On Sunday the 6th of April, Chris Moore ran the Brighton Marathon to raise money for Brake (road safety charity) and so far he has raised £1156 not including gift aid. Having only returned to running last year (after a break of about 5 years) Chris set himself the goal of running a marathon to keep himself motivated and fully immerse himself into the sport again.
Training for the race was going very well, with Chris running several half marathon races in the lead up to Christmas – gradually building his mileage. However, on the 23rd of November (whilst on the way to Rutland Water park run) Chris had a near fatal accident on the A1. During inclement weather conditions, Chris lost control of his car and veered off the road colliding with a road sign and then a tree.
Chris blacked out and awoke to see his car completely crushed and destroyed but by some miracle Chris was able to exit the vehicle and get his dog Lucky out of the boot (with help from a lorry driver parked nearby).
Chris escaped with glass cuts, bruises and some muscle injuries (which he subsequently had to have physio for months later) and only spent a short few hours in hospital before returning home the same day.
A knee injury sustained in the crash hampered Chris’ training considerably and he ran a mere 50 miles in January as he attempted to recover ands get back on track. Despite this setback, Chris managed to run Oundle 20 in March so he knew he was marathon ready. In March, with Brighton looming ever closer – Chris decide to run for charity at the last minute as an added motivation, he’s been truly overwhelmed by the support thus far to his fundraising campaign.
Chris chose Brake given his own personal ordeal but also because of a fatal accident he witnessed on Barrowby Road last August.
Race day came and Chris was shocked by the huge crowds that had gathered in Brighton. The atmosphere was electric and the scale of support was comparable to The Great North Run.
The course had everything, scenic coastal views, busy city streets, brutal hills and extremely hot weather which added to the intensity of the race but also brought out droves of revellers adding to the support. Chris ran the first 16 miles extremely well, he felt comfortable and was fuelling and hydrating well – on course for a time around the 4 hour 10 mark.
However in hilarious fashion he hit the wall at mile 16 (most runners don’t usually hit the wall until mile 18-20 onwards) and from that moment onwards he knew he had 10 miles of hell ahead where he would have to dig deep and use the crowds and his personal motivations to carry him through.
Chris eventually finished with a time of 04:34:31-which he was extremely happy with for a first marathon and given the heat on the day. He also ran the course too long at 26.4 miles.
Chris now has unfinished business with the distance and intends to run future Marathons to better his time. If you would like to donate to Chris’ fundraising campaign, you can do so here:
Christopher Moore is fundraising for Brake, the road safety charity. https://www.justgiving.com/page/brightonmarathonchrismoore
Also running the marathon were Nick Marshall, Catherine Pell and Martyn Wand.
Both Catherine and Martyn were making their debuts at the distance. Catherine put in a fine time of 4:31:02. Martyn crossed the line in 5:54:21.
Nick Marshall finished his second marathon in 6:07:01.