I’m excited to be representing England at the Chester Marathon this weekend in a competition against the Celtic Nations Team. This is the second year that England Athletics have included the marathon distance in their masters race calendar and over 150 vet athletes will be taking part.
Team selection took place at four of the UK’s major road marathons (Chester, Bournemouth, Manchester and Yorkshire) in autumn 2017 and spring 2018. The top five in each age group were eligible for selection but If any one is interested in qualifying for future competitions you do need to be a member of a UKA registered running club and inform England Athletics prior to running that you want to be considered. There is more information about how to be involved on the England Athletics website.
There are many amazing vet runners out there and competition for places can be tough. As an older runner, who is probably never going to run another PB, having my performance recognised and being included in events such as these gives an added purpose to running.
Last year was good fun and I finished smiling despite running the second part of the race in a downpour. I’m looking forward to be representing my country again this year and will try to run my best come what may – hard not to when wearing the team vest! (BTW – There is another very important event taking place at the Chester marathon this weekend that Cam and I are involved in – Jon Evans (NWRRC) barod?)
Good luck to all runners – Chester is a fast course and an extremely well organised event. I hope you all have a successful and most importantly enjoyable race.
