“Newport? Where’s that?”
That’s the question I asked myself when searching for a local-ish marathon, having been “unlucky” to get a spot for London.
Well, as you all know, Newport is a city located in south east Wales, which was organising a marathon for the first time ever. In January, it was already sold out, however someone got injured and kindly offered me her spot.
This one was going to be my second attempt to “break” the sub-3-hour marathon, having missed it in Chicago by 5 minutes. This time, I decided to “design” my own training plan and focus on running fewer miles (overall) but more at “marathon pace” (+ 1 weekly gym workout!). This kept me injury-free and made me stronger.
So on Sunday, after 30 minutes delay (due to traffic) Newport Marathon kicked off. As planned, I followed the 3 hour pacer until we reached mile 18, where I still felt good. So I increased the pace to end up with a time of 2:56 (34th place). Mission accomplished and probably now have time to retire from the marathon game…
Winners:
James Carpenter (Neath Harriers) 2:33
Natasha Cockram (Micky Morris Racing Team) 2:44
Overall, the Newport marathon, a great alternative to the typical big British marathons, was brilliantly supported by bands, DJs, family activities and great facilities… and very important to note: SUPER FLAT!
PS: Apologies for not being around for the last 6 months (3 months injured and 3 months training by myself to avoid any “racing/injuries”). I’ll come along when I have the chance 😊
Regards
Javier