Beverley Athletic Club’s Runner of the Year, James Pearson, chose the Chester Marathon on Bank Holiday Monday to run his first marathon. He made his debut in style finishing in third place in a fantastic time of 2.42.46 and qualifying for an elite start at the London Marathon next year.
With 764 finishers, the Chester Marathon is a small event and Pearson deliberately chose this to attempt a championship qualifying time for London 2011.
Although he found the early pace too fast, he soon settled into a good rhythm, running sub-six minute miles. This comfortable pace was on target for a sub-2.38 time. After mile 16 Pearson had moved up into third place and was running by himself but after 21 miles a combination of nausea and cramp caused him to slow down dramatically and finish almost five minutes slower than his target time. In retrospect he was really pleased with his time – it was a hot sunny day and this was his first attempt at the marathon distance.
The course at Chester was mainly off-road and took runners along an out and back route on cycle tracks. The course was fairly flat but had an incline from mile 21 onwards that Pearson found really tough on the way back. Despite the off-road course there was great local support.
The race was won by Julian Macdonald of Chester Tri in 2.33.05 and the first lady to finish was Jenni Muston of Charnwood Athletics Club in 3.00.44.
Reported by Kay Farrow
