The Milton Keynes running festival took place over the early May Bank Holiday where runners could challenge themselves to the Rocket 5k, the marathon, half marathon or the Superhero Fun Run.
Grantham Running Club member Caroline Davis took on the marathon event hoping to better her Boston marathon performance and get back to a sub-4 hour time. Thankfully, the temperatures had dropped from the previous week when the London and Manchester marathons were run, so conditions were more promising.
The start is outside the MK stadium and includes all marathon, half marathon and relay marathon runners. The first loop sets off into central Milton Keynes which is the only part where runners tackle the famous roundabouts. Runners then headed to Eaglestone and locals were rather bemused at nearly 2,000 runners running past their front doors and along a narrow passageway.
From here, the course wound through Ouzel Valley Park, Milton Keynes Village and Middleton Park, followed by The Open University grounds before heading out to Woughton Park and a sharp incline at the 11.5 mile mark which was definitely testing.
The runners then returned to the MK stadium where the half marathoners peeled off for their stadium finish and the marathoners began their second loop.
The marathoners took to the pavements and revisited the roundabouts on their to Ouzel Valley Park. The route took in the Willen Lakes area where cheering firemen and women were a welcome sight).
From here it was a case of keeping your head down and your rhythm to grind out the last few miles, keeping in mind the last incline to work through. The stadium (and the finish) came into view but agonisingly there were a few twists and turns to negotiate first before running 3/4 of the track inside the stadium before finally reaching the finish line.
This was a well run event, with water stations and toilets every 2 miles and plenty of support along the way. As it was a road race there are a number of subways to negotiate, so a there few ups and downs interspersed within the flat parts of the route.
Caroline crossed the line 3 :58:19 so got her sub-4 target, giving her 5th in her age category as she continues to improve on her marathon times in 2025.