Marathon 11: Sea Breeze and PBs in Lancashire

It was an early start on Saturday morning and, if I’m honest, I wasn’t in the best frame of mind. Leaving the family behind always brings a bit of dad guilt, and with everyone riddled with colds — including me on the tail end of one — it wasn’t the most energised start to the weekend.

Thankfully the journey up to Lancaster was an easy one, and as ever on this challenge the mood lifted quickly when I arrived to find a great crew waiting to run. This week featured a real Tommy’s trio — Edwina, Charlotte and Grace — who had all put a huge amount of effort into organising the day.

We started at Conder Green, just south of Lancaster, running along the river estuary into the city before crossing the river and heading out towards the coast at Morecambe. After the undulations of the previous two weeks it was a welcome change to have a flatter route, and the miles ticked by nicely as we made our way out to the seafront.

At Morecambe we were joined by a fantastic support crew from Chorlton Running Club, friends of Charlotte and Phil, and later by Grace’s sister Izzy as well. A run out along one side of the pier, back again, and then out the other way gave us plenty of time to enjoy the seaside and the views across Morecambe Bay towards the Lake District. Snacks and water were plentiful throughout, with Charlie doing a brilliant job of support crewing from his new bike.

As we turned back inland towards Lancaster for the closing miles, the weather started to shift. What had been a mild, muggy day for the time of year turned into steady rain and dropping temperatures as we pushed towards the finish.

The final stretch took its toll on Edwina, who had put in a huge shift all day. As we mixed in some walk-run intervals my Achilles also started to grumble, so with the remainder of the challenge in mind I pressed on for the final few miles to keep it moving.

Edwina dug in brilliantly and finished alongside Grace and Charlotte in 5:40, beating her previous PB — an incredible effort after a tough final stretch.

Another fantastic group and another part of the country explored for the first time. A special shout-out as well to Phil and Alex, who ran the entire marathon with us simply for the fun of it!