathon in June?

Well for starters I didn't have any time goals for the Keswick event, which meant I could start off at a very easy pace then pick things up if required. Despite the first couple of miles being more or less flat, I'd guess I was running no faster than 7 pace along the old railway line to Threlkeld. After that it got much more hilly, so difficult to judge pace. But the effort didn't really increase. Nor did I increase the effort once I had the lead. I did press on reasonably hard from 15 miles, but I suppose it was more of a cruising effort rather than flat out to get every last second of time.

I didn't train specifically for this marathon - just did my usual summer training in the week and also got up into some decent 2 - 4 hr fellruns on the weekends. I know I am really fit at the moment, and I suppose that fitness is where the ability to run every hill came from.

As Langdale 2007,  I think I just hit a lucky day when none of the "proper good lads" fancied running a marathon so I took the win.  The whole thing if I'm honest was like a long hilly training run. Except with a finishing tape/gantry/interview.

Having said all that, the entry was open to everyone else in the world and I was the fastest person there on the day. So, soft win or not I'm claiming it. 

At Langdale marathon, I won -  I got into my van to get dry and changed -  I hung about until the prizes then I drove home. The best thing about this second win was that there were people there who knew me, who cheered me around each lap and who were there with me at the end. Thankyou.