11 brave souls from Ivanhoe were amongst 4,482 runners who completed the Chester Marathon and Metric Marathon over this weekend.

The weather was fine, some would say a little too fine, with temperatures rising to over 20 degrees during the day (nothing like Lisbon though!)

The marathon set off at 9am from Chester racecourse, which was quite near to the hotel where most runners stayed. The marathon course started in the city, across the river Dee and then out into the English and Welsh countryside. The first half was fairly flat, ran along mainly rural roads. However the second half of the race was quite a different story. A sharp hill, straight after the re-crossing of the Dee, was followed by rolling hills all the way into the City Centre. Then with 1.5 miles to the finish the runners were greeted to a very sharp incline which everyone agreed was particularly unpleasant.

The metric marathon also started at the racecourse but followed an out and back route joining the marathon runners for the last 13km. This meant, of course, that the metric marathoners also got to "enjoy" the big hill towards the end of their race

Unlike a big city marathon, where the course is typically lined by supporters all the way round, this event had pockets of vociferous support in the villages that appeared every few miles. With numerous drink and feed station’s along the way, it meant each runner received brilliant encouragement throughout the day.

Support from other club members including James Cox, Becky Moult, Andy Lindley, Lucy Allsop, Jane Bland and Carolyn Osborne was also very welcome.

The results were as follows:

Marathon

Richard Hampson 3:05:00

Julie Taylor 3:33:31

Clare Wood 3:45:14

Laura Graves 4:01:06

Adrian Fowler 4:01:30

Chris Osborne 4:04:10

Nancy Bennion 4:04:22

Alex Gillon 4:30:11

Metric Marathon

Craig Wood 2:06:03 (husband of Clare Wood, non member)

Damon Bland 2:21:46

Victoria Smith 2:24:38

Sophie Turner 2:26:27

Everyone should be really proud of their performances in what were very trying conditions. Well done to all!

In summary, a well organised race, in a beautiful city, with great weather, some wonderful memories and a good medal!

Written by Emily Partridge - last updated on 12/10/2023