White Peak Marathon

Another fairly early start on Saturday morning, getting a lift with Riel and Naomi up to Cromford, near Matlock in the Peak District, Derbyshire. The White Peak Marathon didn't actually start till 11 am, but we had to take a bus from the finish to the start first.

We found several other Fetchies: good both to catch up with old and to meet new faces. Quite a few of them were doing the 'District Double', which involves heading up to the Lake District to do the Windemere Marathon on Sunday (these few included Riel, again running laden with his heavy backpack). I felt like a bit of lightweight this weekend...

The course is along a trail, very good underfoot most of the way. The first 7 miles are uphill - not steep, but enough to notice the incline, then it evens out before a couple of steep drops in the final few miles (see course elevation profile below).
The weather was typically English, with a good mix of sun, rain and wind. The rain was lovely when it was a pleasantly light drizzle and the wind was welcome as a tail wind, but the combination turned into a storm of horizontal rain blowing into my face for a mile or two - not so nice!

I felt a bit tired after running so much recently, but was pleased to get a finish time of 4:11:50. The finshers' memento was a mug, making a welcome change from all the medals and T shirts.
This is a lovely event that I'll definitely consider doing again. I'm not running a marathon now until the 31st - time for a nice rest then...