Snowdonia Marathon - beautiful! A great day

Wow what a day. If a certain Danish lager did marathon days , then well , it would not be too dissimilar to this. As this was my first attempt at the Snowdonia Marathon, having watched the last 2 years (in pouring rain) - my only real goal was to enjoy. A seconday goal was - if at all possible- to have a go at running under 5hours. This race is certainly different to any other of the 22 marathons i have done - it has big hills. The first a significant pull up from LLanberis to Pen Y Pass in the first 5 miles. And another hill at 22 to 24 miles after Waunfawrn to Bwlch y Groes , before the steep final hill down to the finish in Llanberis high street. So i printed 3 pace bands to aim for a finish of 4hrs 59minutes. - for a pace of approx 11minutes 24sec per mile. Running with Anthony we were a couple of minutes within this up to Pen Y Pass and beyond, until around 14 to 16 mile when he was struggling. Having been told to go ahead, i did so. And chatted with others and kept my pace and paced my gel taking , to take a caffeine high5 brand gel at around 18 miles, and then another at 21 or so miles . This and also the early good pacing led to me feeling good for the last few miles. How good it is late in a race to hold your pace and go past others slowing down. That was my experience at the 2012 Snowdonia marathon . I put my music on ( not using earphones) at around 23 miles while staring up the hill from Waenfawr. Energy, and tempo, theme from i'm still standing Elton John: 500 miles Proclaimers ; eye of the tiger, and some audio fuel. And coming down from the last hill i had remembered its steepness, concentrated on just staying on my feet & keeping as much pace as possible. the last full mile in under 10minute miling , then the last 0.2mile in just over 7minute miling, < all effort to acheive the sub 5hours by 40 seconds or so - official finish time 4hrs 59minutes 8seconds. Job done.

Nightingale House Hospice

Once again my fundraising this year is for Nightingale House Hospice in Wrexham. www.everydayhero.co.uk/robrunssnowdonia or click this link

Chester Marathon 2012 minus 7 days

Marathon number 22 for me is less than 7 days away now. Chester Marathon 2012 is on Sunday 7th October starting at 0900hrs. The course is on the website , if you have a spare hour come on down and watch and cheer , you will have a surprising amount of fun. To a question from Mold running neighbour Will , am i still blogging ? Yes occasionally, here and slightly more often on Fetcheveryone.com The fundraising site for my runs in 2012 is up and running. Once again with your help i am fundraising for the Nightingale House Hospice in Wexham. The Fundraising website is www.everydayhero.co.uk/robrunssnowdonia . As i am running 2 marathons in 20 days , the first is Chester Marathon on October 7th, and then on October 27th the Snowdonia marathon. Thank you to many friends at Mold Methodists Church www.moldmethodists.com for donations to Nightingale House Hospice, this morning. You are all heroes. And this run is also dedicated to the memory of John Edwards a very active member of our church who has passed away in recent days. Now it is 7 days until the Chester Marathon, and its nearly time for my last long run - in fact a very short long run of 9miles. If you have any interest in a short little jog then the Flintshire 10k is in a couple of weeks here in MOld and organised and proceeds to Nightingale House.

Running Goals 2012 ?

Following running 6 marathons in 2011, my goals for this year are more guarded. Stratford was to be my A race for the spring , but it was not to be - the full marathon was pulled in the very windy cold monsoon conditions. The organisers had to make a decision. Damned if they did , damned if they didnt. So by starting off at marathon pace my half time was my second slowest i have run at 2hrs 02. Goals being revised

To contact

Any questions or comments then please add in the comments box. The moderation settings are high so they come to me before posting thanks .

6 marathon year

2011 a marathon of a year Marathons completed Llanelli Stratford Holly Challenge in Telford Berlin Chester and the Deja vu Crewe Track Marathon Number of marathons completed in total 20. What next ? carry on

Berlin marathon day minus 3

It's three days , until my next marathon.
This time a return to Berlin for my 18th marathon, in a great city.
Hopefully the weather is dryer than last years consistent rain until 15-16 miles or so, splash splash heavy rain so much that I wore one of those poncho things for 10 miles plus.
The latest BBC weather forecast for Berlin states 20degrees and sunny.
More pleasant then consistent rain, especially for spectators.
This year the marathon will also be shown on BBC 2 in the UK - probably because my running hero and national treasure Paula Radcliffe is running.

Once again I am fundraising for the Nightingale House Hospice in Wrexham.
Www.everydayhero.co.uk/robrunsberlin

And big thanks to everyone who has donated so far, the hospice and staff do a wonderful caring job.

Holly challenge marathon - my 17th

It's Holly Challenge Marathon Day been awake for nearly an hour- must be porridge time.

Mick Hall Photos

Rob by appointment -
sort of
proud to be on the front page of Mick Hall running photos

linked here.

In my Buckley Runners vest on my way to my 2nd marathon pb in 6 weeks - Chester Marathon 31/5/2010