Zurich New Year's marathon

New Year's Eve seems to be me to be one those nights designed to make you feel uncool, plainly dressed and friendless. With no desire to drop silly amounts of cash on obligatory fun, or to watch Jools Holland bashing away on his piano, I usually sleep through midnight then get up for a hangover-free run on New Year's Day. Allan had other plans - for his 100th marathon, he was going to run Zurich Neujahrsmarathon that starts on the stroke of midnight and goes alongside the river on gravelly trails. It seemed a great idea, what a bonkers way to start the year and a memorable way to round off and impressive journey to the 100.

We were exceptionally lucky with the weather, having anticipated freezing temperatures and snow, it was relatively balmy and showers looked to be the worst we would get. On the other hand, it was the first race I'd run with a headtorch in a long time. It lit just enough to stop you tripping but it took several miles to develop a slightly higher stepping technique and the confidence to trust very blurred vision. It was a foggy night and the torchbeam reflected off the water particles turning everything into a white blur. Depending on your mood, it was either atmospheric or very eery and being a full moon, running through the graveyard definitely sent a few shivers up your spine.

I was moving pretty comfortably, though the pace was slower than it felt, probably due to the dark and the difficult to read path. It's a 4 lap race which helped enormously - the time passed quickly, you got to know where the larger rocks were and you never felt totally alone. It was pretty special to see headtorches stretched out along the river and bobbing in the dark on the opposite bank. My month's rest has left me well rested with plenty of energy, but a slight drop in endurance - I usually pick it up in the last 6 miles but this time there was no higher gear. When 2 guys decided to sit right on my heels from 40k, I couldn't shake them off and they weren't about to pass. It seemed probable that they'd use me as a pacer almost to the end then kick past which didn't please me at all, the cheeky gits.. The closer and closer we got to the finish, neither would make a move so I decided to make a break for it with about 200m to go. I think they were being gentlemanly - anyone could have outsprinted me but they kindly let me have my minor and entirely inconsequential victory. I came in in 4'18 which was enough to make me fastest British female over the marathon this decade. Sure that won't last long...

So there we were, drinking champagne at 4.30am on New Year's Day and clapping Allan on the back. He'd also come in as fastest Brit over the marathon in 2010 and I was fastest British lady (so far) which was a lovely bonus. It was a brilliant race to choose for your 100th, summing up the slightly unhinged nature of the serial marathon runner and it's one we won't forget. A great way to kick off the new year!


Centurion Allan and me in our string vests - best race memento ever