Race Report: Beachy Head Marathon

Posted on behalf of Anthony Brown…

Pub chat. Where alcohol and hubris combine. We’ve all been there – “I reckon in the right conditions I could take a frame off Ronnie O Sullivan”; “If you really put the time in, it can’t be that hard to become a Chess Grandmaster” . Of course Chris Finch was famously backed to be able to throw a kettle over a pub.

In the Harriers we do our pub chat differently. One Wednesday night in mid-September I found words like ‘It’s actually a really nice day out’ – and ‘It’s not that hilly when you get going” coming out of my mouth. No big deal – forgotten by the morning. But in the morning I received a text from marathon machine Nathan Webster with a screen-shot confirming his entry to the Beachy Head Marathon. Ah…my pub chat had caught up with me …

A very shortened ‘training cycle’ began – ‘Parkrun sandwiches’ were consumed on Saturday mornings, Wednesday nights were given a bit of a wraparound with distance tacked on at the start and end, and I felt almost ready to tackle the event. The week before, an old ITB issue flared up – all AI models when questioned advised me in the strongest possible terms to cancel. Obviously I completely ignored this, and at 8am (the start time wisely moved forward given the forecast afternoon storm) a hardy crew of Harriers towed the start line staring vertically up at Beachy Head.

Nathan had kindly agreed to handicap himself to my level by doing a fast Abingdon Marathon 6 days previously, a Hyrox the day before (INSANE), as well as unboxing brand new shoes on the start line – so we planned to run together for the race. We started in Wave 2 and saw Geoff, Kannan and Mark zoom up the hill in Wave 1 a minute or two ahead of us. More hero Harriers in waves behind us.

For those who haven’t done it – Beachy Head is a wonderful event. It is hilly. Very hilly. So hilly that on the elevation profile the Seven Sisters look like the tiniest of bumps. But it is well supported – with aid stations every four or five miles with proper food. The scenery is spectacular. The atmosphere impeccable. Nathan and I settled down into a rhythm – trying to keep running up all the hills – and keep the conversation flowing. On the way round we ran with a couple from Dartford doing the race for the first time since he proposed to her in 2011 at the top of Beachy Head 24 miles and 7 hours into the Marathon (her response at the time is unprintable!!!) – amazingly they are still together. Up followed down followed up followed down. And over the Seven Sisters we finally sighted Geoff and Kannan – which allowed for the prospect of a four way Harriers finish. The final mile was very downhill and very slippy – Kannan’s mud covered deckchair bearing testimony to the dangers of slippery hills and tired legs. And who should be waiting at the finish but Ali Farrell, glowing after smashing out an 89%ile parkrun while she was waiting for us to get round.

While we were slowly slogging the hills of Sussex, speed demon Andy Eames smashed out a stunning 6th place, and 1st V40 in the 10k – some proper masochism to sprint those hills. 6th also being the place claimed by our very own Mark Mellor in the Marathon in a staggering 3:22, also claiming the V40 prize.

Overall I thought the event was superb. Worse weather may have made it more of a challenge – but with the wind on your back, friends to run with, incredible views, and little clock pressure given the ridiculous terrain it is a stunning day out.

As for next year? Well, in the pub on the weekend I was musing that the 50k ultra can’t be that much harder...

Results:

Marathon

Mark Mellor 3:22:08 (6th, 1st MV40)

Anthony Brown 4:12:16

Nathan Webster 4:12:46

Kannan Mahalingham 4:13:45

Geoff Turner 4:14:08 (3rd V60)

Gavin Cranley 4:53:06

Jonathan Hodge 5:23:47

Nick Pierce 5:24:49 (2nd V70)

Dan Foster 5:34:27

Beatrice Andrews 5:45:09

Ultra (50k)

Matt Lee 6:27:16

10k

Andy Eames 43:14 (6th, 1st MV40)

Vicky Eames 56:34

[Stat Note: Mark Mellors 3:22 is the joint third quickest Beachy Head Marathon ever by a male Harrier, alongside Andy Howey and one place behind our President, Mark Taylor]