Yorkshire Marathon – Race Report –

Read below to see how Mark absolutely smashed his PB…

 

 

 

The Yorkshire Marathon 2024 by Mark Baker-Milner

 

 

Having hobbled round the second half of the London Marathon this year following an injury flare up, I knew I wanted to get another marathon in before attempting it again in 2025. I earmarked 3 marathons, those being Chester, Abingdon and Yorkshire. My father in law is a proud Yorkshireman, so we’ve visited before on several occasions and the thought of some more of that friendly northern hospitality was enough to seal the deal. 

 

We arrived on Friday, giving us time to explore York and even sneak in a day in the beautiful Harrogate, only a short 30 minutes away by train. Then it was down to business. I was definitely nervous before London, having never covered the distance before, however, this felt different. I was actually very relaxed, maybe even too relaxed?! This serenity didn’t last long, as a glance at the weather forecast predicted the arrival of ‘Storm Ashley’, with the worst of it due to hit right on the 9.30am start time. Having lived by the sea all of my life, a bit of gale force wind doesn’t bother me, but there’s no getting away from the fact that it’s not exactly optimum conditions for a marathon. However, I told myself that there was nothing I could do about it and focused on the things I could control. 

 

I arose early on Sunday morning and began my pre-run ritual of pacing around the room, all the while slowly getting myself fed, watered and ready to race. I set off in a taxi towards the start line and followed the other runners until I arrived at the gates of the University of York’s campus. There, I made my way into the event village, made all my final checks and dropped off my bag. It wasn’t long before we were shepherded through the university grounds towards the start line. I decided that I’d queue for the toilet near the start line, which, in hindsight, was a mistake. I was in that queue for around 40 minutes, only emerging roughly 5 minutes after the gun had gone off. The lack of urinals was the only negative aspect of the pre-race experience. 

Yorkshire Marathon is a self-penned event, meaning you arrange yourself somewhere near the flag closest to your estimated finish time. Given my lateness to the start, all of this went out the window. I did the briefest of warm ups and begun the slow shuffle towards the start line. I happened to spot a gentlemen with a Maidstone Harriers vest on, so stopped for a quick chat. We both agreed we were a very long way from home, wished each other luck and set off. 

 

 

I spent the first few miles picking my way through the field, which wasn’t always easy. Seeing my wife and friends at mile 2 gave me a nice boost and I rattled off the first 5 miles, as we made our way out of York and onto the first of many villages to come.

 

 

 The Yorkshire countryside is beautiful, although that beauty is slightly tainted when you’re dealing with 40mph winds and torrential rain. Despite this, I locked into a good pace and found myself passing halfway in 2:00:20.

 

 

 The next part of the course contained a gruelling out and back, where I was fully exposed to the elements, with a strong headwind and lashing rain. This took me to around the 20 mile marker, beyond which I’ve always found it difficult. This time was no different and I found myself in survival mode rather quickly. Most of the last 6 miles went by agonising slowly, with my ‘death grunt’ getting worse every time I tried to up the pace. 

 

 

The last 1k or so of the course is around 400m uphill (which feels like 4 miles at that late stage) followed by 600m downhill to the finish. After a quick pep talk with some fellow runners, we ‘attacked’ the hill, or at least attempted to. Upon making the top, you are greeted with a wonderful sight…600 metres to go! 

 

I summoned every last ounce of energy I had and starting picking up the pace, flying past those who had climbed the hill with me. Out of nowhere, I found myself fighting back tears. I’m still not sure if they were tears of joy or relief. The finish line came into sight and I set off as fast as my tired legs would carry me, crossing the line in 4:14:26, a 33 minute PB. 

 

I slouched over the barricade, only to be greeted by a 6ft 4 Yorkshireman exclaiming ‘ey up lad, are you okay?!’ Thankfully, once I’d taken a brief moment to gather myself, I was, and moved through to collect my finishers t-shirt and medal, before shuffling my way back to collect my bag and hop on the shuttle bus back into the city centre. 

 

 

My wife and friends were waiting for me in The York Tap, a pub conveniently located inside York station. They cheered and hollered as I arrived and I gave them my post-mortem of the race, as they nodded sympathetically. 

 

I chose to raise money for Retired Greyhound Canterbury for this marathon, as that’s where we got our lovely old greyhound, Frankie, from a few years ago. We raised £400 and I know it will make a huge difference to the lives of the kennel dogs, until they find a sofa of their own. 

 

I didn’t really have a time goal in mind for this race, I just wanted to get round uninjured and see what I was capable of. I was pleasantly surprised to dip under 4.15 and that fills me with hope that I can go one better than that when I lock horns with London again in 2025. 

 

 

Great report Mark and well done for not only raising money for a great cause but for completing one of the toughest distances in the middle of a storm. I’m sure Sub 4 is fast approaching!