Marathon151 Yorkshire marathon

Yorkshire Marathon 18/10/2026 What a way to celebrate a birthday.

Last year I got caught in the traffic snarl up leaving Elvington Airfield, this year there were a couple more options for park and run, Askham Bar and Grimston Bar. I used Google maps to find the closest for me and bought my ticket for Askham Bar. I bought an early ticket as always, so as not to be caught in tragic for the 10 mile. This meant an early start, leaving home at 6 am for a 9:30 race start. I arrived at a very quiet Askham Bar at 6:45 with a 7 am bus ticket. I went to the loo and boarded the bus. I now could relax as there was no rushing now. At the University I headed for the big hall where I always wait. It was cold, I found a corner to wait and have my snack, Colin Caterpillar cake. Just before half 8 I took my bag to the bag drop and headed to the start area, joining the loo queue. It was rapidly getting busy now. Just after 9 I headed to the start pens. I went further back than usual, accepting that I would not be sub 4:30, I went in the sub 5 pen and placed myself behind the 4:30 and just ahead of the 4:45 pacers. I was cold, I wished I had brought an old jumper or jacket to dump at the start rather than the plastic disposable rain mac. As the race started, we walked forwards to the start line, I had no idea how long that took, I let the 4:30 pacers drift away. It was busy and I was more focused on the cruises course, people walking, people running fast, weaving through, I seemed to stay with mainly the same runners though. By 5km the runners had spread out and we had mainly settled into the same bunch of runners. At 10 km the clock said 1 hour 16, I felt this was ok, but did not know how long it had actually taken me, but I could still see the 4:30 pacers ahead. The sun had come out and it was pleasantly warm. I was beginning to regret not bringing my sunglasses though. At half marathon the clock said, just over 2 and a half hours. I know knew I would be over 5 hours, I just kept running for as long as I could, expecting that I would end up run/walking at the end. I just ran one mile to the next, the rise out of Stamford Bridge felt endless, the sun hid behind the clouds and the wind picked up, it was a bit chilly. Upwards to 16 miles and then the long shallow descent to the turn point. I enjoyed watching the runners on the other side, a couple of miles ahead of me. I could hear music and chatter, the 4:45 pacers were close behind, I pushed on as long as I could without being overtaken. Just after 18 miles and the turnpoint they passed me, I hung on to the water station but they eased away from me. The rise up to the left turn felt longer than usual but I kept on, please to still be running as the final 10 km approached. At 21 miles I decided to walk the water station to take a caffeine gel, then it was back to counting down the miles. I was glad to get to the 24 mile water station and walked through it again, finishing the gel in my gel bottle, and back to a slow trot. 25 miles and still running, slow and steady, but running, nearly there, not walking now. That final hill, felt bigger than ever, over the top and there was no extra gear this year, I could not pick the pace up until the final 200 m. The clock read over 5 hours, that was what I expected. I was stunned when I got a text saying my time was under, well under. 4:52:17. It took a lot longer to cross the start line than I had imagined. Age Cat 19/37 (gun time) Female1347 /1956 (gun time) Overall 5622/6930 (chip time) Runs at Yorkshire Marathon - 11 Marathons that count for 100 marathon Club -151 Total runs over 26.2 – 207 (60 over 27 miles, 18of those were over 100 miles and 1 over 200 miles)