Isle of Man Marathon
10th August
2014

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Caroline Diggle 5.17.10



Isle of Man Marathon (10/08/14)

Race Report

I’ve always wanted to do this marathon for many reasons. My husband was born there and it’s a special place for us, but it had to be combined with a family holiday as it’s expensive to get to. The marathon itself cost only £23.

We got to the island a week before and did the usual tourist sightseeing and my husband also took us to some lesser known beautiful places. It was at one of these places where I slipped climbing up a waterfall and bruised my coccyx.  I thought I wasn’t going to run the marathon and this made me feel very cross.  After a few days (with ibuprofen) it felt a little better so I thought ‘what the hell’ go for it, after all it would hurt whether I was running or hill walking with the hubby and kids.

The morning of the big day hurricane ‘Bertha’ passed over the island. The rain was torrential and the wind was brisk.  It was a small race with only 74 men and 25 women, so I started at the back with a 67 year old lady running her 170th marathon!  We started on Ramsey Promenade, headed out to Bride with the only hill which we had to do twice as it was a two lap course, then left to Andreas and on to St Judes before returning to Ramsey.  We passed strange and unusual farm and road names such as ‘Balladoole Farm’ and ‘Cronk y Close’.  It was a beautiful country course with almost no traffic.  There wasn’t many runners so I never felt claustrophobic but I did meet some very friendly people.  I ran with a guy from North Wales who had run Snowdonia 17 times, a guy from Orlando over on business and a guy from London who said his fave half marathon ever is ours!

I felt great at the half way mark but towards mile 18 my back was really aching and the rain was really coming down.  My hubby and the kids came by in the car at around 23 miles and this gave me a massive boost.  They were looking for me as I had not appeared as expected and they thought something had happened. I finally made it in 5:17. It was good to see the finish line and to dig into the free food at the end. 

I loved this marathon, for me it was everything I love about running and everything London was not.  No silly costumes, only a few runners, a few hardy spectators and great value with a T-shirt, unique medal, a bulging goody bag and of course the free food at the end. 

The race had a very friendly feel, the commentator guy at the finish even let my kids cheer me on with the megaphone and asked them what sports they enjoyed although I’m not sure ‘Minecraft’ and watching tele count.

The organisation and marshals were excellent

Caroline