The 20th July 2014 saw the second instalment of the Lions Bridge Trail Marathon. We were fortunate to enjoy some lovely weather, very warm, cloudy with some sunny spells. Excellent conditions for the spectators and the families and friends of the runners but a bit hot round the collar for us runners.
The main event was the marathon which consisted of 6 identical laps of 4.4 miles taking in the trails round the Gin Pit and Lilford Park. As last year there was also a 3 lap half marathon option. There were a total of 50 places for the 2 events and on the day we had 44 runners.
In the half we saw Astley & Tyldesley Road Runners half marathon specialist Steve Coleman come home first in 1 hour 33 minutes 20 seconds and the first Lady was Swinton’s Lauren Marsden in 1 hour 42 minutes 21 seconds.
For the marathon we saw an excellent run from Jonathan Godfrey in 3 hours 18 minutes 35 seconds to take first place, a very good time considering the warm conditions. First Lady and on her 100th marathon was Caroline Hemming, crossing the finish line in 3 hours 41 minutes 39 seconds. These times made more impressive by the fact that the course is a little bit long, almost 26.5 miles, I consider this as the runners getting extra value for money.
For me the race went well. After spending over 2 hours setting up the course the afternoon before I wasn’t running on the freshest of legs. I always like to get under three and a half hours but with the hot conditions and the slightly long course I came home in 5th place with 3 hours 35 minutes 55 seconds so quite happy with that all things considered.
I would like to thank all who helped with the event especially Yuk-Lam who helped me get everything prepared for the event, did most of the time keeping on the day and finished off by running a lap of the course with Mark Myatt who was having a tough day. I would like to thank Han May and Abbey for their work in the kitchen selling the pasties; Lucas for his enthusiasm at the finish; our two glamorous assistants, Claire and Cath at the finish; the two photographers Phil and Terry staking us at various points out on the course, some great photos lads and the friendly medics from Manchester Medical Services, simply for being there if we needed them and I’m glad to say we didn’t.
I would also like to thank our sponsors for the event “Team Nutrition” who supplied the Nakd bars in the goodie bags. They also supply an excellent range of sports drinks and energy gels available online from their website. I can certainly recommend them, if you have a minute take a look at their website from the link below or use the link from the right hand side of my Blog:-
After totting up the money I’m pleased to say the event raised £678.51 which has been donated to Christies and the Brathay Trust charities.
