Lloyd Biddell

The Bournemouth Marathon was a long time coming, little did I know at the time that my last marathon would be at Auckland in 2017.  I had almost forgotten what running a marathon felt like, so today was going to be a fresh dose of pain. Coming into the race I did 68.11 at the Lake Vyrnwy Half last month so I knew my form was probably better than I had given myself credit for.  My plan was to aim for 2.24ish (or at least 1.12 at the half way point and then see what happens).  The conditions on the day were forecast to be dry and about 15 - 18 degrees, but windy - about 18 mph gusting to 30 mph.  As much of the Bournemouth Marathon involves running along the sea front I knew that this was likely to cause some issues, so in the end I thought that I'd just run to feel but also be conscious about what was happening in the race around me. 15 mins before the start.  In the same England kit from the 2017 Chester Marathon - hopefully a good omen! The off - pretty much straight int