Seeking Adventure by Running a Marathon

At the start of October I ran the Loch Ness Marathon…

Your immediate question is probably, ‘of all the marathons, why Loch Ness’?

Well, I have a good friend that lives up near Inverness, and I have a tendency to always say yes to these sorts of things.

My training programme went to plan and I felt good coming into this race. I’d taken deload weeks for my running which turned out to be a godsend to my training and meant I probably felt as good coming into this race as I did for any other.

A few days before race day, like any other normal person, I had a look at the course profile. I was pleasantly surprised to see the first 10 miles was a gradual downhill, which added to my pre-race optimism.

Race day arrived and an early wake up call preceded the journey to the start line of this point to point marathon. We took in the views, chatted to someone dressed as Spider-Man, and off we went.

As expected, the first 10 miles was downhill, BUT, there were some menacing hills thrown in for good measure.

My target was to beat my previous PB of 3 hours 35 minutes, and by the halfway point I was well on course for this.

What was meant to be the flat section of the course, miles 10-19, was actually a series of rolling hills, undulating relentlessly, which meant I struggled to settle into a rhythm.

I hit a big wall by mile 19, which unfortunately coincided with the largest hill in the course. It was brutal, but I’m pretty proud that I pushed through and kept running.

As this course is so remote, for large periods of the race you are left alone with your own thoughts, the only company being other runners.

As I began to work into the final few miles, Inverness came into sight and I was back to civilisation. The sudden emergence of crowds and people was a huge overstimulation after hours of peace and quiet.

Anyway, this probably spurred me on as I sent it towards the finish line, finishing in a massive PB of 3 hours and 16 minutes.

The race was a huge success and I got to explore a new place in the best way I know how; running.

Fitness and travel have been two huge pillars of my life for the last few years and I’ll always look to combine them in the future.

Of course, I wore my ultra-comfortable Kata Sportswear Essential Tee. I wouldn’t really wear anything else for a race day, to be honest. It is the perfect race day tee.

I’m finding that marathon running is not just about the run.

It’s a test of discipline during training.

It’s an exploration into oneself when the going gets tough.

It’s an opportunity to explore and travel to a new place.

I don’t have any immediate plans to run a marathon again, but when I do I’ll be sure to choose a new course in a country I want to visit.

I’d love to know, have you done a marathon before? And if so, where? Any location recommendations are more than welcome in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

Caolan