Faversham Marathon - 25th July
It had been 10 weeks since Steve Edwards run his last marathon, purposely done to give himself a rest from the distance after completing the 10in10 in May. So having only done a half marathon and 10k since then, it was going to be interesting to see how he would get on running 26.2 miles again after this break.
Faversham Marathon is a fairly small but extremely well organised event, just 30 runners in the marathon and about 25 runners in the accompanying 6 hour race. The reason for the limited entry is because it is run at the recreation ground which is just over 1km long around the perimeter footpath. Therefore just over 40 laps and the need for lap counters! Steve remembers how difficult this was from when he did it before, not only the mental aspect of repeated laps, but also the fact there's a small climb on the route which of course you do 40 times, so it seems to get steeper every time you go round!
Steve set off at his normal 3:15'sh marathon pace for the first mile and felt pretty good, surprisingly he was in second place and so increased the speed to around 3:05 - 3:10 pace trying to maintain his position. Then somebody else joined him and between them; they passed the first runner to move into joint first place. This they kept going for another couple of laps until Steve speeded up ever so slightly again and moved into the lead.
Steve gradually pulled away such that he got to halfway in 1:32, over half a lap ahead of his nearest rival and nearly 2 laps ahead of 3rd place. It was getting a little warmer now and although he was starting to feel the pace a little, Steve kept banging out the laps at the same pace trying to maintain his lead until just over 30 laps where he went through a bit of a tired patch and slowed slightly. However, when he saw the 2nd placed runner just ahead of him, it meant he was about to lap him and this spurred him on again. Once he passed him Steve knew all he had to do was to stay near him and there would be no danger of not finishing first, with the 3rd place runner being nearly 4 laps behind at that point.
However, Steve remembered the course record of 3:12 which he was also on schedule to beat by a big margin if he could keep going strongly, so he picked up again and tried to continue lapping at the same pace. Apart for a couple of slower laps towards the end, Steve finished strongly in 3:05; not only finishing 1st but also setting a new course record. This was Steve's second marathon win of the year, so he was very pleased and to get a course record was a massive bonus; something he'd never done before.
As if that wasn't enough, it was also Steve's 200th sub 3:15 marathon, the only person in the UK to have achieved such a feat.
Isle of Man Marathon - 9th August
Inspired by the news of Dennis Walmsley's result in the World Masters Championships, Steve Edwards was determined to retain his V45 crown in the Isle of Man marathon this year. Setting out on the 2 lap course at around 3:07 pace, Steve gradually speeded up to pass through halfway in 1:31:30 and 10th place. As always the testing climb at the 3 mile mark is always a crunch point on the 2nd lap at 16 miles and usually sees changes in the field positions. Continuing to run strongly, Steve moved into 7th place by the 17 mile point and the chase was on. While its relatively easy to find out your overall position in a race, you can never really tell where you are within your age category, which in a way is good as it means you have to keep working.
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Whilst Steve slowed a little for the next 3 miles with a bit of cramp in his foot, from 20 miles onwards he picked up the momentum again chasing down and passing a further 3 runners, one of whom turned out to be the leading V45 runner which similarly happened last year, although this time Steve didn't leave it until the final mile. With no-one else in his sights for the final 2 miles and having established a comfortable gap in front of the 2nd placed V45 runner, all Steve had to do was keep working and try to finish strongly which he managed to do. Steve eventually crossed the line in 3:03:31 (almost even splits) for 1st V45 , 4th place overall and his best ever time on this course in 7 visits. As it turned out, Steve was only just over a minute behind 3rd place but he knew he had worked as hard as he could so was pleased with his performance out of a field of 130 finishers.
Report Highlights
Stephen Edwards wins the Faversham Mararthon in a new course record of 3:05.
Steve becomes the first person in the UK to complete 200 marathons in sub-3:15.
Steve Edwards maintains V45 title at Isle of Man Marathon, finishing 4th overall, in 3:03:31.
Other reports may be found on our recent race reports page.