The last time the Belvoir Challenge took place was 2020. I did the half, got a stress fracture and vowed to never do it again. Fast forward 2 years and here I am taking the 26 mile option.
The route is 95% off road through very muddy fields, as per typical February UK conditions. On the marathon there are 4 check points, each one stretched out every 5ish miles.
There are no medals or tshirts or goodie bags for finishers. So, what’s the appeal of this marathon? The checkpoints serve homemade cake and tea! And at the end you get a coffee, soup + a pudding with custard.
The run itself took me 4 hours, 46 mins with a moving time of 4:31. 15 minutes spent eating cakes!
There were a few people who registered for the marathon but dropped down to the half on the day and their half times have still been registered on the marathon! In light of this they think I came 15th lady. The winning lady did it in a very impressive 3:49. I can just about run a road marathon in this time so it’s all the more amazing she can do it in sections of ankle deep mud and 2000ft elevation. The winning man? 3:07 🤪
Time to do some stretching and take some painkillers.